These plant-based BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa are a delicious fast and easy dinner recipe! They’re on the table in less than 30 minutes.
The other day, we received this comment on our Instagram: “Impressed by your ability to maintain quality, healthy cooking with a newborn. We have a 4-week old and it’s still lots of freezer meals and super simple dishes! Would love a post on how you’re making it work!” Our answer to Robin: Right now: grocery delivery and simple meals! And these BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa we created with ingredients from a grocery delivery, and made it in just 20 minutes. 20 minutes! Keep reading for the BBQ bean tacos recipe.
Related: Easy Vegetarian Recipes for Beginners & 10 Best Vegetarian Tacos
How we save time on grocery shopping
In this day and age, you can order everything from toilet paper to peanut butter to dog treats online. We love supporting local businesses; we spend time at the farmer’s markets and local stores. But for weeknight meals and boring errands like toilet paper, it’s online ordering. There is seriously nothing better than getting groceries at my front door (except for the incessant dog barking), and I marvel at it every single time. Those grocery bags at my door are the physical representation of getting hours of my day back.
Instead of getting 2-month old Larson in his carseat, driving to the store, maneuvering a cart wandering the aisles, standing in line, paying the cashier, maneuvering the cart to my car, juggling bags and car seats…I simply open the door and pull the bags in. Instead of spending time shopping, I can use it to plan meals and cook them for those I love. Genius. For this meal, we ordered the ingredients for these seriously simple BBQ bean tacos with pinneapple salsa. We were then able to make this bean taco recipe in about 20 minutes! If that’s not slick, I don’t know what is.
BBQ bean tacos ingredients
When ordering groceries online, we first jot down a list of exactly what we need to add to our shopping cart. For these BBQ beans tacos, we had to order:
- 2 15-ounce cans pinto beans
- 20-ounce can pineapple chunks packed in juice
- Red onion
- Fresh cilantro
- 1 small green cabbage
- Radishes
- 1 lime
- Tortillas
And the bean taco ingredients we already had in our pantry were:
- Dijon mustard
- Maple syrup
- Organic ketchup
- Garlic powder
- Chili powder
- Kosher salt
Knowing what we already have in our pantry makes ordering groceries online even easier, and it prevents us from overspending on groceries. If your pantry is currently overflowing with ingredients, it might be useful to keep a list of what all you have taped to the inside of the pantry door. It’ll take time to compile the first time, but it’s a major time saver when you’re throwing together a meal at the last-minute and aren’t sure what groceries to have delivered.
Related: Easy Dinner Recipes for Busy Lives
How to make BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa
These BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa are pretty close to our perfect meal. They pair the zesty brightness of pineapple salsa with the savory meatiness of barbecue pinto beans. Even better, they take under 30 minutes to make! They’re a fast and easy dinner recipe that’s a weeknight win. In this case, the timing depends on how fast you can chop. If you enlist a helper (like a spouse or friend), the prep time goes even faster. You could probably make these BBQ bean tacos in 15 minutes with multiple helpers in the kitchen!
The main part of prep in these BBQ bean tacos is the pineapple salsa. For this recipe, we found that using canned pineapple was best versus fresh for the pineapple salsa. The canned pineapple had just the right amount of tang for the salsa (though we also have a fresh Pineapple Salsa, if you’re interested!) Prepping the pineapple salsa requires a bit of chopping, but that’s really the only prep step. The BBQ beans are simmered for just a bit, only as long as you need to chop the salsa.
One of our favorite tricks for taking tacos over the top is to char the tortillas over an open flame. Take care while doing this to make sure the tortilla doesn’t burn, but you’ll find it not only warms the tacos but adds a slightly charred flavor. We hope you enjoy these BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa as much as we do, and that they make a fast and easy dinner recipe. Let us know in the comments below!
Looking for more black bean recipes? We’ve got you. Go to Best Bean Recipes!
Did you make this recipe?
If you make these BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa, we’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or share a picture and mention @acouplecooks on Facebook or Instagram.
Looking for taco recipes?
Aside from these BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa, here are a few more of our favorite taco recipes and salsa recipes on A Couple Cooks:
- Tacos Rancheros
- Pico de Gallo Recipe
- Instant Pot Tacos
- Grilled Mango Tacos with Dream Sauce
- “Verde” Lentil Vegan Tacos
- Best Salsa Recipe
- Spiced Chickpea Tacos with Avocado Cream
- Refried Bean Tacos
- Salsa Fresca
- Roasted Tomato Salsa
- Smoky Salsa Roja
- Cauliflower Tacos with Yum Yum Sauce
Looking for fast and easy dinner recipes?
