Colorful Slow Cooker Pork Taco Recipe

Slow Cooker Pork Taco Recipe by Bunny Baubles 3

When dinner consists of rainbow colors, huge flavor, and includes the word taco, you KNOW I’ll be in to it. But to be honest, I reserve most new and experimental cooking for the weekend. Weekdays are for roasting veggies with salt and pepper, repeating tried and true teriyaki salmon and hummus chicken recipes… or just heating up some really spot on frozen tamales. But by Sunday I am fully rested and wake up on a mission to cook something that’s exciting. And by exciting, I mean that I have enough gusto to head to the meat counter and ask for a 3 1/2 pound pork shoulder. Sunday’s usually involve friends too, so there’s someone around to help me eat this 3 1/2 pound hunk of meat.

Slow Cooker Pork Taco Recipe by Bunny Baubles 5

Slow Cooker Pork Taco Recipe by Bunny Baubles 2

There’s something so inspiring about putting a roast into your cart and heading home to slather it with a spice rub. Makes you feel powerful, like you can achieve anything. Maybe that’s why my Sunday cooking adventures are always followed by a new craft project.

Truly, though, you CAN achieve anything with this meal. I don’t by any means consider myself a meat master, but my taste testers all agreed that this recipe could have come from any of our fave Mexican spots. Tender, juicy, and flavorful pork pairs perfectly along side fresh and crunchy toppings like cilantro onion salsa and thinly sliced radishes. And they’re so colorful too! I found the original recipe on Simply Recipes, but I found that amounts on the spice rub were entirely more than necessary, and I cut a thing or two out because I didn’t have them on hand.

Colorful slow cooker pork taco recipe

^Food is SO beautiful, proof that God has to exist to have created this gorgeousness.

After being delicious, the other best two things about this recipe? It’s so easy and so cheap. Mix some spices, throw it on the meat, sear the meat, and put it in the crock pot. Prep the toppings early in the day or right before the meal, whatever your schedule allows. I might even make these on a weekday, they’re that easy. In all, since I had the spices (they are pretty normal ones), it cost $20 to feed eight people. That’s $2.50 a person for 3-4 tacos each.

Slow Cooker Pork Taco Recipe by Bunny Baubles 1

Serve these stress free tacos for a big party taco bar style with all of the toppings in bowls. I suggest onion and cilantro salsa, sliced radishes, shredded purple cabbage, diced jalapenos, queso fresco, avocado, and limes.

Slow Cooker Pork Taco Recipe by Bunny Baubles 4

See below for the recipe.

Easy Slow Cooker Pork Tacos

Servings: 8
Time: 7-8 hours
Difficulty: easy
Print

Ingredients

Meat + Rub:
3 1/2 lb. Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt Roast
2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
2 Tbs. Chili Powder
2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Cayenne
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

Toppings:
1 White Onion, diced
Handful of Cilantro Leaves, chopped
1/2 head Purple Cabbage, shredded
Small Bunch of Radishes, sliced thin
2 Avocados, sliced thin
2 Limes, cut into wedges
2-3 oz. Queso Fresco, crumbled
1 Jalapeno, diced

24 – 30 Corn Tortillas

1. Mix together all of your spices to make the rub. Pat your roast dry and cover with the spice rub. You should have just a little left that you can save and add to the meat after it is done cooking for extra flavor. Let the meat rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. During the hour of resting, prep all of your toppings and place them into bowls in the refrigerator. The onion and cilantro should be mixed together as a salsa. If you choose to cut your avocados ahead of time, squeeze a slice of lime on top of them to keep them from browning.

3. Once an hour as passed, heat a pan or a cast iron skillet to medium heat and add the oil. Sear your roast on all sides for about a minute to brown them. Place the roast into the slow cooker on low for 3 hours. Then, turn it to high for the next 3 hours. You can alternatively cook it on low for 8-10 hours if you have more time before dinner.

4. Then, shred your pork up inside the slow cooker with two forks, mixing it together with all of the juices. Add in the remaining spice rub for extra flavor. Heat up your tortillas and take your toppings out of the refrigerator to serve with the tacos.

Recipe by Bunny Baubles Blog