These crispy BeanTostadas are crazy simple to make and loaded with flavor! They start with crispy tostada shells and are loaded with smashed avocado, saucy spiced pinto beans, veggies, and a quick cilantro-lime sauce.
SAUCE: See Note 2. Place cashews in a heatproof bowl. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the cashews. Let stand for 45 minutes to an hour and then thoroughly drain. Add the drained cashews, cilantro, lime juice & zest, water, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste (I add 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper) to a small powerful blender. Blend until completely smooth. Refrigerate so the flavors intensify and meld. The sauce can be made ahead of time; simply stir before serving.
MASHED AVOCADO: Halve the avocados and use a spoon to scoop the flesh into a medium-sized bowl. (Discard the pits.) Mash the avocado with a fork, add in the lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, 1/8 teaspoon EACH: garlic powder, and freshly cracked pepper. Mash again to combine the ingredients.
TOSTADAS: Spray both sides of each tortilla generously with olive oil cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides lightly with fine sea salt. Place the tortillas on a sheet pan (with plenty of space -- don't overlap). Bake for 4 minutes and then use tongs to flip the tortillas to the other side. Bake for another 3-6 minutes or until the tortillas are crispy. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes.
ASSEMBLY: Divide mashed avocado mixture evenly among the 6 crispy tortillas. Spread beans evenly over each tortilla (about 1/4 cup per tostada). Top each tostada with equal amounts of lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. Drizzle the sauce over tostadas to taste. (There will likely be some leftover sauce, but it works best to make in this quantity.)
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Notes
Note 1: This recipe uses leftovers from these homemade Pinto Beans!
Don't have the time to make from-scratch beans? It's okay! Canned refried beans work too. Gently warm them through in a small pot on the stovetop or microwave before adding to the tostadas.
If you do make the homemadepintobeans (highly recommended!), wait until the next day so the beans are thick enough to use in this recipe. (Right after being made, they're a bit thin; they thicken a lot overnight.) Warm them in a small pot or in the microwave before adding them to the tacos.
Note 2: This is likely way more sauce than you'll use, but I find this quantity blends up the best. If you'd like, you can halve it or make the full batch and use it on recipes throughout the week. (We love it on these black bean bowls.) Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.Make it vegan! The only non-vegan ingredient in this recipe is the cojita cheese. Swap that for vegan cheese (or skip cheese entirely) for a vegan recipe. Note, however, that you should read the ingredients for the tortillas, and for the beans (if using canned beans) to be sure there are no non-vegan elements. If you make the recipe for pinto beans that I include, omit the bacon.