I’m working on a big side project right now and it has required me to buy a lot of extra groceries. You know how I hate to see food go to waste, so I took a look at the ingredients on hand and came up with these tasty little tacos to use up my leftovers. All I had to buy was the zucchini. I’d call that a WIN.
I initially set out to make these tacos vegan, but then I realized that I had some monterrey jack cheese in my fridge, too. I have to admit, once I put that jack on there it took the tacos from “good” to “NOM x 100”. Seriously. Even though the tacos already had the creamy avocado slices, something about the monterrey jack cheese just really set them off. These tacos are “stuff your face” good.
The avocado was undoubtably the most expensive item here. I already had it on hand, so it wasn’t a loss for me. If I didn’t already have it, the monterrey jack cheese would have been more than enough to replace it. So, keep that in mind if your budget is extra tight (and whose isn’t?).
Oh, and if you don’t have the spices on hand to make the homemade taco seasoning, you can use one store bought taco seasoning packet in its place (although you won’t need the extra garlic powder listed below).
Roasted Corn and Zucchini Tacos
Roasted Corn & Zucchini Tacos
Servings 6 2 small tacos eachIngredients
- 2 zucchini ($1.68)
- 8 oz. frozen corn ($0.78)
- 1 packet taco seasoning ($0.34)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.87)
- 1/4 tsp salt, if needed ($0.02)
- 12 small corn tortillas ($0.96)
- 1 avocado (optional) ($2.00)
- 4 oz. shredded monterrey jack cheese ($1.20)
- 1/4 bunch cilantro (optional) ($0.20)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Cut the zucchini into a very small dice, just slightly larger than the pieces of corn. Combine the diced zucchini, corn, olive oil, taco seasoning, and garlic powder in a bowl. Stir until everything is well combined and coated in oil and seasonings.
- Cover a baking sheet in foil and spread the zucchini and corn mixture evenly over the surface. Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the vegetables look slightly shriveled. Meanwhile, rinse the black beans and let them drain well.
- After the vegetables have roasted, combine them with the well drained black beans. Season the mixture with extra salt, if needed (I used about 1/4 tsp). Cut the avocado into 12 slices.
- Lightly toast the corn tortillas in a dry skillet, then top with a small scoop of the zucchini corn mixture, a slice of avocado, a few sprigs of cilantro, and a pinch of shredded monterrey jack cheese.
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Notes
Nutrition
Step by Step Photos
Corn and zucchini is one of my favorite vegetable combos. The corn is sweet and the zucchinis get kind of creamy when roasted. YUM. I used 8 oz. (half of the bag) of corn and two medium zucchinis.
It’s really important to chop the zucchini into pieces that are similar in size to the corn, so that they roast at the same speed. The easiest way to do this is to cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, so that it has a flat edge to lay on. Cut the zucchini lengthwise a couple more times to make matchsticks, then cut across the matchsticks into small pieces.
Place the diced zucchini and corn in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and one batch of taco seasoning (or one taco seasoning packet), plus 1/4 tsp garlic powder. My taco seasoning recipe doesn’t include garlic powder because I usually use fresh garlic in my recipes, but this time I didn’t, so I supplemented with a little garlic powder. My tacos seasoning also doesn’t contain a lot of salt, so you may want to add a little after the vegetables roast.
Stir it all up really, really good, so that everything is coated in oil and spices. Spread this mixture out evenly over a baking sheet covered with foil. Pop it into an oven that is preheated to 400 degrees and let it roast for 25 minutes or just until the veggies look a little soft and shriveled.
Like this. The steam is still rising off of the delicious veggies… MMmmm. While the corn and zucchini are roasting, you can rinse and drain the black beans. Let them drain really well, so that your tacos don’t get soggy.
Add the well drained black beans and stir to combine. Taste the mixture and add a little salt if it seems bland (homemade taco seasoning doesn’t contain a lot of salt, but if you’re using a store bought packet it probably has plenty).
Now it’s time to build the tacos. You’ll want to toast the tortillas in a dry skillet briefly to get that raw taste out. Just put them in a hot skillet until they get a little stiff, but still pliable enough to wrap a taco. Add a scoop of corn-zucchini mixture, a slice of avocado, a few sprigs of cilantro, and a pinch of shredded monterrey jack cheese.
If you happen to have a lime sitting around (like I did), you can squeeze a little lime juice on there, too. I didn’t think it increased the deliciousness enough to actually include it in the recipe, though.
Tacos are little bundles of love.
Do the taco dance!
We love these much more than any other kind of taco. We had to use squash instead and it came out amazing with white corn tortillas! Very in the budget, too. This is going to be a regular meal for us! 5 stars
I added a bit of diced onion I already had around with the other veggies and used the veg/bean mixture as quesadilla filling, and it’s absolutely wonderful with a little salsa or guac.
Delicious and super easy. We will definitely make this again. Thanks!
Made these last night, the black bean and corn mixture reminded me of the hearty quesadillas from here that I looove, so I decided this would be a good fit for dinner especially with the added zucchini! The recipe is pretty easy, just roast veggies and it pretty much makes itself. I didn’t have corn tortillas on hand but were still amazing with flour tortillas, the avocado adds a little “je ne sais quoi.” I paired these with the Lime crema recipe for added creaminess & tang, and dropped some Tabasco in them for a little added flavor. Tasted like some $10-15 tacos from a bougie Latin restaurant!
I’m not even vegetarian but this is now one of my favorite taco recipes. I didn’t add avocado but the cheese and roasted zucchini were really creamy on their own. I’d like to try these as enchiladas too, as another commenter or mentioned.
I was looking for no cheese enchiladas and remembered this recipe. I think this would be great in enchiladas. Those who can have cheese can add on top, or make two pans. Thanks for the idea.
Excellent! I used Indian Woman beans from rancho gordo and added diced red peppers. Topped with lettuce and a jalapeño & cilantro dressing from another site. We have a ton of summer squash in our garden this year, so plan to make this often!
Love this recipe! Instead of tacos, I used the zucchini/black bean/corn mixture to make “burrito bowls” with quinoa then I added some salsa, the avocado slices, and Monterey Jack on top :)