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Crunchy Vegetarian Taquitos Recipe
Dinner can be an interesting experience with kids. A lot of times the first obstacle is just to get everyone to sit down at the table. After that getting your kids to actually eat what you prepared is a hurdle that sometimes feels impossible. A lot of times I will cook a meal that has separate components; the veggie, the grain, the protein, etc. But sometimes I love meals where the veggies, grain and protein are all combined into one delicious food. These crispy vegetarian taquitos meet the definition of all those things – they are delicious they have all the different components wrapped up in one crispy tortilla full of nutrition and goodness.
The first thing you need to start with is fresh ingredients. For this Crunchy Vegetarian Taquitos Recipe you will need mushrooms (I used cremini), red bell pepper, cilantro, limes, and black beans.
The second key to this recipe is chopping the ingredients super fine. I have a food chopper that I like to use for recipes like this. It will chop my ingredients really fine in a jiffy. So much better than dicing with a knife for what feels like forever! By chopping the mushrooms really fine, and then sauteing them, it almost seems like chicken in the taquito. I feel like kids have a natural aversion to mushrooms because of texture. Mushrooms generally take on the flavor of whatever you are cooking them in/with and in this case taste just like the filling which has cumin, lime and salsa in it.
These taquitos are baked, but come out super crispy and yummy. When I was a kid, I remember my mom taking us to a taco place and getting crispy bean burritos. They were deep fried and only had some kind of beans in the middle – definitely not healthy but definitely tasty. This is the made-over version of a childhood favorite.
I like to serve this with a dipping sauce of salsa combined with plain Greek yogurt. These are fast and easy to make, so great if you need to feed a crowd. We used mini tortillas which are perfect for a kid size taquito, and great for adults who are trying to watch portion size!
Try them out with your family tonight!
Ingredients
- 10 medium mushrooms
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1/4 cup green salsa
- 1/3 cup cream cheese
- 1 can (or 2 cups) black beans
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp cumin
- 15 small tortillas
Instructions
- Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth. Â Dice very fine. Â A food chopper is helpful.
- Dice bell pepper very fine.
- Heat a saute pan over medium/high heat. Â Add a teaspoon of oil, and saute bell pepper and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes until tender.
- Add green salsa, softened cream cheese, Â black beans, lime juice, and cumin. Â Stir to mix thoroughly.
- Chop 1/2 bunch cilantro and add to the mix.
- Spoon 1 1/2 – 2 Tbsp of the mixture onto each tortilla.
- Wrap tightly and place the seam side down on a baking sheet. Spray the top with oil or baking spray.
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.
Nutrition
Freezing recommendations?
Instead of baking, just freeze them in a freezer safe container. When you bake them, add 10-15 minutes onto the bake time if you bake from frozen 🙂
Corn or flower tortillas? What is green salsa? Where can I buy it.
You can use either, but flour tortillas stay together better. I have found green salsa at any of my local grocery stores.
Great recipe, and although I made some substitutions, at least one of my children at these. However, she didn’t like the black beans. Have you ever tried mashing the black beans, and then mixing?
I haven’t, but I bet it would work and be just as delicious!
My daughter cannot have dairy, do you have a substitute that you would recommend for the cream cheese? Thanks.
Hi Crystal, I haven’t tried this myself, but you could try adding mashed avocado in place of the cream cheese. Otherwise there are vegan cream cheese options at most supermarkets these days. I hope this helps!