These ground pork tacos are packed with perfectly seasoned ground pork, pickled onions, shredded lettuce, blackened corn, avocado, and chipotle ranch. They are always a family favorite and a welcome sight on the dinner table.
I love making these tacos as much as my family loves eating them. They are always filling, refreshing, and flavorful. I like to serve them with cilantro lime rice, refried beans, and rice pudding.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Ground pork: Use ground pork with a bit of fat in it. Fat gives the pork flavor.
- Seasonings: ground cumin, garlic powder, salt, dried oregano, smoked paprika, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper.
- Tortillas: This recipe works with both flour and corn tortillas. To make the corn tortillas pliable and easy to roll, wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20-30 seconds or until warm.
- Adobo sauce: You want the sauce that chipotle peppers are packed in. They can be found in the Hispanic food section of most grocery stores.
How to Make Ground Pork Tacos
This is the summary version; see the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and the instructions.
Brown the ground pork in a large skillet over medium heat. About halfway through the browning process, add the onions. Cook until the pork is browned and the onions are soft.
Reduce the heat to low and stir in the ground cumin, garlic powder, salt, dried oregano, smoked paprika, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, and ground cayenne pepper. Add the water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the water evaporates and the pork is coated.
Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook for a couple of minutes without disturbing. Then, stir and cook for several more minutes or until the corn is slightly charred. In a small bowl, mix the ranch dressing and adobo sauce.
To assemble the tacos, spoon the pork mixture into the warmed tortillas and divide the blackened corn and other toppings evenly between the tacos. Drizzle the Chipotle ranch over the assembled tacos.
Preparation Tips
- These tacos are customizable to suit everyone’s taste. You can use soft flour or corn tortillas or white or yellow crispy taco shells. Top with your favorite taco toppings, like lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.
- Store chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 months. For more extended storage, flash-freeze them with a little adobo sauce on top of them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Once fully frozen, move them to freezer zipper bags and freeze for up to 6 months. I use them in my crock pot chicken tacos and Texas chili. Search my site using the term Chipotle peppers for more recipes.
- Any leftover seasoned pork mixture and toppings should be stored in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Reheat the pork mixture in the microwave at reduced power and assemble your tacos.
Serving Suggestions
Serve with peach salsa, pineapple salsa, mango salsa, or salsa verde. For a balanced meal, I like to serve Mexican coleslaw, Doritos taco salad, or tomato salad. Try peach tea or blueberry lemonade for a cool and refreshing beverage for the tacos.
More Taco Recipes
Ground Pork Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- ½ medium yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup corn kernels fresh, canned and drained, or frozen
- 8 (6-inch) flour or corn tortillas
- ¾ cup bottle ranch dressing
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
Taco Toppings
- chopped cilantro optional
- pickled onions optional
- lettuce optional
- avocado optiona;
- Cotija cheese optional
- pickled jalapenos optional
Instructions
- Brown the ground pork in a large skillet over medium heat. About halfway through the browning process, add the onions. Cook until the pork is browned and the onions are soft.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir in the ground cumin, garlic powder, salt, dried oregano, smoked paprika, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, and ground cayenne pepper. Add the water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the water evaporates and the pork is coated.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the corn and cook for a couple of minutes without disturbing. Then, stir and cook for several more minutes or until the corn is slightly charred.
- In a small bowl, mix the ranch dressing and adobo sauce.
- To assemble the tacos, spoon the pork mixture into the warmed tortillas and divide the blackened corn and other toppings evenly between the tacos. Drizzle the Chipotle ranch over the assembled tacos.
Notes
- These tacos are customizable to suit everyone’s taste. You can use soft flour or corn tortillas or white or yellow crispy taco shells. Top with your favorite taco toppings, like lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream.
- Store chipotle peppers in adobo sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 months. For more extended storage, flash-freeze them with a little adobo sauce on top of them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Once fully frozen, move them to freezer zipper bags and freeze for up to 6 months. I use them in my crock pot chicken tacos and Texas chili.
- Any leftover seasoned pork mixture and toppings should be stored in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator. Reheat the pork mixture in the microwave at reduced power and assemble your tacos.
Cara
This will go in the regular rotation! Easy to make with great flavor, and ground pork is pretty reasonably priced right now so I’m going to stock up on it
Beth Pierce
Thank you, Cara! I am so happy that you liked the tacos.