Mushroom And Butternut Squash Tacos Recipe

A delicious Mexican dish that's super easy to customize with your favorite toppings, tacos are the perfect crowd-pleasing dinner to serve up for friends and family. This colorful vegan recipe with spicy beans and veggies proves that meatless fillings should never mean compromising on taste!

Recipe developer Catherine Brookes brings us this recipe for mushroom and butternut squash tacos. It's simple, nutritious, and packed with Mexican-inspired flavor. With their naturally meaty texture, we think mushrooms make for a perfect taco filling. Along with the sweet and earthy butternut squash, they're great for soaking up all those fragrant taco spices as they cook. Roasted black beans add a little bite to the veggie medley too. 

Warm tortilla wraps are piled with the mouth-watering mixture of roasted veg and beans. They're garlicky, smoky, sweet, and spicy, and even better topped off with some fresh salad and herbs. Sliced avocado, red onion, jalapeño, and cilantro are the perfect pairings here.

To make these mushroom and butternut squash tacos, you'll of course need the two star ingredients. Along with diced butternut squash and portobello mushrooms go the black beans. These are roasted together on one baking sheet with olive oil, garlic powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, red pepper flakes, chili powder, and some salt and pepper. You'll need tortilla wraps to hold your fillings, and don't forget the toppings – avocado, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, and red onion.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Add the butternut squash, mushrooms, and black beans to a large baking sheet. Toss with the olive oil, spices, and salt and pepper to taste.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender.

Spoon the vegetable filling onto warmed tortillas.

Top with the sliced avocado, jalapeños, cilantro, and red onion to serve.

Not only are these tacos easy and delicious, but they're full of goodness too. The beans and veggies are packed with fiber and nutrients that can benefit health and digestion in many ways. Butternut squash is a great source of vitamin C and beta-carotene, which both play important roles in immune function. It also contains vital minerals such as potassium and magnesium.

Mushrooms are rich in B vitamins, which support the function of our cells. They also contain selenium and zinc to keep our skin and hair healthy. Black beans add plenty of fiber and protein, along with antioxidants that can help to lower blood pressure. The spices used in this recipe, such as cumin and paprika, have been shown to have beneficial anti-inflammatory properties.

Those fresh toppings also pack a nutritious punch. Avocado is a source of healthy fats, whilst jalapeños contain capsaicin, which has been shown to speed up metabolism and promote heart health.

There's no problem in getting creative and swapping out the veggies in this mushroom and butternut squash taco recipe depending on your preferences or what you have in the fridge. Tacos are such a versatile dish, and trying out different fillings can result in equally tasty flavor combinations. 

If you're not a fan of butternut squash, you can easily substitute sweet potato. Sweet potatoes have that same natural sweetness that complements the earthy flavor of the mushrooms. They can be diced and roasted in just the same way as the squash. If you want to add more variety to the tacos, you can absolutely roast up some other vegetables such as bell peppers, zucchini, or even cauliflower florets. 

When it comes to toppings, these can also be adjusted to suit your taste. Lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and shredded cheese (vegan if necessary!) are some great options. Sour cream and salsa also work wonderfully here.