Our simple and delicious Pulled Pork Tacos are the perfect tacos for your next Taco Tuesday! Made with juicy & tender pork, fresh salsa, cilantro, lime juice, and your favorite tortillas. The whole family will love them for an easy dinner on busy weeknights or make a taco bar to feed a crowd!
The Best Pulled Pork Tacos (Pork Carnitas Recipe)
This Mexican-inspired dish is a go-to weeknight dinner in our house! We have SO many different ways to make a yummy batch of pulled pork – there isn’t anything much better than flavorful, tender and delicious pulled pork with some mango salsa, cilantro and lime juice! Those are some of our favorite toppings for a pulled pork taco, but feel free to pick any pulled pork tacos toppings that you love. This is not an authentic Mexican recipe, but rather my own spin – if you want an authentic Mexican recipe check out Isabel Eats!
Looking for More Pork Recipes?
If you love pulled pork recipes as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Smoked Carnitas!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Make Ahead: This is a great recipe to make on the weekend and meal prep lunches or dinner for the week! It’s seriously so easy.
- Versatile: we love how tacos seem to please everyone – there are so many options and variations – feel free to use whatever you like, but we have a ton of suggestions below!
- Crowd-Friendly: Having crowd over for dinner, prepping for the Super Bowl Sunday …. this recipe is perfect!
What You Will Need
- pork rub recipe – highly recommend our homemade pork rub, made of kosher salt, paprika, lemon pepper, a bit of cayenne pepper (optional), garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper and dry mustard. Feel free to add in a bit of cumin, chili powder or oregano too, for even more flavor and spice!
- yellow mustard + liquid smoke – these are both rubbed on the pork shoulder to add flavor, help the rub stay on, and bring some moisture for tender pork.
- pork shoulder – feel free to use pork butt or pork shoulder and boneless or bone-in.
- beef broth – this is only if you are making the Instant Pot version.
- fresh limes – because that fresh lime juice pairs so well with the pork!
- guacamole – love our homemade guacamole, but feel free to use a store bought version from your local grocery store, if that is easier.
- fresh cilantro – a favorite fresh herb to bring the most light and refreshing flavor to this quick meal.
- fresh salsa – so many options – mild salsa, hot salsa, blender salsa, mango pineapple salsa, salsa verde, etc.
- sour cream – we have a homemade dairy-free sour cream on the blog, but use whatever kind works best for you.
- tortillas – use grain free tortillas, corn tortillas or flour tortillas!
- other toppings – you could throw in your favorite shredded cheese, black beans, or bbq sauce, if you wanted to!
How To Make Pulled Pork Tacos
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to make shredded pork. This can be done a variety of different ways. In the recipe card below we included instructions for making cooked pork in an Instant Pot and crockpot. If you are short on time, follow the instructions for the Instant Pot and if you have more time, then slow cooking might be the cooking process for you.
More Ways To Cook Pulled Pork
If you are looking for more ways to cook a pork shoulder or pork butt, try making a Pork Shoulder Roast in the oven or brush off your Traeger electric smoker and make a Smoked Pork Shoulder. We even have a recipe for a Sous Vide Pork Shoulder!
Once you have mouthwatering pork that falls apart, simply place on a cutting board and use two forks to shred the entire pork shoulder.
Then build the tacos any way you want!
What Goes Well With Pork Tacos
We highly recommend the combination pictured – mango pineapple salsa, cilantro, lime wedges for a few squeeze of lime juice. There are a variety of different taco toppings, like pico de gallo, hot sauce, quick pickled red onion, and so many others that would also work on this taco recipe! You could also make some pulled pork tacos with slaw and add some creamy coleslaw or Purple Cabbage Coleslaw.
Storage & Freezer
Refrigerator: Store leftover pulled pork tacos in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Just keep the leftover meat separate from the toppings for easier reheating.
Freezer: shred cooked pork and let cool. Place shredded pork + any juices in a freezer bags and seal. Freeze for up to 3-6 months. To thaw place in the refrigerator overnight.
