Nigella Lawson Sweet Potato Tacos 

Nigella Lawson’s sweet potato tacos are warm corn tortillas filled with spiced roasted sweet potato wedges, shredded lettuce and gherkins, a creamy avocado-coriander sauce and a fresh tomato-and-pear relish. It serves 3 to 4, from her book At My Table.

She’s firmly in the soft-shell camp: given the choice between a crisp, curled-up taco-boat and the softshell wrap approach, she goes for the latter every time. Her assembly advice is to line a warm tortilla with lettuce, add sweet potato and gherkin, dollop on the avocado sauce, then spoon over the relish.

Her best line comes with the eating: fold them together as best you can, and don’t eat in front of anyone you’re not comfortable with. These are gloriously messy, hands-on tacos, and all the better for it.

Nigella Lawson Sweet Potato Tacos 

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Calories

410

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

Nigella’s soft tacos from At My Table: spiced roasted sweet potato wedges in warm corn tortillas with avocado-coriander sauce, a fresh tomato-and-pear relish, lettuce and gherkins. Serves three to four.

Ingredients

• For the sweet potato wedges:

• 500g sweet potatoes (cut into skinny wedges)

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• 2 x 15ml tablespoons regular olive oil

• 1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt flakes

• For the tomato and pear relish:

• 2 regular tomatoes (deseeded and cut into very small dice)

• 1 small (approx. 125g) unripe pear (peeled, cored and cut into very small dice)

• 1 fresh jalapeño chilli (deseeded and cut into very small dice)

• 2 to 3 teaspoons fresh lime juice

• ½ teaspoon Maldon sea salt flakes

• For the avocado sauce:

• 1 fairly small soft ripe avocado

• 125g plain yoghurt (use coconut-milk yoghurt to make it vegan)

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• ½ teaspoon Maldon sea salt flakes

• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

• 1 small (approx. 25g) bunch fresh coriander (stalks and all)

• To serve:

• 6 to 8 corn tortillas

• iceberg lettuce (shredded)

• gherkins (cut into wedges)

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Directions

• Roast the wedges:Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Tumble the sweet potato wedges onto a large non-stick tray. Mix the spices and baking powder, shake over the wedges and turn patiently with spatulas until lightly coated. Pour over the oil, toss again, and arrange in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through and richly browned in parts.
• Make the relish:Mix the diced tomatoes, pear and jalapeño in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of lime juice and the salt, toss, and taste for more lime or salt.
• Make the avocado sauce:Scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl with the yoghurt, cumin, salt, lime juice and coriander, and blitz with a stick blender until smooth and flecked with green. Check the seasoning.
• Warm the tortillas:Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, take them out and turn the oven off. Make a baggy but tightly sealed foil parcel of the tortillas and leave to warm in the residual heat.
• Serve:Put everything on the table, bring the warm tortillas, and get cracking.

Notes

• (how Nigella eats them): Line a warm tortilla with shredded lettuce, top with sweet potato and gherkin wedges, dollop on avocado sauce, then spoon over the relish. Fold together as best you can.
• (make it vegan): Use coconut-milk yoghurt in the avocado sauce; everything else is already plant-based.
• (wedges on their own): The spiced sweet potato wedges, just as they are, make a generous serving for two.
• (make ahead / store): Refrigerate the sauce and relish, covered, for up to 1 day.

FAQs

Why soft corn tortillas rather than crunchy taco shells?

It’s Nigella’s firm preference: given the choice between a crisp, curled-up “taco-boat” and the soft-shell wrap, she goes for soft every time. Warm, pliable corn tortillas fold around the filling and soak up the juices from the sauce and relish, which she loves, where a hard shell shatters and spills.

Her clever, no-fuss way to warm them is to wrap them in a baggy but tightly sealed foil parcel and leave them in the oven’s residual heat after the sweet potatoes come out and the oven’s switched off. That steams them gently to soft and warm with no extra effort. Corn tortillas also keep the dish gluten-free.

Why baking powder on the sweet potato wedges?

It’s a clever trick for crispier edges. A little baking powder tossed with the spices raises the surface pH of the sweet potato, which helps them brown and crisp up more in the oven rather than staying soft, giving those “richly browned” caramelised parts Nigella wants, while the inside stays fluffy.

Cut the wedges skinny and, crucially, spread them in a single layer with space between them, so they roast and crisp rather than steam and go soggy. Turn them patiently to coat in the cumin, paprika and oil. The spiced wedges are so good that Nigella notes they make a generous side or snack for two all on their own.

What does the pear do in the relish?

The unripe pear is the surprise, and it’s lovely. It adds a cool, crisp, subtly sweet crunch that plays against the ripe tomato and the heat of the jalapeño, making the relish fresher and more interesting than a standard tomato salsa. Using an unripe (firm) pear is key, so it stays crisp and dice-able rather than turning to mush.

Dicing everything very small means each spoonful has a bit of all three, balanced with lime and salt. Taste and adjust the lime, as it brightens the whole thing. It’s a close cousin of the fresh, diced style of Nigella’s jewelled salad, bringing the same crunch-and-freshness.

Are these really vegan?

As written they’re vegetarian, and they caused a bit of a stir online when Nigella called them vegan, because of the plain yoghurt in the avocado sauce. The fix is simple and built into the recipe: use coconut-milk (or other plant-based) yoghurt instead, and the whole dish is genuinely vegan, since everything else, the spiced sweet potato, the relish, the tortillas, lettuce and gherkins, is already plant-based.

So it’s an easy one to make vegan, vegetarian or just as it is. The avocado and yoghurt sauce is creamy and tangy either way. It’s a naturally wholesome, veg-forward meal, in the same spirit as Nigella’s sweet potato curry.

Can I add anything to make them more filling?

Yes, they’re a flexible base. The sweet potato, sauce and relish are satisfying, but you can bulk them out easily: a tin of drained black beans warmed with a little cumin is a classic addition, crumbled feta adds salty richness (as one reviewer did), and rice or guacamole on the side stretches them further.

Keep the fresh, zingy balance Nigella builds in, with the lime, coriander and jalapeño, so extra additions don’t weigh it down. Pickled red onions or a squeeze more lime brighten them further. A dollop of Nigella’s garlic mayonnaise is a lovely extra too. There’s more on the Nigella Lawson recipes page.

Can I make any of it ahead?

Partly, which helps when you’re feeding people. The avocado-coriander sauce and the tomato-and-pear relish can both be made and refrigerated, covered, for up to a day ahead. Press cling film onto the surface of the avocado sauce to stop it browning, and give both a stir and a taste for lime and salt before serving.

The sweet potato wedges are best roasted fresh, so they’re hot and crisp, though you could prep and cut them ahead. Warm the tortillas just before serving. Then it’s really an assembly job at the table, which is part of the fun, everyone building their own. Leftover components keep a day in the fridge.