This is one of the fillings for tacos that I mentioned in my previous Taco Tuesday post! An alternative to ground beef, we normally use this recipe in our ‘classic’ taco. I’ve also made a big batch of this for friends when we have a taco bar, and I’ve had people ask me for the recipe.

Taco Red Beans

• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound of dried beans, small red or kidney
• 2 tablespoons better than bouillon vegetable paste
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 2 litres of water, divided
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
• 1 15oz can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• Pinch of salt and pepper

The dried beans need to be cooked first as they will take the longest amount of time. If you want to speed up the recipe, use two cans of already made beans! From dried, it will take about 2 hours from start to finish.

In a dutch oven, add a teaspoon of olive oil and the beans and sauté for a minute or so, coating all of the beans in the oil. Incorporate the vegetable bouillon evenly before adding half of the water. Bring to a boil and then lower to simmer and cover. Check every fifteen minutes or so and stir, adding the additional litre of water in small batches. After the first hour, taste the bean to check for done-ness, but my batch of beans took around 2 hours.

In the last half hour, start the seasoning! Heat olive oil in a small sauce pan at medium. Sauté diced onion for a couple minutes until onion is nearly translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant before adding the tomatoes, cumin, coriander, and paprika. Stir often and cook for an additional ten minutes.

Combine the spiced vegetable mixture to the beans and mix thoroughly. Add the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Check bean firmness again, and simmer covered if needed, otherwise enjoy!

If you’d like to make these beans creamy, feel free to add some cream cheese into the mix. These are also great stuffed in shells and covered with salsa and cheese!