Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos With Chipotle & Cilantro

Our building has some sort of gas leak, so maintenance turned off the gas for all the apartments until they fix the problem. I should probably be more alarmed at the safety or health implications of this, but I’m mostly just annoyed that I haven’t been able to use the stovetop in five days.

Thank goodness we have an electric oven and a slow cooker, or they’d be getting an earful of my strongly worded but grammatically incorrect Spanish complaints.

I went a little crazy at the market yesterday and came home with 2 kilos (4.4 lbs.) of pork to make tacos… and enchiladas and about five more meals I have yet to dream up.

pork-shoulder
Hello, beautiful.

I spent a little more time making the marinade than I normally do, and it was totally worth the extra few minutes. The meat had a nice subtle spiciness – nothing too crazy – so you can adjust the chipotle and jalapeño measurements to your own taste.

slow-cooker-pork
If it falls apart when you try to turn it, you’re doing it right.

I recommend serving the tacos with extra sour cream, avocado, cilantro and Tapatío. This is actually just a good life rule.

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours, 20 minutes

Serving Size: 10-12

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos

Ingredients

  • Taco Meat:
  • 4-5 lb. pork shoulder (or other cut with some nice marbling)
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 jalapeño or other medium-spicy pepper, chopped
  • 1 T. cumin
  • 1 T. chili powder
  • 7 fresh tomatoes (or tomato purée), chopped
  • 1 lime
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil

  • Taco Fixins:
  • Corn or flour tortillas
  • Avocado
  • Sour cream
  • Cheese
  • Hot sauce

Instructions

  1. Salt the pork generously and let sit in the slow cooker while you do the rest of the prep.
  2. Combine onion, garlic, chipotle, jalapeño, cumin, chili powder and a little olive oil and microwave or sauté for about 5 minutes, until onions are softened. Transfer to food processor.
  3. Add fresh tomatoes, most of the cilantro (saving some for garnish) and the juice of 1 lime. Blend until smooth.
  4. Pour mixture over the pork, turning it over a few times to coat (the meat won't be completely submerged).
  5. Cook on high for 6 to 8 hours or low for 9 to 11 hours, turning the meat once or twice if possible. When it's done, the meat should fall apart when you touch it.
  6. Serve on warm tortillas with your favorite fixins. Save the leftover cooking liquid to cook black or pinto beans.
https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2014/10/16/slow-cooker-pork-tacos-with-chipotle-cilantro/

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