Chile-sauced sweet potatoes, peppery arugula, goat cheese, and tangy avocado crema–tuck all these into soft warm corn tortillas for a delicious taco meal. Sweet, salty, bitter, smoky, and spicy, these spicy sweet potato tacos deliver rich mole flavor!
The base of these tacos are tender oven-roasted sweet potato chunks simply seasoned with spicy brick-red chile spice. To serve, spoon the spiced sweet potatoes into warm corn tortillas, then top with chopped arugula leaves and goat cheese crumbles. Finish with a big drizzle of this amazing avocado lime sauce! Yum!
Click here to PIN Spicy Sweet Potato Mole Tacos!
You can season your hot roasted potatoes with this easy chile chocolate mole or this red enchilada sauce. Or you can simply toss the potatoes with chili powder and other Mexican spices before roasting.
Spicy Sweet Potato Taco notes:
- The avocado crema is simply ripe avocado blended with water, lime juice, garlic, and salt! It goes with all kinds of Mexican tacos and quesadillas.
- You can substitute feta cheese crumbles or grated Cotija in place of goat cheese.
- **** For vegan tacos skip the goat cheese. The avocado crema offers plenty of oomph to balance the spiced sweet potato and arugula flavors.
- For protein-strong tacos, mix black beans or chickpeas with the potatoes and red sauce.
Sweet potato seasoning options:
- You can toss your roasted sweet potatoes in my shortcut vegetarian mole sauce. Or you can seaon the potatoes in a homemade or purchased red enchilada sauce or this quick and easy enchilada sauce made with chili powder.
- The easiet is way to give your sweet potatoes that smoky spice is to roast them with olive oil and a mix of peanut butter, chili powder, smoked paprika, and cocoa powder. You’ll find the amounts in the recipe notes below. Another option is to use a purchased ground mole spice blend like this one. Keep a smoky red Mexican spice blend or sauce in your pantry and you might just find yourself making these tacos all the time!
You need only 1 cup of homemade chile chocolate mole sauce for these tacos. Since the recipe makes six cups, portion the unused mole into smaller containers and freeze. Your spicy smoky mole will be ready to use in other vegetarian Mexican recipes, like these vegetable enchiladas. Mole sauce is also delicious with hot grilled vegetables.
About corn tortillas:
Mi Rancho brand’s organic corn tortillas are hands-down winners. They taste like real corn. I am not paid to say that. Mi Rancho also makes 4-inch corn tortilla “sliders” that are perfect for mini tacos or these caramelized onion and arugula tostadas.
If you don’t plan on using your fresh tortillas right away, pop them in your freezer. They’re easy to thaw–same as you would for refrigerated (not frozen) corn tortillas, place them on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray, and heat in a 325°F oven.
I try to mark Taco Tuesdays with a different recipe each week and finally broke down and bought some of these stainless steel taco holders. (Affiliate link.)
More taco recipes:
- You can put any variety potato and any flavor beans– your choice– in these vegetarian bean and potato tacos.
- Tender chard and over-easy egg tacos with salsa-spiked pinto beans and avocado–a winning combination!
- These vegetarian tofu “hamburger” tacos look and taste like the traditional ground beef tacos my mom used to make.
- Lentil tacos with spicy greens–these vegan tacos take simple ingredients and spice them with just the right amount of heat.
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Vegetarian Sweet Potato Tacos with Arugula and Avocado Crema
Ingredients
- 2 medium sweet potatoes , peeled and diced in ½-inch cubes, about 1 pound
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup mole or enchilada sauce, or 2 tablespoons mole spice blend (see note)
- 5 ounces arugula leaves , coarsely chopped
- 3 to 4 ounces soft goat cheese, optional
- 8 corn tortillas
Avocado Crema:
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 avocado
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. (If you don’t have mole or enchilada sauce, toss in spice mix as well–see note.)
- Roast the potatoes, stirring every so often, until they are golden charred on the outside and soft to your bite, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the mole or enchilada sauce. Keep warm.
- Have all the other ingredients ready before warming the tortillas.
- To serve, warm the tortillas. (I like to spray them with avocado cooking spray so they soften easily.) Fold the softened tortillas in half.
- Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the spiced sweet potatoes into each tortilla. Top with arugula and crumbled goat cheese, if using. Drizzle generously with avocado crema.
Avocado Crema:
- Puree everything together in a blender.
Notes
Nutrition
This is a slightly updated recipe from the spicy sweet potato tacos I posted here in June 2017.
Love the flavor. We substituted spinach and feta, because that’s what was in the fridge, both good substitutions. Thanks for the recipe. · 7 June, 2024
Thank you Steve! I’m so happy you like these tacos. Love your substitutions! The avocado sauce is on repeat here–it’s a wonderful vegan option. · 10 June, 2024