Pulled Pork Street Tacos

Pulled Pork Street Tacos are filled with delicious slow cooked pork seasoned to perfection, black beans, avocado, sweet tomatoes, thin sliced red onion and fresh cilantro.  Give yourself a long overdue break and use the delectable tender pork shoulder for multiple recipes throughout the week.

How do you make Pulled Pork Street Tacos?

First combine paprika, brown sugar, cumin,  chili powder and ground cayenne pepper in a plastic zipper bag and shake to mix.  Spread the rub all over the pork shoulder and let it sit for at least thirty minutes to overnight in the fridge.

Next heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or cast iron skillet.  Now simply brown the pork shoulder on all sides.  Once browned place on a plate.  Now add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet.  Add the onions and cook until translucent and lightly browning on the edges, Reduce the heat and add the minced garlic and cook for an additional one minute.  Then add the brandy and reduce by half.  This will take just a couple of minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire Sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth and liquid smoke.

Add the pork shoulder back to the pan, cover and place in the oven.  Bake at 300 degrees for about 4-5 hours or until fork tender. Allow the roast to rest for about 15 minutes before using two forks to shred it. Finally warm up tortillas and top with a small amount of pulled pork, black beans, sliced avocados, quartered grape tomatoes, red onion and cilantro. If desired top with a small amount of sour cream and salsa.

What is a dutch oven?

A dutch oven is a large heavy pot that works on top of the stove for browning, searing and braising. Then it can be covered and placed into the oven for slow cooking.  It is the perfect braising pan. I love my dutch ovens and I use them for soups and even for deep frying when I don’t want to clean the fryer.  Because it is so heavy it helps keep the oil at a more steady temperature.  They are so easy to use and clean.

Recipe notes and helpful tips

• This recipe is much easier to get on the table if you cook the pork shoulder in advance.
• You do not have to brown the pork shoulder but I like the way it caramelizes the meat and leaves brown bits in the pot to flavor the shoulder.
• Cooking time may very depending on the size of the shoulder. If you are cooking a smaller shoulder check at 3 1/2 hours to see if it is fork tender.
• Choose the toppings that you love.  Maybe you prefer black olives over black beans. Do your prefer thin slices of bell pepper over red onion? If so, use them.
• You can use either corn tortillas or flour tortillas.
• For a healthier version top with a small amount of smoked pork, plenty of vegetables and skip the cheese and sour cream.
• The slow cooked pork will yield more pork than is needed for this recipe.  Please see below for other recipe ideas.
• You can also cook the pork shoulder in a crock pot on low for 8 hours or until fork tender.

Other pork recipes you will love!

Pulled Pork Street Tacos

5 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Meal Tex Mex

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours hours

Servings: 12

Calories: 461kcal

Author: Beth Pierce

Ingredients

Rub

• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pulled Pork

• 5 lb. pork shoulder roast
• 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 1 large whole onion cut in 1/4 inch sliced rings
• 3-4 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

Street Tacos

• 12-15 white corn tortillas
• 1 can black beans
• 2 avocados peeled and sliced thin
• 1 cup grape tomatoes sliced in quarters
• 1/2 red onion very thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• sour cream
• salsa

Instructions

• Combine rub ingredients in sandwich bag. Shake to combine.
• Spread rub all over pork shoulder and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes or overnight in the fridge.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium heat and brown pork shoulder on all sides. Remove from heat, place on plate and set aside. In same dutch oven heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges;  turning once or twice. Add garlic and cook for an 1 additional minute. Add brandy and cook until reduced by half. Add Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth and liquid smoke. Stir to combine. Remove from heat. Add pork shoulder, cover and place in oven. Cook for 4-5 hours or until Pork pulls apart easily with a fork. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then use two forks to shred the pork.
• Heat tortillas and top with a small amount of each; pulled pork, black beans, sliced avocados, quartered grape tomatoes, red onion and cilantro. Just before serving top with small amount of sour cream and salsa.

Notes

• You can also cook this recipe in a large oven proof skillet and cover with foil.
• This is a great recipe to make with leftover pulled pork. Usually a large pork shoulder or butt will be enough for 2-3 meals!

Nutrition

Calories: 461kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 127mg | Sodium: 398mg | Potassium: 993mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 794IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 4mg

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This post was originally published April 27, 2015 and was republished April 9, 2019 with new content.