Sweet Potato + Black Bean Bowls with Cilantro Lime Sauce

on Sep 13, 2020, Updated Oct 01, 2020

This post may contain affiliate links.

Need a delicious dinner idea? Try these Sweet Potato Black Bean Bowls! It’s easy to make, budget friendly, plant based, and really tasty.

I start by simply roasting the sweet potatoes with store-bought taco seasoning and garlic. While that cooks I make the rice, and then prep the Vegan Cilantro Yogurt Sauce. It’s a fresh and zingy sauce that comes together in about 1 minute and it pairs perfectly with the savory black beans and spiced sweet potatoes.

MEAL PREP FRIENDLY

When making this recipe, I often make extra sweet potatoes and rice to use for other dinners throughout the week. That’s kind of a rule for me… If I’m taking the time to make sometihing like potatoes or rice – which take about 20 minutes – then I always make a lot so I don’t have to do it again the next night.

It’s become a habit and one that always makes me feel like I’m #winning at life because walking into the kitchen after a long day and realizing that you can easily throw together a delicious and healthy meal in a flash (because most of the more time consuming ingredients are already prepped 🙌) is pretty great.

Sometimes I use the batch cooked potatoes or rice to make this exact recipe again the next night but other times I change it up and make tacos with the remaining ingredients instead.

Meal prepping doesn’t have to mean eating the same exact meal over and over. It’s just about identifying where you can save some time, and this method – cook once, eat for days – saves both time and money so keep that in mind when you’re making this recipe 👍

I also recommend batch prepping the sauce. It’s what I call a “blender sauce” because everything gets put in the blender and 30 seconds later, you have sauce! Or salad dressing..or veggie dip! There are a lot of fun ways to use this fresh and zesty cream sauce.

But my favorite way to serve it is on top of these Sweet Potato and Black Bean Bowls, pilled high with crunchy lettuce, warm seasoned rice, crispy sweet potatoes, and hearty black beans. I crumble some tortilla chips on top each bowl for added crunch and flavor too… how good does that sound?

There’s a reason that is one of my favorite meals to make at the moment. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊

Happy cooking!

Sweet Potato + Black Bean Bowls with Cilantro Lime Sauce

By: Nicole Vranjican

Servings: 4 servings

Pin Recipe Rate Recipe Print Recipe

Ingredients

For the Potatoes:

2 medium sweet potatoes
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp taco seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper , to taste

For the Rice:

1.5 cups rice
3 cups water
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the Sauce:

1 cup cilantro
1 cup vegan yogurt, unsweetened, plain I recommend the Whole Foods 365 brand for this recipe
2-3 tbsp salsa verde / tomatillo jalapeno hot sauce , I use the Trader Joe's Green Dragon Sauce
1/2 lime
salt to taste

You Will Also Need:

1 can black beans
1 avocado
1.5 cups shredded purple cabage
lettuce or salad mix for serviing
salsa
tortilla chips, (optional)

Instructions

For the Potatoes:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Peel the potaotes and chop into bite sized pieces. Transfer to a cookie sheet and top with oil, taco seasoning, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat and then spread the potatoes into an even layer.
Roast for 20 minutes or until fork tender and slightly crispy around the edges.

For the Rice:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. In the meantime, rinse the rice well and add it to the water once it's boiling. Add the bay leaves, cumin, and salt. Stir and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until al of the water is absorbed and the rice is fluffy/cooked through.

For the Sauce:

Add the cilantro, yogurt, and 2 tbsp of the hot sauce to the blender along ith a squeeze of lime juice. I do a little lime juice at first and add more as needed depending on how tangy the brand of vegan yogurt is. TIP: I also like to start with 2 tbsp of hot sauce and add more if needed. 2 tbsp is usually perfect for me but use more if you like a good amount of heat! And use less if you want it to be mild.
Then just blend on high until very smooth. About 30-40 seconds. Then add two pinches of salt and mix well.
Refridgerate until needed.

For the Beans:

Warm the beans through (I do this in the microwave) Sometimes I simply warm the beans and season with salt and pepper but I also like like to add a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of salsa before warming and then mash the beans slightly once they're warmed through to create a quick + healthy "refried beans" mixture. Both will work well for this recipe.

Assmeble:

In a large bowl, add a few handfuls of cold crunchy chopped lettuce (I recommend tossing the salad with some salsa for some added flavor. The salsa will act as a salad dressing)
Then top the lettuce with the warm rice, beans, shredded cabbage, and sliced avocado. Drizzle on the Cilantro Lime Yogurt Sauce, add some salsa, crumbled tortilla chips for crunch, and some more fresh cilantro.
Enjoy!

Notes

This is a very meal prep friendly recipe. You can batch cook a large portion of the sweet potatoes and rice and keep it in the fridge to use throughout the week. When I do this, I also open a can of beans, rinse and drain them, and put that in the fridge too. I’ll chop some lettuce and prep the cilantro sauce so everything is ready to go. When this is the case, I can quickly heat and eat a hearty meal in minutes and whether it’s been a busy day or I’m just feeling lazy, I’m always very grateful to have a easy, healthy option waiting for me.

You can think of this bowl as kind of a warm taco salad, so anything you’d like on a taco would work well here. Vegan sour cream? Sure! Vegan cheese? That would be awesome? A different kind of beans or maybe some vegan chorizo? Yes and yes. Get creative and make it your own. This is a great base recipe to play around with.

For the Cilantro Lime Yogurt Sauce:

You can really play around with how much lime you add as well as how much hot sauce you add. If you want a lot of zing, add more, for less, just add less. I like to start with a little, taste, and then add more as needed. It’s easier to add than it is to remove so add a little at a time.

Keep in mind that the flavors should really pop though, so make sure you’re adding a fair amount of salt and lime juice to give it some life. You’d be surprised and how much a pinch or two of salt can totally transform and sharpen the flavors in this recipe!

Which Yogurt is Best?

I used Whole Food’s 365 Plain Unsweetened Almond Milk yogurt and it was great. Super thick and creamy with a milf flavor that lends itself to both sweet and savory recipes. It’s my favorite at the moment so I used it for this recipe. I like Kite Hill too – that’s what I used in the recipe video above – but I found it was much thinner and more sour so it’s not my favorite for this sauce. I would imagine that a vegan sour cream would work well as a base but I haven’t tried it that way yet.

Guacamole or store-bought cashew cheese sauces would be a great alternative or addition to the Cilantro Lime Sauce if you want to change it up!

If you enjoyed this post, please give it a five start rating below. That really helps more people find my blog and I would really appreciate it!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Nicole Vranjican