Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Fresh Cheese

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Mr. Bayless, you have done it again: taken a short list of ingredients, combined it with an easy preparation method, and come up with a delicious meal.

I am constantly on the lookout for slowcooker recipes that don’t  use processed ingredients and/or look and sound…mushy.  There are several slowcooker recipes in Everyday Mexican, which is rare for a cookbook (or, at least, cookbooks I own).  This pork tinga caught my eye because I already had pork shoulder in the freezer, and the rest of the ingredients are pantry staples for me.  We were definitely not disappointed.  The tinga turned out smoky with a little spice, and the potatoes in the taco were something different (and good) for me.  As a testament to how well-liked Rick Bayless recipes are, my 10-month old very much enjoyed  his (deconstructed) taco.  It was his first taste of goat cheese and chipotles, two of mom’s favorite things, and thankfully, he enjoyed them.

We had goat cheese with these since it was in the fridge and queso fresco was not. The only changes I made to this recipe were to double the oregano and not remove the seeds from the chipotles, because we like the spice (noted below).  I used two (15 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomato cans so I guess technically I upped the amount of that a bit.  I didn’t have chorizo, so we didn’t add that (obviously) but I’ll be sure to next time because it will no doubt make these tacos even better.  I almost always heat tortillas directly over my gas flame, a few seconds per side, but if you prefer you can brush or spray them with oil, stack them in twos, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 3 or 4 minutes—just until they’re pliable.

The prep for this recipe couldn’t get much easier, but I did still do most of it the night before so that the morning I made this, I just had to combine everything in the crockpot and it took me literally less than 2 minutes.  I cut the potatoes (and stored them in cold water), cut the pork, and combined the sauce ingredients except for the onion (which I did slice in advance, but stored separately).  We came home to a fabulous smelling and delicious tasting dinner.  Can’t beat that!

I have no doubt these tacos would be great with chicken and beef, too.

Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Fresh Cheese

16 thoughts on “Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Fresh Cheese

  1. I love Rick and it’s just a testament to how much he understands the home cook that he includes slow cooker recipes and realizes that we don’t all have pits over which we can smoke things for hours on end. Sigh. I wish.

    Tacos look fantastic! So glad the bay like goat cheese and chipotles! You might have to give him back if he didn’t 😛

  2. This is on my menu plan for next week! The only hard part will be finding boneless pork shoulder – they always seem to have huge pieces bone-in at my grocery store.

  3. I’ve had this recipe copied for quite a while now, I think I may want to make it for sure now. Thanks!

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