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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
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!
Beth, THANK YOU for your recipes!! This was fantastic! I put the zucchini and corn on the (Traeger) smoker (just on smoke) for the last ten minutes of cooking and layered your recipe over cilantro lime rice. Also had a left over pork loin chop I shredded for a meat topping. Put it over the top!
Haven’t made one of your recipes yet that hasn’t become a family favorite! Many thanks!!!
These were BOMB tacos! I had some zukes I needed to use up so I Googled roasted zuke tacos and just so happened to have bought corn tortillas and frozen corn! I used leftover rice and shredded chicken in place of the black beans, and the rest of our shredded cheddar instead of Monterey Jack. I also had one ripe avocado on hand. Great how this recipe worked out using what I already had and just bought and made plenty of filling! The filling is good on its own or for piling onto the tortillas to make them into mini quesadillas. So many possibilities with this receipe! Thanks!
I hate vegetables and other green healthy things. However, this was amazing. I had an ear of corn, but no frozen corn, so I roasted the ear in the husk at the same time as the zucchini. I didn’t miss the meat at all. I did do like another commenter though, I just ate it in a bowl with some green salsa. Moral of the story, male this even if you hate vegetables.
Super tasty and easy recipe! Loved the zucchini & corn mixture. I ended up adding some cherry tomatoes and radishes to the toppings at the end, and substituting queso fresco for the monterrey jack. I also whipped up a super easy and fast sauce to go on top by processing some of the avocado, lime juice, cilantro, adobo pepper (had it on hand), a little greek yogurt and water. Really yummy tacos – thanks for the recipe!!
This is a new favorite! I’ve been trying to work more veggies into meals and this was perfect. The avocado added a nice creaminess to the tacos, and I loved the homemade seasoning. Preparation was also a breeze. This will be in my regular rotation from now on.
this recipe was delicious. I substituted one green zucchini for a yellow zucchini. thanks!
I just made these and they’re SO good!!! I got most of the ingredients on sale, too, so it was even cheaper. I’m so impressed with not just the flavor, but how much food this recipe yields. Thank you so much!
I’ve made these twice and I’m obsessed. Some fresh lime juice makes all the difference!
Oh my gosh these were so good and so easy! Thank you Beth for all of your awesome recipes. I’ve recently gotten into cooking and have made a handful of your recipes and all have been easy to follow and delicious. I’m excited to continue trying more !
I make these tacos often when we aren’t in a meat mood and they’re always SO good! Last night I added sweet potato, swapped a drizzle of ranch for the avocado and Sriracha for the Chipotle. BAM!!
I just re-read your recipe and realized it didn’t call for chioptle sauce. I must have used that last time :-)
I made these as a burrito filling and they were delicious! I roasted them a bit longer (thought that might be because my oven is colder than it should be) and added a spicy crema… So good.
I made this and added mushrooms and some spicy green pepper (not sure what kind it was), and it was AMAZING. Best tacos I’ve ever made, way better than meat.
Made this once already mixed it with a spanish rice we had. Put it on some really good crunchy corn tortillas! WOW I ate it for 3 days after and still wasnt sick of it making it again this weekend. This is my favorite so far!
Made this Sunday night for lunches for the week. AMAZING! Making lunches was a snap and having a filling, healthy, and delicious lunch to look forward was a bright spot in the day.
So I’m totally lazy and just made the filling (beans, corn, and zucchini), dumped it in a bowl, and put cheese on top of it. It was completely amazing! I used the Hot & Spicy taco seasoning pack, which made it super spicy and delicious. I will definitely make this again, and I might even buy taco shells next time. :)