LunchMexican · 15 min · 1 servingTacos de nopal con frijoles y queso fresco

Nopal and black bean tacos with queso fresco

Name: Nopal and black bean tacos with queso fresco
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 60 g (2 oz) corn tortillas (2 small); 100 g (3.5 oz) cooked nopales, cut into strips (about 2/3 cup); 80 g (3 oz) cooked black beans, drained (about 1/2 cup); 25 g (0.9 oz) crumbled queso fresco (about 3 tablespoons); 40 g (1.5 oz) chopped tomato (about 1/4 cup); 10 g chopped onion (1 tablespoon); Cilantro, lime juice, cumin, and salt to taste; Salsa to taste

Each serving has 340 kcal, 16.8 g of protein, and 12.7 g of fiber, or 5 g of protein per 100 kcal. Ready in 15 minutes; makes 1 serving.

High in fiber
May cause bloating

Per serving

340 kcalCalories
16.8 gProtein
12.7 gFiber

Calculated ingredient by ingredient from USDA FoodData Central. 5 g of protein per 100 kcal.

Prepared by: Alex Gonzalez
Published: September 23, 2026
Sources: 8 primary

No clinical review. No advertising from drug companies and no affiliate links.How we work

Ingredients

1 serving

60 g2 ozcorn tortillas (2 small)
100 g3.5 ozcooked nopales, cut into strips (about 2/3 cup)
80 g3 ozcooked black beans, drained (about 1/2 cup)
25 g0.9 ozcrumbled queso fresco (about 3 tablespoons)
40 g1.5 ozchopped tomato (about 1/4 cup)
10 gchopped onion (1 tablespoon)

Plus, with no meaningful nutrition (not counted in the table):

Cilantro, lime juice, cumin, and salt to taste
Salsa to taste

Weights are for each food as described on its page: raw, cooked, or drained, as noted. Grams are the reference used for the math; ounces and cups are rounded US equivalents.

Directions

Warm the beans in a small saucepan with a pinch of cumin and salt, and mash them lightly with a fork.
Sear the nopales in a dry skillet for 3 to 4 minutes.
Warm the tortillas on a comal or in a skillet.
Spread the beans over each tortilla and top with the nopales.
Finish with the tomato, onion, queso fresco, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

Why it is filling

Black beans and nopales pack a lot of fiber into two small tacos, and the queso fresco rounds out the protein in a meatless meal. Nopales are mostly water and have very few calories, so they add volume without weighing you down. Beans can cause gas: if you are not used to them, start with a smaller amount and increase it gradually.

In numbers, each serving has 16.8 g of protein and 12.7 g of fiber, with an energy density of 108 kcal per 100 g of the dish. In the satiety index by Holt and colleagues (1995), the foods that were most filling per calorie were those with more protein, fiber, and water and less fat.

High in fiber: At least 5 g of fiber per serving, a fifth of EFSA’s 25 g daily reference.
May cause bloating: It has at least 30 g per serving of beans, cruciferous vegetables, or other ingredients that give some people gas.

If your appetite is small

If two tacos are a lot, make one and save the beans and nopales: they keep for 3 days in the fridge.
For more protein, add a scrambled egg or swap some of the beans for shredded chicken.

Nutrition facts

Values per serving, calculated from the ingredients. Protein per 100 kcal: 5 g.
Nutrient	Per serving
Calories	340 kcal
Protein	16.8 g
Carbohydrates	53.4 g
Fiber	12.7 g
Fat	8 g
Approximate weight	315 g (11 oz)

How it is calculated

Each ingredient contributes its per-100 g values from the site’s food database, multiplied by the amount in the recipe. Seasonings, water, and lemon or lime juice are not counted. It is an approximation: the actual size of the foods and how you cook them shift the result a little.

What each ingredient contributes to the whole recipe.
Ingredient	Amount	Calories	Protein	Fiber
Corn tortilla	60 g	133 kcal	3.4 g	3.1 g
Cooked nopales	100 g	15 kcal	1.4 g	2 g
Cooked black beans	80 g	106 kcal	7.1 g	7 g
Queso fresco	25 g	75 kcal	4.5 g	0 g
Tomato	40 g	7 kcal	0.4 g	0.5 g
Onion	10 g	4 kcal	0.1 g	0.2 g

To plan your meals

Daily protein calculator: an indicative protein range per day and per meal, to see how much of it this recipe covers.
Weekly menu for small appetites: seven days of small portions with the protein spread across meals, ready to print.

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See all recipes

Sources

Nutrition values for each ingredient (USDA FoodData Central) and the satiety reference, with the access date.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Tortillas, ready-to-bake or -fry, corn, without added salt (FDC ID 173241).accessed September 23, 2026.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Tortillas, ready-to-bake or -fry, corn (FDC ID 175036), sugars value.accessed September 23, 2026.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Nopales, cooked, without salt (FDC ID 169388).accessed September 23, 2026.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC ID 173735).accessed September 23, 2026.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Cheese, fresh, queso fresco (FDC ID 172223).accessed September 23, 2026.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average (FDC ID 170457).accessed September 23, 2026.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.USDA FoodData Central: Onions, raw (FDC ID 170000).accessed September 23, 2026.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (PubMed).Holt SH, Miller JC, Petocz P, Farmakalidis E. A satiety index of common foods. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995;49(9):675-90.accessed September 23, 2026.