Slow Cooker Pork Tacos
Posted: 10/19/2020
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Change up your taco menu with slow cooker pork tacos, a Mexican riff on tender pulled pork with green tomatillo sauce. Serve on warm corn tortillas with all the fixings.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Pork tacos are an exciting alternative to ground beef.
How long it takes: 20 minutes to prep, 6 hours to cook
Equipment you’ll need: Slow cooker, sharp knife, blender, tongs
Servings: x
Table of Contents
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You’ll love these meltingly tender pulled pork tacos with flavorful green tomatillo sauce! Piled on a charred corn tortilla with pickled red onions and soft queso fresco, and dripping with warm salsa verde, rich meaty pork tacos are a taste sensation.
Perfect for parties, or for meal prepping, slow cooker pork tacos can be made ahead and simmered in a crockpot all day. Enjoy the rich aroma coming from your crockpot all afternoon. Just before serving, shred the meat, prepare the toppings, and enjoy!
About this Recipe
There’s a little bit of prep time at the beginning of this recipe, just twenty minutes or so. Once you get everything in the crockpot, it’s all hands off. Depending on how much time you have, cook it on low or high. It will be ready when you are!
I’ll run through the recipe here and give you lots of helpful tips before you get started. As always, the complete printable recipe card can be found at the end of this post.
What You’ll Need
- Pork Shoulder: Other cuts are okay but I find that pork shoulder is the best for this recipe (see FAQ below). Cut it into approximately one inch chunks so that it cooks evenly. If you can’t find a boneless pork shoulder, just cut around the bone and discard it.
- Tomatillos: If you’re not familiar with tomatillos, look for them in the produce section of your grocery store. They look like green tomatoes with a papery husk. Before using, remove the husks and rinse off the sticky coating.
- Jalapeño Peppers: Remove the seeds and ribs for less heat, if desired.
- Garlic: I usually add 2 cloves but feel free to use more or less garlic. Totally up to you!
- Onion: Any type of onion is fine.
- Fresh Cilantro: Don’t worry about picking off all the leaves. Tender stems are fine, too, because the whole business goes in the blender.
- Worcestershire sauce, Salt and Pepper: Simple seasonings to complete the sauce.
How To Make These Easy Tacos
Put the pork into the crockpot. You can brown it in a skillet first if you like but I usually go the easy route and just dump it in raw. The long cooking time ensures that it will be safely cooked .
Next, prepare five or six tomatillos and cut them into chunks. Add half an onion, cut into quarters, halve two jalapeño peppers, and peel and halve a couple cloves of garlic. There’s no need to finely dice anything because it’s all going into the blender.
Add the tomatillos, onion, jalapeño, and garlic to a blender, along with chopped cilantro, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Process until the sauce is a slightly chunky consistency. It will look like salsa verde, which it really kind of is.
Pour the sauce over the pork, stir, turn on the slow cooker, and walk away. Your job is done, at least for a while — “a while” meaning 7-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.
Just before serving, remove the pork from the slow cooker, and shred it with a couple of forks. It will be v-e-r-y tender. Stir in some of the cooking sauce and serve on warm corn tortillas. So flavorful, like a Mexican carnival in your mouth!
How To Char Tortillas
Use a low setting on your gas stove and place a tortilla directly on the burner grate for about 45 seconds or until flecked with dark spots. Flip over and do the other side. Keep tortillas warm in a cloth towel.
Toppings are always welcome too! Try shredded lettuce, crumbled queso fresco or a Mexican cheese blend, pickled red onions, chopped sweet onion, guacamole, chopped cilantro, or whatever you like.
Serve pork tacos with Dos Equis or a craft beer of your choice. A specialty cocktail like a spicy Paloma or a strawberry margarita is always fun. Have lots of tortilla chips on hand to scoop up leftover sauce! Make your own baked tortilla chips or air fryer tortilla chips with any extra corn tortillas.
FAQs
What cut of pork is best for tacos?
I like to use a boneless pork shoulder. Sometimes this cut is called pork butt or Boston butt. The pork shoulder has enough fat and connective tissue to make the meat tender and flavorful when slow cooking. You’ll find that most pulled pork recipes use pork shoulder. Pork tenderloin and pork loin roasts are leaner and perfect for quicker cooking methods.
