These healthy Peruvian Burritos are filled with roasted sweet potato, fresh corn, peppers, quinoa, whipped black beans, and drizzled with Spicy Peruvian Green Sauce. A delicious vegan meal! Video.
Here’s a healthy vegan dinner idea you will love. These Peruvian Burritos with Aji Verde (Spicy Peruvian Green Sauce) are not only vegan but also super delicious. Filled with healthy veggies (roasted sweet potatoes, corn, peppers, and onions), quinoa, and whipped black beans – they are satisfying, highly nutritious yet full of so much flavor!
You’ve seen the Peruvian Green Sauce before in the oh so popular Grilled Peruvian Chicken, but today I made it vegan, omitting the mayo and/or sour cream. Â I’m slightly addicted to it these days. It’s such a universal sauce- and pairs well with so many things.
Disclaimer: To be frank,  there is nothing authentically Peruvian about these burritos- except the Aji Verde Sauce which I tweaked to make vegan. They are Peruvian-inspired. They came about one day when I was using up the extra Aji Verde Sauce, and that is what I called them in my head.
Peruvian Burrito Components
Yes, there are several components to the burritos (kind of like my Frankies), but if you work on things simultaneously, you can make this in one hour.
I can hear my friends laughing right now because they tell me my recipes often take double the time I say they do… but seriously, I made this and photographed it in one hour flat. It can be done if you multitask, I promise! Read through the recipe first. 😉
- Cooked quinoa (or sub rice)Â
- Roasted sweet potatoes – feel free to use yams or Japanese Sweet Potatoes
- Sauteed veggies – onion, bell pepper, corn.
- Whipped black beans (use refried black beans or canned black beans)
- Peruvian Green Sauce ( vegan recipe below)
- Warm tortillas (or make a bowl)
How to make Peruvian Burritos
1. Roast the sweet potatoes. Start with preheating the oven to 425F and roasting the sweet potatoes. ( See full recipe below!) Dice the potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces to ensure faster roasting. Toss with oil, salt and pepper. You’ll need 1-2 cups.
2. Make the Quinoa. While the sweet potatoes are roasting, you’ll do several other things at the same time. Including cooking the quinoa. Let’s get that going.
3. Sauté the veggies. Cut and saute the veggies. Here I’ve used onion, garlic, fresh corn, bell pepper, and poblano pepper, but you can easily substitute any one of these with another, like diced zucchini. The poblano gives it a nice kick. Start with the onion and garlic, then add the peppers. Use fresh corn right off the cob, or use frozen. If you are going corn-free, feel free to sub diced zucchini. You’ll need about 1 cup.
4. Make the Peruvian Green Sauce (the star of the recipe). Here I’m keeping the Peruvian Green Sauce vegan with cashews instead of mayo or sour cream ( which you can use, up to you!) This Peruvian Green Sauce takes 5 minutes-and absolutely MAKES the burrito so don’t skip it!
Using cashews and water instead of mayo gives it a delicious, plant-based creaminess. Blend with the cilantro, garlic, lime juice and salt. Set this aside in a bowl and put it in the fridge.
5. Make the whipped black beans, which also take 5 minutes if you use canned refried black beans. Take a can of refried black beans, place in a pot over the stove and add some water to loosen it up a bit, so they are not as thick. Add the seasonings and olive oil. Whisk.
Today I’ve kept these vegan, but if you not concerned about that, add a big dollop of sour cream to make them even richer. Or goat cheese (delish!). Â My husband LOVES them this way. Olive oil works well too though You could also use canned whole black beans and place them in your food processor and puree them with water and the spices and olive oil, until creamy.Â
6. Combine. Once the sweet potatoes are crispy and tender, add them to the sauteed veggies.
7. Time to assemble. Then get your Peruvian Burrito “station” ready. As you see below- there is the quinoa, whipped black beans, veggie filling and the Peruvian Green Sauce. I’m warming tortillas right on the gas range, using tongs.
Then just start layering the ingredients. The whipped black beans are like the “glue” holding everything in- so spread it out first, then quinoa, veggies and sauce. Roll it up!
8. Serve. I cut them in half for the photos, which makes them harder to eat, so I don’t really recommend it for real life. You could crisp up the burritos in a pan if you like. Serve with the green sauce.
Storage
Store leftovers assembled or unassembled in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Serving Suggestions
If you would rather skip the tortilla or wrap, this would also make a delicious bowl.
It’s a pretty flexible recipe. You could even add leftover chicken for heartier appetites.
