Picture this: warm, toasted tortillas that have soaked up a little bit of delicious turkey taco flavors, all topped with ooey gooey melty cheese and your favorite taco garnishes. That's exactly what you get with these Turkey Black Bean Baked Tacos!
These baked tacos are a delicious, family-friendly dinner that is ready in about 30 minutes. Perfect for Taco Tuesday or any weeknight!
Jump to:
Baked tacos
If you've never had baked tacos, allow me to introduce you to the BEST way to eat tacos! It's a little messy, sure, but it's OH SO DELICIOUS!
Baked tacos are made by simply baking your tortillas filled with taco fillings for about 8-10 minutes. This allows the tortillas to get warm and toasted, with a little crispiness around the edges.
The tortillas also soak up a little bit of the seasonings and juices from the turkey and black bean filling, giving them lots of flavor, and sort of blurring the line between the filling and the tortilla itself.
I recommend using flour tortillas for baked tacos instead of corn tortillas, because corn tortillas can fall apart a little when the taco filling soaks them. If you're looking for a baked Tex-Mex dish using corn tortillas, try this Mexican Lasagna. It's a 30 minute dinner recipe!
More easy family-friendly taco recipes: Philly Cheesesteak Tacos
Turkey black bean tacos
If you've been following Babaganosh for a while, you'll know that I love adding black beans to Tex-Mex food (like I do in my leftover turkey and black bean quesadillas and my pulled pork black bean quesadillas). Something about the soft black beans combined with the tasty taco-seasoned meat is so delicious!
Black beans really do make the texture of tacos and quesadillas better, with barely any extra effort on your part. So if you haven't tried it yet, I really hope you add a can of black beans to your next taco recipe, starting with these baked turkey black bean tacos!
Are you ready to cook?
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground turkey (93% or 99%)
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (or less, to taste
- 1 14-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14-oz ounce can diced tomatoes (do not drain!)
- 12 small soft flour tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Garnish: sour cream, fresh diced tomato, fresh chopped cilantro, and lime wedges
Looking to try more ground turkey recipes? Juicy Ground Turkey Burgers with Guacamole
Equipment and tools
- Large skillet
- 9x13-inch casserole dish or baking pan
- Parchment paper
- Measuring cups and spoons
More unique taco recipes to try: Venison Tacos with Aji Verde
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9x13-inch casserole dish with foil or parchment paper. Arrange tortillas in a pan, folded like taco shells. It's OK if they're not perfectly standing yet, they'll stand better when they're filling with turkey and black bean filling.
Step 2: In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5-8 minutes, or until translucent and starting to brown.
Step 3: Add the garlic and cook for another minute, taking care not to burn it.
Step 4: Add the ground turkey, and break it up into pieces. Stir to combine and cook until browned and cooked completely through.
Step 5: Add the taco seasoning, black beans, and diced tomatoes. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes to reduce the liquid and incorporate the seasoning into the ground turkey, stirring once in a while.
Step 6: Spoon the turkey black bean filling evenly into the tortillas, then sprinkle cheese over top.
Step 7: Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the tortillas are crispy and lightly browned.
Step 8: Remove from the oven and garnish with sour cream, diced tomato, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges, then serve.
Recipe tips and substitutions
- You can substitute the ground turkey with ground chicken, ground pork, or ground beef, if you like. If you use ground beef and it is not very lean, you will want to drain some of the grease after cooking the ground beef.
- Skip the beans if you don't like them, or try using pinto beans.
- You can use flour or corn tortillas, though I find the corn ones fall apart easier and don't hold up well to baking and handling. It makes a delicious mess though, so not a big deal!
- Make sure to use the whole can of diced tomatoes, along with the juices, to keep the tacos juicy and extra flavorful.
- These tacos are best served fresh right after baking while the tortilla is a little crispy, but if you have leftover tacos, read the tips below for how to store and reheat them.
