Air-Fryer Butternut Squash Tacos

The vegetable taco is a category that, when done badly, feels like something you're settling for. Done well, it's not a compromise at all — it's a different dish from the meat-taco, with its own logic and pleasures. Butternut squash makes this case better than most vegetables. Its natural sweetness caramelises hard in the air fryer; tossed with smoky chipotle and cumin, it picks up enough savoury depth to feel like dinner rather than a side dish; and the soft-but-structural texture works well wrapped in a tortilla.

The technique: dice the squash small (½-inch cubes), toss with oil and a chipotle-cumin-paprika-brown-sugar rub, air-fry at 400°F until the edges go dark amber. The brown sugar isn't there to make the squash sweeter — there's plenty of natural sugar already — it's there to help the surface caramelise. Without it, the squash browns; with it, the squash glazes.

The taco assembly is unfussy: warm corn tortillas (the right choice for this dish — flour tortillas are too soft for the squash), the squash filling, sliced avocado, finely diced red onion, crumbled queso fresco, fresh cilantro, lime juice. That's it. No salsa needed (the squash is the flavour); no sour cream (the avocado does that job).

The photo shows the plated version: a white bowl with two corn tortillas folded around squash cubes, with visible avocado slices, red onion bits, and crumbled white cheese on top. A bowl of pico de gallo in the background suggests an optional addition for those who want more.