Sweet Potato Tacos Made Lighter and Brighter with Cabbage Cups

Recipes like this are life-savers!

Seriously! Sweet Potato Tacos make the PERFECT weeknight dinner.

For the first two years I was eating a plant-based diet, I had sweet potato tacos probably 5-6 times per week. Sometimes for dinner, sometimes for lunch.

This was partially because of how easy they are to prep, how totally scrumptious they are, and how well they work for leftovers.

Actually, when I was first making sweet potato tacos, I put them in organic corn tortillas just as you would expect tacos to be served. However, when I went back for seconds, I tended to make more of a burrito bowl, meaning I just loaded the ingredients into a bowl instead of a tortilla. This allowed me to have another serving, but without as many calories.

Yes, whole grain tortillas are nutritious, but they’re still made with flour even if it is organic corn flour. This processing makes them more calorie dense than the whole corn kernels would be.

Over the years, I gradually stopped buying tortillas to use at home—except for special occasions like a Latin-themed class or potluck. Instead, I just started with burrito bowls right from the get go.

It was just recently that I got the idea to use cabbage cups as the taco shell. I was a little hesitant about the cabbage texture because it’s completely different than that of a soft or hard shell tortilla.

It was all good though! I did the testing and was super excited by how much I enjoyed the cabbage cup tacos!!

They were so delicious that I joyfully ate four cabbage cup tacos! YUM YUM YUM!

If you decide that you would like your cabbage shells a little softer and warmer, no problem! I’ll tell you just what to do for this in the chef’s notes below.

There’s really no shortage of flour-free and plant-strong tortilla alternatives. Quick and easy options are romaine and buttercup lettuce leaves. If you want to use a darker green, try raw or lightly steamed collards.

I hope that these Sweet Potato Tacos do for you just as much as they did for me!

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Sweet Potato Tacos Made with Cabbage Cups

Yield: 6 tacos

Author: Chef Katie Mae

Ingredients:

• 2 medium cooked sweet potatoes, mashed (any potato works)
• 11⁄2 cups cooked black beans (15oz can, partially drained)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt-free seasoning (i.e. Benson’s Table Tasty)
• 6 purple cabbage cups (OR romaine leaves)
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1–2 limes, sliced into wedges

Directions:

1. Set freshly cooked and mashed sweet potatoes aside. If the sweet potatoes were cooked previously and are cool, then warm them up on the stovetop or in the microwave.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, add the black beans, cumin, chili powder, and salt-free seasoning. Heat the beans for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. To assemble the tacos: First spread a layer of sweet potatoes, about 1⁄4 cup across the center of a lettuce cup or romaine leaf. Add about 1⁄4 cup of the black beans over the sweet potatoes. Top with diced tomatoes, avocado, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Chef's Note:

If you want the cabbage cups to be a little bit softer and warmer, layer the sweet potato into the cabbage cups and then microwave them for just 30 seconds. Then continue filling the cups with the other toppings.

 

 

https://www.theculinarygym.com/blog/sweet-potato-tacos-with-cabbage-cups