More Recipes you may like
Please rate the recipe for us in the comment section below! xoxo Sylvia
Watch how to make them
Peruvian Burritos with Aji Verde
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Burrito, vegan, vegan dinner
- Method: Stove top and Oven
- Cuisine: peruvian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Peruvian Burritos with Aji Verde Sauce filled with roasted sweet potato, fresh corn, peppers, quinoa and creamy black beans, then drizzled with spicy Peruvian Green Sauce. A flavor bomb! Vegan and Delicious! (Read the recipe through first before making- yes, there are several components here but this really can be made in one hour. Make several things at the same time- it can be done!)
Ingredients
- 1 small-medium yam or sweet potato, diced (about 1-2 cups)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup dry quinoa (or sub rice)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 1 ear of corn (1 cup corn kernels, or sub 1 cup frozen corn, or 1 cup diced zucchini)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 poblano chili
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 can refried black beans (or see notes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 /4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 -1 jalapeno ( or 1/2 a serrano chili)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups cilantro, small stems ok
- 1-2 tablespoons lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F and gather ingredients & cut veggies.
- Roast the sweet potatoes. Dice the sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Toss with a little olive oil, and a generous five-finger pinch of salt and pepper. Spread out and bake in the middle of the oven until crispy and tender, 20-25 minutes.
- Cook quinoa: At the same time, bring quinoa, water, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a medium pot. Once boiling, cover, turn the heat to low, and cook until all the water is gone, about 15 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave it covered. Fluff before serving.
- Saute the veggies: Also at the same time, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute onions 2-3 minutes until they just begin to soften. Add garlic, corn, and peppers and lower the heat to medium, sauteeing until tender-crisp, 8-10 minutes. Season with the salt, cumin, coriander and oregano. Set aside. When the sweet potatoes are tender, add them to these veggies.
- Make Peruvian Green Sauce: While the veggies are sauteeing, blend the cashews and water until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides. Add remaining garlic, chili, salt, cilantro and lime juice. Blend until relatively smooth. Scrape it into a small bowl.
- Whip the black beans: Place 1 can refried black beans into a medium pot, breaking them up with a fork. Â Add 1/4 cup water (or more) to loosen. Gently warm over medium-low heat, whipping with a fork until they are smooth and creamy. Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and spices. If you don’t care about it being “vegan” stir in grated melty cheese or a dollop of sour cream for extra richness. Whip with a fork until creamy and flavorful. You want these to be slightly salty. Cover and turn the heat off.
- Assemble. Warm the tortillas until soft and pliable (over a gas flame, toater oven or in the oven on a rack). Spread with whipped black beans “the glue”, a few tablespoons of quinoa, 1/2 cup of veggies, and 2-3 tablespoons of Peruvian Green Sauce. Roll up, tucking the ends in as best you can. Feel free to toast these in an oiled skillet for the best texure!
Notes
BEANS: Feel free to use regular refried beans if you can’t find refired black beans. Or use canned black beans: drain and place in the food processor with 1/4 cup water ( add more to desired consistency) salt, seasonings and olive oil. Puree until creamy! Heat up in a pot.
BOWLS:Â If making bowls instead of burritos, I would double the beans for 4-6 people. Spoon some warm whipped black beans (or use seasoned whole beans) into the bottom of a bowl. Top with some quinoa, vegges and aji verde Sauce. Garnish with avocado slices, diced tomatoes, cilantro, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower sprouts.
Yes, there are several components here but this really can be made in one hour. Make several things at the same time- it can be done!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 Burritos with 3 tablespoons of the Aji Verde sauce each
- Calories: 495
- Sugar: 8.3 g
- Sodium: 1243.8 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 82.7 g
- Fiber: 15.9 g
- Protein: 16.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Really good! My husband got excited about this recipe when he saw it and made it himself. Delicious! We confess to overeating and so only have barely enough leftovers for tonight. I’m going to encourage him to make these again!
Great to hear Mary!
Very good. I loved the use of quinoa, and the green sauce really puts it over the top. I don’t even care how bad I am at rolling the burritos – worth it!
Glad you enjoyed!
Peruvian burritos are family favorites and on repeat in our house for lunches and dinner! All the veggies, black beans and the beautiful green sauce are cravable and there are never any leftovers!
Glad you all are enjoying Robin!
I made this within a week of the recipe hitting my inbox. I followed the instructions and it did take about one hour to prep and cook the filling ingredients. My only shortcut was cooking the sweet potato bites in my air fryer at 400° for 10 min. Since we are a party of 2, we had leftovers. Our leftovers will now be used in an egg scram-bowl for a breakfast for supper meal.
I used the alternate Aji sauce with sour cream instead of cashews and freshly cooked black beans instead of canned. So goooooood.
Awesome Cynthia! Appreciate you taking time to review and sharing your helpful notes.
