30-Minute Sweet Potato Black Bean Burrito Recipe

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This quick and easy, protein-packed, 30-min plant-based black bean burrito recipe will be a new staple in your monthly meal plan! These tasty burritos are loaded with beans, roasted sweet potatoes, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, hot sauce, and tons of flavor! Vegan, nut-free, soy-free + gluten-free options.

*This recipe was originally posted on 1/6/18 but I updated it with better recipe instructions on 8/16/19.   

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These delicious sweet potato black bean burritos are perfect for nights when you need an easy to make 30-minute meal or for when you want to cook a meal that makes a lot of leftovers for breakfast, lunch or dinner for the next few days. It’s also a good option to make if you want to switch up the same old tacos for dinner on Taco Tuesday.

Skip the fresco-style Taco Bell black bean burrito fast food and make these homemade healthy burritos instead! The burritos are protein-packed and easily customizable based on your preferences. You can switch up the type of potatoes, beans, rice, and toppings based on what you and your family enjoy. 

How to Make a Black Bean Burrito – Step by Step 

Step #1 – Cook the Rice: Get the rice started first. If you’d like to transform plain white or brown rice into flavorful yellow rice, follow the steps below in the “How Can I Make Rice Taste Better?” section. 

Step #2 – Roast the Sweet Potatoes: (Do this step while the rice is cooking) Chop two medium sweet potatoes (I always use jewel or garnet sweet potates) into 1-inch cubes and place them on a a parchment paper lined baking tray. 

Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp of low-sodium vegetable broth (or olive oil), cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt, and pepper over the chopped sweet potatoes. Toss to coat each piece in the seasonings. Bake the sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until tender. 

Step #3 – How to Cook Canned Black Beans for Burritos: (Do this step while the rice is cooking and once you get the sweet potatoes into the oven) Saute the diced onion in 2-3 tbsp of low-sodium vegetable broth (this is my favorite brand because there is no added sugar or oil) over medium heat in a large pan for 5-8 minutes or until soft.

Add the minced garlic and two 14 oz cans of rinsed and drained black beans. Mix everything together and let it cook for 2-3 minutes or until the beans are warm. 

Step #4 – Build the Burrito: (The rice, sweet potatoes, and beans should all be ready around the same time.) Warm one large burrito tortilla and fill it with romaine lettuce, a scoop of the black bean onion mixture, a few spoonfuls of brown rice, sweet potato chunks, diced tomatoes, mashed avocado, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and hot sauce into the center of the tortilla.

Fold both sides of the tortilla over the filling and then roll the bottom of the torilla up and tuck it in. Keep rolling until the burrito is completely sealed. Eat like this or you can seal it following the next step. 

(Optional) Step #5 – How to Seal the Burritos: If you’d like to keep the burrito sealed, you can put the burrito sealed side down into a large pan with a tiny bit of oil and let it cook for a few minutes. Wait until the sealed side if golden brown and crispy and then enjoy it hot.

Are Bean Burritos Healthy? 

Yes, black bean burritos are a healthy choice to eat for a meal because they’re packed with tons of good-for-you plant-based ingredients like beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and avocado.

What Can You Put In Burritos?

My favorite burrito ingredients are:

• Any Type of Beans (Black, Kidney, White, Pinto, Chickpeas)
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes or Butternut Squash 
• Lettuce (Romaine, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard)
• Diced Tomatoes
• Sliced Green Onions
• Thinly Sliced Red Cabbage
• Mashed Avocado or Guacamole
• Cilantro
• Grilled Corn
• Roasted Vegetables (Sometimes I dice up leftover veggies and throw em’ in the mix too!)
• Jalpenos
• Hot Sauce
• Vegan Sour Cream
• Vegan Cheese
• Spicy Avocado Chipotle Sauce

What Type Of Rice Is Used In Burritos?

You can use any type of rice that you like in burritos. My favorite rice to use is brown rice because it has a delicious nutty flavor and it’s very filling and satisfying. Depending on what type of rice you use will impact how long the burritos take to make. I used white rice in this recipe to make sure the burritos are ready in 30 minutes. 

How Can I Make Rice Taste Better?

An easy way to make rice taste better is to season it! Not with more salt but with herbs! I often turn my plain brown rice into flavorful yellow rice by adding the following herbs to the rice water before cooking it. Add 1/4 tsp (per cup of uncooked rice) of turmeric, paprika, chili powder, and cumin when you add the salt. Once cooked,  the rice will be a vibrant yellow color and loaded with flavor!

Are These Burritos Allergy-Friendly?

Yes, these vegan sweet potato black bean burritos are allergy-friendly. They are also vegetarian, gluten-free (if you use gluten-free wraps), soy-free, nut-free, WFPB, and oil-free. 

What To Do With Leftovers?

Store the leftover black beean and rice burrito ingredients in a separate airtight containers for 4-5 days. You can freeze the beans and sweet potatoes for a future easy meal if you’d like. 

You can use the leftover sweet potato and black bean burrito ingredients to make more burritos or you could make easy burrito bowls or a taco salad.

Black Bean Burrito Recipe Notes

• If you’d like to use dried beans instead of canned black beans, you can substitute 1 cup of dried beans for the two 14 oz cans. 
• If you don’t want to use black beans you can substitute kidney beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, refried beans, chickpeas, walnut quinoa taco meat, or crumbled tofu.
• If you don’t want to use rice in the burrito recipe, you can substitute quinoa. A tasty low-carb option would be to use cauliflower rice. 
• Use large 10″ burrito wraps for this recipe. If you can only find smaller 7-8″ tortillas then you should make tacos instead because the smaller wraps are too small to make big burritos. 
• Try not to overstuff the black bean burrito. I know it’s hard because I do it almost every single time but it will be much easier to roll up and seal if you don’t overstuff it.
• Usually, tortillas that don’t have preservatives or additives need to be refrigerated to extend their shelf life. When you go to make a black bean burrito, pop it into the toaster oven for microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute tops to warm it. When the tortilla is warm, it’s much easier to fill and roll up without it cracking. 
• If you do add salsa to your sweet potato black bean burrito, try to use a chunky salsa (the less liquid the better). If the salsa is very liquidy then your burrito will be very wet and it will leak. 
• If you want to seal your burrito, roll it up and saute it in a tiny bit of olive oil in a pan for a few minutes until it’s golden brown on one side.
• Store the leftover black bean and rice burrito ingredients in separate airtight containers for 4-5 days. You could also freeze the black beans or cooked sweet potatoes for a future easy meal. 
• If you want to make a bunch of frozen vegan burritos ahead of time, omit the hot sauce, lime juice, and salsa (optional). Wait until you defrost the burritos to add any liquid so they don’t get soggy.