Recipe FAQs
- What’s the best way to shred pulled pork? Remove it from the slow cooker/Instant Pot and place on a large plate or platter. Then just use the forks or to pull apart; the meat basically just falls apart. I usually place the meat back into the juices, but that is up to you!
- What’s the difference between pulled pork and carnitas? Pulled pork is ready to eat after it is cooked and shredded. For a carnitas recipe, you would place the pork carnitas on a baking sheet and finish it under high heat to make it a little more crisp. This could also be done in a cast iron skillet on the stove top right before dinner time.
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Pulled Pork Tacos Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: Approx. 12 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot + Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our easy Pulled Pork Tacos recipe is a simple and delicious meal your whole family will love! Perfect for meal prep and busy weeknights!
Ingredients
Pulled Pork (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot):
- 1 batch of this homemade pork rub
- 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1–2 tablespoons liquid smoke
- (1) 3-3.5 lb pork shoulder (with or without the bone)
- 1 cup beef broth (for Instant Pot pulled pork only)
Tacos:
- fresh limes, slices
- homemade guacamole
- fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- fresh salsa (recommend mango salsa)
- sour cream (regular or dairy-free sour cream)
- tortillas of your choice
- cotija cheese, crumbled
Instructions
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Prep Pork Shoulder: Remove packaging and place on a large plate or platter. Rub with liquid smoke, getting into all the little crevices. Then rub with yellow mustard. Finally, take the pork rub and rub all over, it will create almost a paste.
- Cook: Place trivet inside Instant Pot and add beef broth. Ensure valve is set to “Seal.” Place pork shoulder in Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 90 minutes. Allow to naturally release 15 minutes and then manually release remaining pressure carefully.
- Shred + Serve: Remove from slow cooker and shred with two forks (discarding bone if it had one). Feel free to return shredded meat to Instant Pot to combine with the juices or to serve immediately.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Prep Pork Shoulder: Place pork shoulder on a large plate or platter. Rub with liquid smoke, getting into all the little crevices. Then rub with yellow mustard. Finally, take the pork rub and rub all over, it will create almost a paste.
- Cook: Place in slow cooker (no liquid needed) and cook on the low setting for 8 hours.
- Shred + Serve: Remove from slow cooker and shred with two forks (discarding bone if it had one). Feel free to return shredded meat to slow cooker to combine with the juices or to serve immediately.
Build Tacos:
- Place pulled pork on top of tortilla. Squeeze fresh lime juice on top.
- Add cilantro, mango salsa, cotija cheese and other desired toppings.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Other Cooking options: feel free to make a pork shoulder roast in the oven or a smoked pork shoulder!
- Season Overnight: once you have the applied the liquid smoke, mustard and pork rub you can cook it right away OR you can wrap it up (in plastic wrap or aluminum foil) and allow it to sit in the refrigerator overnight. This will help it be a little more flavorful, but it is not necessary for the recipe to turn out! It still tastes amazing if you skip that step!
- Cook Time: Cook time was calculated using the Instant Pot cooking method.
- Leftovers: if you have leftover pulled pork feel free to make pork shoulder carnitas, enchiladas or pork quesadillas!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 212
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 159 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Carbohydrates: 8.2 g
- Protein: 23.4 g
- Cholesterol: 76.3 mg
Originally published January 30, 2020.
Margaret says
This recipe was amazing – 5 stars from all four family members, including the picky tween!! Don’t skip the mango salsa. It is the perfect balance to the savory pork. (I didn’t have pineapple so just used all mango and it was perfect.). This will be on regular rotation in my house. 🤩
Erin says
So happy to hear you enjoyed this one, Margaret!
Leslie says
Wow this pulled pork might be the best I’ve ever had, I didn’t have to add anything extra. I didn’t have liquid smoke but it really didn’t even need it! I’ll be making this pork on repeat from now on! I used a small (3lb roast) so I didn’t use the entire batch of seasoning and it was still perfect! Go make this NOW!
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Leslie! And thank you so much for taking the time to leave your feedback – I really appreciate it!