Mexican Vegan Black Bean & Sweet Potato Skillet with quinoa is a flavorful vegan dinner recipe! All it requires is some basic ingredients and one skillet or pot!
Color me telepathic, but I have a sneaking suspicion you could use an easy meal using mostly pantry ingredients.
Sometimes we need cooking to be the easiest thing we’ve done all day or could simply use a win, and this vegan black bean sweet potato skillet is exactly that!
Incorporating basic ingredients you likely already have on hand, you’ll likely not even need to leave the house to make this beauty happen.
Bonus points: this recipe makes a TON of food – great for feeding the whole family or for meal prepping.
Bonus points, the sequel: You can make all sorts of changes to this meal based on what you have on hand!
This colorful, nutritious meal includes sweet potato, black beans, quinoa, bell pepper, onion, garlic, salsa and chili powder. The end result? A hearty meal that’ll tickle the tongue buds and make you feel satisfied.
The best part? This vegan Mexican inspired meal is so easy to prepare. Let’s talk about it!
How to Make One-Pot Vegan Mexican Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet:
Add the dry quinoa to a saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak for at least 15 minutes (up to overnight). Drain the water and set aside until ready to use. You can prepare the rest of the recipe as the quinoa is soaking.
Heat the avocado oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper (and jalapeno if adding) and saute, stirring occasionally until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.
Add the quinoa, broth, salsa, chili powder and sea salt and bring to a full boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes before adding the black beans and chopped sweet potato. Replace the cover and continue cooking until sweet potato and quinoa are cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir well and taste for flavor. Add more sea salt and or salsa or lime juice to taste.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Replace quinoa with brown or white rice.
- If you don’t have bell pepper on hand, skip it.
- Add any of your favorite fresh vegetables. Broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, and/or zucchini would be great!
- Not vegan? Add a chopped chicken breast, ground beef, and/or cheese.
- Have a can of corn in the pantry? Toss ‘er in!
- Replace the black beans with garbanzo beans.
More Mexican-Inspired Meatless Recipes:
- Small Batch Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
- Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas
- Roasted Summer Vegetable Burrito Bowls with Avocado Basil Crema
- Roasted Veggie and Avocado Breakfast Burritos
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If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Vegan Mexican Black Bean and Sweet Potato Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 yellow onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper cored and chopped
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa soaked for 15 minutes
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 cup salsa or more to taste
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
- 1 medium sweet potato chopped into 1-inch cubes
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper (and jalapeno if adding) and saute, stirring occasionally until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add the quinoa, broth, salsa, chili powder and sea salt and bring to a full boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes before adding the black beans and chopped sweet potato.
- Replace the cover and continue cooking until sweet potato and quinoa are cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Stir well and taste for flavor. Add more sea salt and or salsa or lime juice to taste.
- Add the dry quinoa to a saucepan and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak for at least 15 minutes (up to overnight). Drain the water and set aside until ready to use. You can prepare the rest of the recipe as the quinoa is soaking.
This was absolutely phenomenal. I added diced green Chiles when I added the salsa. Aside from that, no other modifications. I served with fresh cilantro and for my husband some vegan sour cream. Delicious!
Oooh, YUM! I’m a huge fan of diced green chilis and hadn’t tried that myself – I’ll have to do so now! Thanks for reporting back! xo
Hi, This is exactly what I have been looking for to cook and freeze. Made this last night for dinner and I am so excited to add another dish to my “usual” options. I just had my first taste of Moroccan Tagine–this sounds exactly like it. I know it’ll be yummy.
Yaaaay I love it, Anna! Hope you’re staying well! xoxo
I’m excited to try this. I just had my first taste of Moroccan Tagine–this sounds exactly like it. I know it’ll be yummy. It’s seems like fate that you recently posted this! Thx.
I’m so happy you like the idea of it, Tricia! Let me know what you think once you have the opportunity to try it! Stay well 😀 xoxox
Wonderful! Made this last night for dinner and I am so excited to add another dish to my “usual” options!
I’m so thrilled to hear it, Britnie! Thanks so much for the feedback! xo
I am so excited to see this recipe and the options you give. This is exactly what I have been looking for to cook and freeze. Thank you so much and I appreciate all of your hard work. Take care….
I’m so happy you like it, Laura! Thanks for the sweet note and stay well! 😀 xo
Hi,
This looks great! I think you forgot to add the quinoa in step 3. Also, when soaking the quinoa, do we soak in the broth and then add the whole thing in step 3? Or do we soak in water and then drain?
Thanks!
Thanks for catching that, Denice! I fixed the recipe. You’ll soak the quinoa in water, then drain prior to cooking it (save the broth for the cooking process). My apologies for the confusion! xo