Can you put raw pork in a slow cooker?
Yes! The pork will be safely cooked using either the low or high setting. Some people like to brown the pork before adding it to the slow cooker for more flavor.
Is 4 hours on high the same as 8 hours on low?
The contents of your slow cooker are simmered at the same temperature whether you choose High or Low. The difference between the two settings is how long it takes the slow cooker to achieve the cooking temperature. That means that most recipes can be prepared using either setting, depending on how much time you have.
Make It Your Own
- Not a fan of pork? Substitute 2 pounds (or more) of boneless skinless chicken thighs for the pork.
- Not in the mood for tacos? This rich braised pork is delicious served on cilantro lime rice or quinoa for a burrito bowl. Sprinkle with queso fresco and fresh cilantro.
- Stir in a can of white beans, such as Great Northern or cannellini, rinsed and drained, for a more stew-like dish.
- If you prefer, prepare the pork in your oven, using a heavy covered pot, like a Dutch oven. Bake at 300°F for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
Storage and Reheating
Leftover pork tacos can be stored in a covered container in your fridge for three to four days, or a couple months in your freezer.
Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. Alternatively, spread the meat on a large rimmed baking sheet and broil it until lightly browned.
Make-Ahead Ideas
Prepare the slow cooker pork taco meat, cool and refrigerate. Reheat in the crockpot or use one of the methods above when you’re ready to serve.
More Taco Ideas
Tacos are welcome on Taco Tuesday or any day of the week. Try one of these exciting taco fillings:
- Instant Pot Carnitas
- Easy Fish Tacos Recipe with Blood Orange Salsa
- Salmon Tacos with avocado slaw
- Crispy Sweet Potato Tacos — a vegan recipe, with beer marinated sweet potatoes
- Cauliflower Tacos with Chickpeas — another meatless idea
- Shrimp Tacos with Avocado, Mango and Pineapple Salsa
- Healthy Taco Meat (in 30 minutes!)
- Cherry Chicken Tacos with Lime Sour Cream
- Instant Pot Shredded Chicken — 2 ingredients, 4 variations
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
servings
Change up your taco menu with slow cooker pork tacos, a Mexican riff on tender pulled pork with green tomatillo sauce. Serve on warm corn tortillas with all the fixings.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ to 2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
- ¾ pound (5 to 6 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
- ½ medium yellow onion, cut into quarters
- 2 jalapeños, stemmed, halved and seeds scraped out
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- ¼ cup (loosely packed) roughly chopped cilantro, plus more for serving
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- Garnishes: pickled red onions, lime wedges, queso fresco cheese, additional cilantro, avocado
Instructions
- Place pork chunks in slow cooker.
- Cut tomatillos, onion, and jalapeno into 1-inch pieces. Add vegetables, garlic, cilantro, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to blender. Blend until no large chunks remain. Pour vegetable sauce over pork in slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours.
- Remove pork from slow cooker with tongs or slotted spoon to large plate. Shred with two forks. Return to sauce in slow cooker.
- Serve immediately on corn tortillas with desired toppings and tomatillo sauce from slow cooker.
Notes
- Nutrition information does not include tortillas or toppings.
- If you prefer, prepare the pork in your oven, using a heavy covered pot, like a Dutch oven. Bake at 300°F for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
- For more servings, double all ingredients.
- Substitute 2 pounds (or more) of boneless skinless chicken thighs for the pork, if desired.
- Alternate serving suggestion: This rich braised pork is delicious served on cilantro lime rice or quinoa. Sprinkle with queso fresco and fresh cilantro.
- Stir in a can of white beans, such as Great Northern or cannellini, rinsed and drained, for a more stew-like dish.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 171kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 68mg, Sodium: 276mg, Potassium: 631mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 163IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 2mg
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
denise says
looks fantastic.
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Denise! We love these!
Victoria says
Hi! New reader here. Do you use corn or flour tortillas? And how do you get them to be slightly charred like that? Just heat on a stovetop?
Rachel Gurk says
Hi! Welcome to Rachel Cooks. :) I use corn, but you could use either. I do just char them on the open flame of my gas stove (they go fast so watch them!). This pork is also great on its own, on nachos, or in a burrito bowl!