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With sweet potatoes, black beans, peppers, rice and cheese, these sweet potato black bean burritos are the perfect option for make-ahead lunches.
I'm all about sweet potatoes - from sweet potato risotto to kale sweet potato salad.
But speaking of lunch... the bane of my existence. Lauren and I don't like to eat out for lunch during the week while at work, but that doesn't mean I necessarily want to make lunch either.
While I love to cook, I just don't love making food for lunch on a Sunday and then a couple of hours later, preparing dinner or just making them back to back which is even worse!
But as I said we don't like eating out so most weeks I suck it up and do make-ahead lunches that will a few days. That's right, I try to make lunches that will last both of us the entire week. You might ask, do you get sick of having the same lunch for the whole week? Not if it's damn delicious, which these sweet potato black bean burritos happen to be.
The beauty of it is once you make these healthy burritos, you just wrap in foil and can stick in the freezer. So if you don't like having the same thing every day, no worries! Now the recipe below makes 10-12 burritos, so if you think that's a little too much food, just cut the recipe in half.
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Recipe Ingredients
- Olive oil - used to cook the veggies.
- Sweet potatoes, sweet onion, garlic, green bell peppers, limes - where most of the flavor comes from.
- Cumin, salt, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper - enhances the flavor.
- Rice - helps making the burritos more filling.
- Black beans - added protein.
- Tortillas - I use whole wheat but use your favorite.
- Pepper jack cheese - use your favorite cheese.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Toss diced sweet potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper and place on baking sheet. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes or until tender, flipping halfway through.
- While sweet potatoes are cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onions and peppers and cook for 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Stir in garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes.
- Add cumin, salt, paprika, black pepper and cayenne pepper and stir to combine.
- Add drained black beans and rice and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat and stir in cooked sweet potatoes and lime juice.
- Take a tortilla and add a heaping half cup of filling. Top with some pepper jack cheese and fold the burrito.
- Heat a large ridged skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Place two burritos, seam side down and place a weight on top.
- Cook for 3 minutes and then flip and cook for another 3 minutes or until you get grill marks. Repeat until all the burritos are made.
Benefits of Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are super popular these days and there is good reason for it. Some of the health benefits of sweet potatoes include:
- Great source of fiber, vitamins and minerals.
- Promotes gut health.
- Regulates blood pressure and sugar levels.
- Helps with keeping healthy vision.
- May improve brain function.
Do I Have to Grill the Burritos?
No. I just like to grill them to get an extra texture, but realize it takes more time. They'll taste just fine if you just wrap the burritos and heat up when ready to eat.
What Cast Iron Skillet Do You Use?
For these sweet potato burritos as well as many other recipes such as my tofu tacos, I use a Lodge cast iron skillet. It’s surprisingly affordable and will last years if you take care of it.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Be consistent when cutting the sweet potatoes so they will cook evenly in the oven.
- Add cold oil to a cold skillet and let heat up to proper temperature before adding the onion and pepper. You’ll know it is ready when the oil starts to shimmer.
- 90 second rice is easy to prepare and works great for these burritos.
- Buy a block of pepper jack cheese and shred it yourself. Pre-shredded cheese just doesn’t taste the same.
Other Healthy Lunch Recipes
If you’ve tried these sweet potato black bean burritos or any other recipe on Chisel & Fork, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube to see more tasty meals and anything else I'm up to.
Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into ½" cubes
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green bell peppers, seeds removed and chopped
- 4 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 bags Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (I used brown rice with quinoa)
- 2 (15 oz cans) black beans, rinsed and drained
- juice of two limes
- 12 large tortilla wraps
- 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Dice sweet potatoes into ½ inch cubes and toss with 2 tbsp olive oil. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes until tender and toss halfway through.
- While sweet potatoes are roasting, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, onion and pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes. Mix in cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper. Add drained black beans and cooked rice and sauté for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the roasted sweet potatoes and lime juice. Mix well.
- Add a heaping ½ cup of filling to the tortillas and top with some pepper jack cheese. You can also add other toppings like cilantro, salsa, lettuce or avocado (only if eating that day). While filling and wrapping the tortillas, heat a large ridged skillet over medium heat and spray with some oil cooking spray.
- Put two burritos folded side down on ridged skillet. Place weight on top (I have a cast iron grill press that works great). Cook each side for about 3 minutes or until you get grill marks. You can also use a panini press. Repeat until all wraps are done. (you can skip this who step of grilling them if you don't have the time, but I like the texture it adds)
- Wrap each burrito in aluminum foil and freeze what you won't be eating that day. When reheating in a microwave, please remember to take the aluminum foil off.
Notes
- Be consistent when cutting the sweet potatoes so they will cook evenly in the oven.
- Add cold oil to a cold skillet and let heat up to proper temperature before adding the onion and pepper. You’ll know it is ready when the oil starts to shimmer.
- 90 second rice is easy to prepare and works great for these burritos.
- Buy a block of pepper jack cheese and shred it yourself. Pre-shredded cheese just doesn’t taste the same.
These look delicious!