These tasty vegetarian tinga tacos use creamy large butter beans instead of meat! While nontraditional, Mexican style butter beans are amazing – the creaminess of the beans balances out the smoky spicy tinga sauce perfectly. You will love this quick, easy and unique vegetarian taco recipe.
Let’s make vegetarian tinga tacos…
After seeing some lovely looking chicken tinga taco recipes floating around, I decided that the idea of a smoky saucy taco needed to be made vegetarian! And here is where I landed.
There are several options for a meatless tinga taco. You could be shredding mushrooms or jackfruit, and those things would be much closer to the original chicken recipe. But my heart wasn’t in it, because I wanted this to be really quick and easy for a weeknight. So if we can let go of the idea of a shredded protein, and think about what else thrives in really rich sauces, the immediate answer for me is the humble butter bean! These giant creamy beans love flavorful tomato based sauces. It’s a winner.
I ended up adding some kale to mine, because we have absolutely abandoned the idea of these being authentic, and I love the texture it adds, but that is totally optional.
What to know about the ingredients
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce. For my US based readers, that’s an easy one, move on. For my UK based readers, ugh, I know these aren’t so easily available on our side of the pond but they’re the go-to for an easy tinga sauce. I order them in from Amazon or they can be bought directly from various online Mexican retailers. If you really want to make this and can not get them, you can use a combination of smoked paprika (a couple teaspoons should do nicely) and chipotle paste, which is pretty widely available. The tricky part is telling you how much chipotle paste to use – in my experience the spiciness varies from brand to brand, so I’d personally start with 1 tablespoon, then add more to taste.
- Butter beans. You could swap in another bean if you wish. I love these big creamy beans though and I find that they cut through the heat of the sauce really nicely.
- The kale is completely optional, but it adds a nice texture and some extra nutrition so throw it in if you can. Spinach works too.
- Any cheese will work well as a topping, I tried with cheddar and with feta and both were good. Cotija or queso fresco would be the more authentic taco toppings but in the UK they’re tricky to find and expensive, so I just swap in feta when I want something crumbly.
- Pickled red onions are an ideal topping, I love the tang they add to these and it’s easy to make your own if you need to (instructions are in the recipe notes), but plain sliced red onion will do nicely too.
- Corn tortillas will always be my fave for tacos, but use flour if you must. The ones I am using here are the Cantina Cali Street Tacos from Sainsburys which are the cheapest real corn tortillas you’ll find on this side of the pond, though they do look a little different from other brands, they have a slightly different color to them (from the olive oil maybe?) but they fry up well and I recommend them!
This recipe is easily made vegan / plant based:
- Swap the honey for sugar or maple syrup.
- Instead of cheese, bulk up the avocado and other toppings.
Q: How spicy is this?
The sauce can be milder or spicier based on how many chipotles you use. I tried it with two chipotles and it was decidedly mild. I tried it with five chipotles and it had a little more of a kick but still not overly hot once combined with the butter beans.
I would emphasize that the sauce will taste sooo much spicier from the pan than it does in the tacos. The butter beans really mellow it out.
The Best Toppings for Tinga Tacos
The toppings, as ever, will make or break your tacos.
When we have a deep, smoky and savory filling like this one, I feel it makes sense to focus on cooling and fresh flavors. This is why onion (pickled or raw) and lime are top of my list. We also want to make sure our tacos aren’t too dry (always a risk with beans even when they’re swimming in a rich sauce like this one) which is where cheese, avocado or sour cream / crema can play a role.
- Red or pickled red onion (a MUST for the zinginess)
- Lime wedges
- Crumbled or grated cheese
- Avocado or guacamole
- Sour cream or crema
- Lettuce or slaw
- Chopped cilantro (fresh coriander)
- Black olives
More Vegetarian Bean Tacos to Try
If you’re trying to eat more beans, tacos are one of the best ways to get you there! I have a taco for all the usual beans:
Vegetarian Tinga Tacos with Butter Beans
Ingredients
- 14 oz (400 g) can of butter beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 handful chopped kale, optional
- 8-10 corn tortillas
Tinga Sauce
- 1 red or white onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano, ideally Mexican oregano but Italian works too
- 2 tsp dried cumin
- 14 oz (400 g) canned diced tomatoes, use fire roasted if available to you
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3-5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, see notes
Toppings
- sliced or pickled red onion, see notes
- crumbly cheese, cotija, feta, etc
- avocado slices
- lime wedges
- chopped cilantro, fresh coriander
Instructions
- Make the tinga sauce first, before you start prepping any of the toppings.Saute the onion and garlic until soft, then add in the spices until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, honey and chipotle peppers (scooping in some of the adobo sauce too) and bring to a simmer. Blend the sauce in a jug blender, then pour half of the sauce back into the pan (the rest can be stored to use another day).1 red or white onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1.5 tsp dried oregano, 2 tsp dried cumin, 14 oz canned diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp honey, 3-5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Add the butter beans, and let it simmer over a low heat while you prep all of the toppings and warm your tortillas.Once you're ready to eat, stir the kale (if using) until just wilted.14 oz can of butter beans, 1 handful chopped kale
- Serve! Scoop the butter bean tinga over tortillas and add your choice of topping.8-10 corn tortillas