Outside of this super quick BBQ bean tacos recipe, here are a few of our favorite easy recipes for weeknight dinners:
Related: Easy Mango Salsa | Jackfruit BBQ Sandwich
- Quick Cuban Black Beans
- Mushroom and Brie Quesadillas
- Simple Black Beans and Eggs
- Easy Vegetable Fried Rice
- Goat Cheese and Tomato Pita Pizzas
- Avocado Black Bean Vegetarian Quesadilla
- Easy Dal Makhani
- All Easy Dinner Ideas!
This recipe is…
This BBQ bean tacos recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
Print
BBQ Bean Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
These plant-based BBQ bean tacos with pineapple salsa are a delicious fast and easy dinner recipe! They’re on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 2 15-ounce cans pinto beans
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¾ cup organic ketchup (or with natural sugars)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 20-ounce can (1½ cups) pineapple chunks packed in juice* (or substitute Mango Salsa)
- ¼ cup minced red onion
- ¼ cup finely chopped cilantro, plus additional for garnish
- 1 small green cabbage
- 3 radishes
- 1 lime (wedges for squeezing)
- Tortillas, for serving
Instructions
- Drain both cans of beans (no need to rinse). In a large skillet, place the beans, mustard, maple syrup, ketchup, garlic powder, chili powder, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Heat on low until thickened and warm, while making the remainder of the recipe.
- Drain the pineapple and finely chop it. Mince the red onion, and chop the cilantro. Mix the pineapple, red onion and cilantro together with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt.
- Thinly slice the green cabbage and radishes. Slice the lime into wedges.
- If desired, char the tortillas by placing them on an open gas flame on medium for a few seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until they are slightly blackened and warm.
- To serve, place the beans in a tortilla, then add cabbage, radishes and a squeeze of lime (important, do not omit!). Top with pineapple salsa and additional cilantro if desired.
Notes
*Note: For the pineapple, we found that canned worked best. We tried with cored and peeled whole pineapple that is sold packaged in some groceries, and it was a bit too sweet for our taste; the canned pineapple has a sour edge that is a nice contrast in the salsa. We have not tried with fresh pineapple, and would love to hear from anyone who tries it this way. If you do try fresh pineapple, reference our video instructions How to Cut a Pineapple.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: vegan tacos, vegetarian tacos, bean tacos, bbq bean tacos, how to make tacos
What a really fun combo of ingredients for these tacos! I love barbecue anything!! And the pineapple salsa – would eat by the spoonfuls!
Thank you so much! I agree on both accounts. Combined, BBQ and the salsa make it an extra special dinner — even Alex thought so :)
A grocery delivery service is definitely one of the best inventions and I love that you’ve highlighted it as a tip for helping you cook simple but good food during the week. Also loving these tacos and the simplicity of your BBQ beans. Going on the list!!
Thank you! Yes, grocery delivery is a lifesaver for us. I can’t imagine trying to shop with a baby on the regular! Let us know if you make this!
Made these tonight and they were amazing! Can’t get over the flavors. I used fresh pineapple since that’s what I had. Added extra onion, lime and cilantro to counter the sweetness. Also served this over rice, but leftovers tomorrow will be in a taco. This is on the “keep” list for sure. Thanks guys. :-)
★★★★★
Silly question – what kind of mustard? Yellow? Stoneground? ….
Dijon mustard! It’s been updated in the recipe. THANKS!
Could I substitute chickpeas with no problem?
Yes, this should work!
really looking forward to start a plant based diet, thank you for posting this recipe! what type of tortillas are considered plant based? which ones did you use? thanks again!
Great question! Most corn tortillas are plant based: we like Mission brand or One Degree Organic (which are sprouted and organic). You can also make your own if you have time — we typically buy them but it’s a fun project! Here’s our recipe: https://www.acouplecooks.com/corn-tortillas/
Strange taste to the beans, too much ketchup imo- I added smoked paprika and extra chilli to counteract. I also grilled the pineapple which was delicious.
New whole family favorite recipe!!!! We found this and have eaten it frequently over the last several months as well as introduced it to friends and family. Everyone who has tried it has liked it!
Thanks!
PS. SO easy and quick and tasty and nutritious!
I’m so glad you love it!
I work in a public school cafeteria, I am in charge of the salad bar and plan to treat the students to yor BBQ Tacos.
Thanks for the recipe.
Sounds awesome!