Favorite baked tacos toppings
We usually keep it simple with some jarred salsa and a dollop of sour cream on top of tacos, but here are a few favorite topping ideas for when we want to go all out for taco night:
- Diced red onions
- Diced green onions
- Fresh cilantro
- Pineapple black bean salsa
- Charred corn salsa
- Roasted tomatillo peach salsa
- Fresh avocado
- Guacamole
- Lime wedges for squeezing
- Shredded cabbage
- Dollop of sour cream
- Crumbled queso fresco
- Shredded cheese
How to store and reheat leftover baked tacos
If you have leftover baked tacos and want to save them for tomorrow, just let them cool completely to room temperature. Then place a clean paper towel at the bottom of a storage container and place the tacos on top. The paper towels will help absorb any extra liquid so it doesn't make the tortillas too soggy.
Before reheating, remove any extra lettuce, fresh tomato, or sour cream from that top of the tacos that you might not want to heat up.
Reheat leftover baked tacos in the oven or air fryer oven. I recommend placing them on an oven-safe baking rack on top of a baking sheet so there is air flow below the tortillas to make them crispy, and so the baking sheet catches any pieces that fall off the tacos. Reheat at 325F until heated through. I love my Instant Pot Vortex Oven + Air Fryer Combo for reheating leftovers without heating up the whole house by turning on the oven.
Reheated tacos will not be as good as freshly baked tacos because the tortillas will get a little soggy on the inside, but the delicious flavor will still be all there! So enjoy!!
I do not recommend keeping these tacos for more than 1 day though.
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Turkey Black Bean Baked Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small white onion - diced
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- 1 pound ground turkey - (93% or 99% lean is best)
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning - or less, to taste
- 14 oz canned black beans - drained and rinsed
- 14 oz canned diced tomatoes - (do not drain!)
- 12 small flour taco tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Toppings: sour cream, fresh diced tomato, fresh chopped cilantro, and lime wedges - see notes below or more ideas
Special equipment
- 9x13-inch casserole dish or baking pan
- Parchment paper or foil
- measuring cups and spoons
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F. Line a 9x13-inch casserole dish with foil or parchment paper. Arrange tortillas in the pan, folded like taco shells. It's OK if they're not perfectly standing yet.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5-8 minutes, or until translucent and starting to brown.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring to prevent burning.
- Add the ground turkey, and break it up into pieces. Stir and cook until browned and cooked completely through.
- Add the taco seasoning, black beans, and diced tomatoes with the juices. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes to reduce the liquid and incorporate the seasoning into the ground turkey, stirring once in a while.
- Spoon the turkey black bean filling evenly into the tortillas, then sprinkle cheese over top.
- Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the tortillas are crispy and lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and top with sour cream, diced tomato, fresh cilantro, and freshly squeezed lime wedges (or any other toppings), then serve.
Notes
- You can substitute the ground turkey with ground chicken, ground pork, or ground beef. If you use ground beef, you might want to drain some of the grease after cooking the ground beef.
- You can use flour or corn tortillas, though I find that corn tortillas fall apart easier and don't hold up as well to baking and handling.
- These tacos are best served fresh right after baking while the tortilla is a little crispy. When reheating, remove any extra lettuce, fresh tomato, or sour cream from that top of the tacos that you might not want to heat up. Reheat in the oven at 325F until heated through: place tacos on an oven-safe baking rack on top of a baking sheet so there is air flow below the tortillas, and so the baking sheet catches any pieces that fall off the tacos. I do not recommend keeping these tacos for more than 1 day. Read the blog post for more tips for storing leftover baked tacos.
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
Kim
Thursday 11th of April 2024
I swapped out the diced tomatoes with mango salsa. I used 16 oz. jar of Newman’s Own mango salsa chunky. It was delicious!
Kelly
Thursday 21st of March 2024
These were delicious! I added cilantro, diced raw onion and sour cream. Yum! Healthy and filling. Perfect if you’re trying to mean your daily protein goals!
Kelley
Monday 2nd of October 2023
These were a big hit! My husband raved and asked me to make them again. Also very easy for a busy weeknight.
Kaylee Buice
Monday 25th of September 2023
AH-MAZING RECIPE!! Made a few dietary tweeks since I'm diabetic but still delicious!
Kim
Thursday 21st of September 2023
Instead of canned diced tomatoes I used salsa. It really punched up the flavor of the dish!