Smashed Black Bean & Beef Tostadas
with Green Pepper, Pico de Gallo & Lime Crema
- Milk
- Soy
- Wheat
Can’t decide between the mouthwatering flavors of your favorite taco and the satisfying crunch-factor of a plate of nachos? Enter the tostada, aka the perfect marriage of the two. Here, you’ll toast tortillas in the oven for a flat, golden, crispy base. Then, you’ll layer on all your toppings—think creamy spiced black beans, melty Mexican cheeses, sautéed pepper and onion, pico de gallo, and tangy lime crema. Yep, it’s pretty safe to say these tostadas are a SMASH hit.
Ingredients
1 unit
Yellow Onion
¼ ounce
Cilantro
1 unit
Lime
1 unit
Long Green Pepper
1 unit
Black Beans
3 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
6 unit
Flour Tortillas
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
1 unit
Tex-Mex Paste
½ cup
Mexican Cheese Blend
(Contains: Milk)
4 ounce
Pico de Gallo
10 ounce
Ground Beef
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Olive Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust rack to top position (top and middle positions for 4 servings) and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash and dry produce. • Quarter lime. Halve, core, and thinly slice green pepper into strips. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion. Drain and rinse beans. Roughly chop cilantro. • In a small bowl, combine sour cream with a squeeze of lime juice. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add beef or turkey; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until lightly browned, 3-5 minutes (it will cook through in Step 5). Turn off heat; transfer to a plate. Carefully discard any excess grease from pan if necessary. Wipe out pan.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add green pepper, onion, and half the Southwest Spice Blend (you’ll use the rest in the next step). Cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly charred and softened, 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. • Turn off heat; transfer to a plate.
Use pan used for beef or turkey here.
• Heat pan used for veggies over medium-high heat. Add beans, Tex-Mex paste, remaining Southwest Spice Blend, and ¼ cup water (1⁄3 cup for 4 servings). Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has mostly evaporated, 3-4 minutes. • Remove from heat; gently mash beans with a potato masher or back of a spoon. Stir in 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4) until melted. (TIP: If mixture is too thick, stir in a splash of water.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Drizzle tortillas with 1 TBSP olive oil (2 TBSP for 4 servings); brush or rub to coat all over. Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer (divide between 2 sheets for 4). Gently prick each tortilla in a few places with a fork. • Bake on top rack, flipping halfway through, until lightly golden, 4-5 minutes per side. (For 4, bake on top and middle racks; flipping tortillas and swapping rack positions halfway through.) TIP: Watch carefully to avoid burning.
• Once tortillas are toasted, remove sheet from oven. Carefully spread each tortilla with smashed beans, then top with veggies and Mexican cheese blend. • Return to top rack until cheese melts, 2-3 minutes.
Add beef or turkey to tortillas along with veggies, then top with Mexican cheese blend. Cook through the rest of this step as instructed.
• Divide tostadas between plates. Top with pico de gallo (draining first), lime crema, and as much cilantro as you like. Serve with remaining lime wedges on the side.
Ground Beef is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 160°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the tasty Mexican flavors, though some found it a bit spicy or bland — adjust seasoning to taste 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: While delicious, several noted it was time-consuming with lots of chopping; consider prepping veggies in advance.
- Suggestions: Try adding ground beef, chicken, or extra cheese for more protein and flavor. Corn tortillas might work better than flour.
- Leftovers: Reheats well the next day; some found three tostadas filling, while others wanted more.
- Tortillas: Watch oven time closely; many found 4 minutes total sufficient to avoid burning or excessive crispiness.
Reviews from our home cooks
We added ground beef options. Out of our own groceries we added lettuce to the tostadas and jalepeno to the pico. All together this was phenomenal. Without the beef idk if it would be enough. The beans barely spread over all 6 tortillas
This recipe is one of the best things we've eaten in ages! We added ground beef to ours, and the variety of flavors combined on that crispy tortilla was just over the top!! We loved them!!
Have a bit of trouble with the tostadas bubbling up in the oven. Have tried olive oil on the top and bottom, and pricking them several time with a fork. Any other ideas would be helpful.
6 Tostadas was a lot to eat...warmed up nicely the next day. roast the Tortillas only 3 min per side. Tasty and crisp.
I liked the end result, but it seemed too putzy. I would have happily opened a can of refried beans rather than boil the beans and smash them as directed. It felt like too much mess for too little gain.
I would totally order this again! I'd get it without the beef. The beans were very flavorful! Delicious dish! I was sad my pico was missing but, the dish was still great without that missing piece.
Very tasty. It took me a lot longer to prepare than the 10 min. prep and 35 min. cook times. Maybe I'm just slow.
We had these before and ordered them again because they were so good. We have to take the tortillas out sooner than the recommended time or they get too crispy.
I wasn't sure how crispy the tortillas were supposed to get, but mine were so crisp that they were sort of brittle and it made it hard to maneuver eating them. Flavor was great, though
This was a great item. I particularly liked making mashed beans. They taste much better than canned ones.