Great recipe. I’d love to make extra aji verde sauce. How long would it last refrigerated and can I freeze it?
Hi Gisele, It will keep up to 4 days in the refrigerator. I haven’t tried freezing this, but I don’t see why not. I guess my only hesitation might be if it will retain its vibrant green color?
This sounds delicious and I’ll try it this week as bowls. One change I might make is to leave the black beans whole and cook with the spices. That might work better in a bowl.
Yes Anne! Sounds perfect.
I made this tonight and it was delicious! Another small change I made was roasting some diced fennel bulb with the sweet potatoes. I didn’t make the vegan version of the sauce so not sure if I did that right, but it was all delicious. I think the sauce makes the dish. Will definitely make this again.
Sounds great! Glad you enjoyed.
The Peruvian burritos are a huge hit in our family. And for me 10 minutes is jsut about right for sautéing. I guess you should adapt yourself depending on the pan and stove top.
Thanks again Sylvia, for your incredible vegetarian recipes which always manage to combine great taste, nutritious food and most importantly not involve hours in the kitchen!!
Thanks Margaret, nice to hear you are enjoying!
Sauteing vegetables for 10 minutes, like you say here, is way way too long. It turns them to mush.
Too many of your recipes are saying to cook vegetables too long. You need to reduce those cook times.
This dish might have been good if the vegetables hadn’t been turned to mush.
Hi Nic, there are alot of variables here. Timing is a rough estimate and will depend on the type of pan, type of heat, level of heat, and type of vegetable. Usually we say saute to “tender-crisp”- I added this to the the recipe card, and hopefully make it more clear.
These burritos were a big hit with our adults kids who just had a baby. The flavor was amazing. We made a double batch so we could freeze 4. They make a great quick lunch!
So nice to hear Lori!
Wow. These are spectacular! There are a lot of steps, but so worth it. The sauce is the perfect compliment. This is going into my permanent recipe binder!!
Glad you gave them a try Jeanne! Appreciate you taking time to rate and review. 🙂
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Thank you so very much for the recipe. The sauce was spectacular and the combo of veggies was so good. Made the recipe for one (lucky me), and had three tacos tonight and the leftovers will allow for a bowl for lunch tomorrow and two or three tacos tomorrow night.
Happy to hear this Angie!
Fantastic and refreshing! The combination of flavors is unique sure to satisfy everyone.
Thanks so much Jim! Glad you enjoyed it!
This is a flavor explosion in your mouth. It has deep, complex flavors with it all winding up in a tortilla! My husband couldn’t finish his and I usually wait for his leftover plate. I can’t finish that piece, either. In other words, it’s very filling but the good kind the “full” = “contentment.”
Nice, so glad you enjoyed Shawna!
Would give more than 5 stars if possible! These are really yummy. The combination of pretty ordinary ingredients work really well together to give a super tasty result. My Aji Verde sauce was not really verde! Not like in the photo. And though I packed a lot of cilantro in, the cilantro didn’t really come through. But the taste was still great.
For 4 people I used 2 peppers and 4 sweet potatoes but left the other quantities the same.
I will definitely be making this agian.
Thanks, Sylvia for your great recipes. You are my go to online source for recipies. I love that the ingredients are easy to source (in Belgium where I live), they are not complicated and they taste really great. And you give great vegetarian recipes. Bravo et merci!!
Aww..thanks Margaret. So glad to hear you are enjoying! Grateful for your review.
These look amazing!
Has anyone tried making these ahead, freezing them and reheating?
Thanks Amelia…and I am curious too!
Wow! Thanks for sharing… Such a flavor explosion. Well worth the 90 mins. In the kitchen. (I went a step further and made my own refried black beans using runningonreal food.com recipe for instant pot refried black beans. I left the beans crushed and whole instead of using the immersion blender. Glad I doubled the Aji Verde sauce we couldn’t get enough of it…This one is a keeper!
Excellent, so glad you enjoyed!
So delicious! Followed the vegan recipe. The 1x portion was enough for a meal of three (Mama plus 2 growing boys, 12 & 10). The sauce really made it for us. My kids and I poured extra over our burritos so I will increase the sauce portions next time. We were all satisfied and happy after dinner!
Glad you all enjoyed these Ramona!
These were absolutely delicious. Very filling and very satisfying without the meat. The green sauce is the perfect accompaniment to these burritos and to many other dishes. Thank you for yet another great recipe.
So happy you enjoyed!
Amazing layers of yumminess and so healthy! Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
So happy you like this one Kristine!
Oh boy, is this d’lish! The cilantro sauce makes this amazing. I was able to scale this up to about 35 people, but prefer being selfish and making it only for close friends. Highly recommend!
Great Nancy, so glad it worked out!
Excellent!