Slow Cooker

Slow-Cooker Citrus Pulled Pork Tacos

January 19, 2012
4.6
7 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Prep time 20 minutes
  • Cook time 6 hours 15 minutes
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

I love using my slow cooker to create tasty meals such as this one. These tacos can also be turned into burgers, salad or mini burgers, whatever you can dream up. I enjoy this dish because you can start in before you leave for work and your meat will be ready when you get home. The slaw takes minutes to assemble so you'll have dinner in no time! —Erin Powell

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Ingredients
  • Citrus Rubbed Pulled Pork
  • 2 pounds boneless pork roast
  • 3 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 2 limes, zested
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • Citrus Slaw
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 8 ounces raw cole slaw mix (or make your own)
  • 12 pieces corn tortillas
Directions
  1. Citrus Rubbed Pulled Pork
  2. Combine all dry ingredients and the lime zest.
  3. Rub on the pork roast to coat evenly, you may not use all of the mixture.
  4. Heat a nonstick crock pot insert or a saute pan with the oil.
  5. Once the oil is hot, sear all sides of the pork roast.
  6. Once the meat is seared, cover entirely with water (if using a saute pan, transfer to crock pot first). Place in insert in crock pot and cover.
  7. Cook on high heat for 6 hours in the crock pot.
  8. Once the meat is done, transfer to a 9" x 13" pan and shred with a pair of tongs.
  9. Spoon some liquid from the crock pot over the shredded meat to keep juicy. Cover until use.
  1. Citrus Slaw
  2. In a medium bowl, mix everything together but the cabbage and the corn tortillas.
  3. Add the cabbage and coat well.
  4. Warm the corn tortillas and fill with pulled pork and slaw. Garnish with a lime spritz, jalapenos, or green onions.
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24 Reviews

k January 5, 2022
I've made this multiple times now and you just can't go wrong. I've made it as the recipe is written and haven't had the burning issue of the zest. The only change I've made is instead of water to cover the pork, using chicken stock.

Total keeper and sharer of a recipe! Thanks for posting it!
Denise November 11, 2020
Wow, that was excellent! I made it pretty much to recipe, but based on the comments about burning the seasoning in step 4, I planned ahead and dry-rubbed the pork, wrapped it in plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight before I cooked it, allowing the spices to soak into the meat a bit (I had extra rub left over which I threw into the crock pot with the meat). It didn't burn at all when I cooked it in a nonstick skillet with a little avocado oil. Also based on comments, in the slow cooker beneath the meat I made a bed of a yellow onion (sliced), a couple of sliced garlic cloves and a jalepeno. The juice it yielded was marvelous! I served the tacos as directed with the slaw and a drizzle of chipotle sour cream left over from fish tacos I made a week ago. The whole family loved this meal, and I will definitely be making it again.
Linda D. July 18, 2020
Delicious! Prepped exactly as written. Thank you, Erin.
hotsauce August 14, 2017
I started making this, and then 4 hours in the slow cooker read the reviews about the meat. Upped the ante with seasoning and onions, glad I did. The slaw is a really nice twist, though.
BavarianCook June 6, 2015
I just needed a recipe for citrus slaw and this one was fantastic!!! Very quick and easy but the ginger totally put a different twist on it. We polished it!
Rebecca May 25, 2015
It is now 5:59 AM and I have just finished the seasoning (which I tweeked a bit), browned all sides, let it rest a little, and now have added the water. I don't have the limes yet, so when hubby gets up I'll send him to the store for those, and after zesting them, I'll cut all in half and toss them in also, for a few hours. I'm looking forward to this!
Michele January 19, 2015
I was so excited to try this but I found the meat was quite bland. It was extremely tender and had a nice tang of the citrus but was not as flavorful as I had hoped. Maybe I needed to salt it more.
M.McAwesome June 3, 2014
I made this pork twice now. Once as tacos and a second time as mini sandwiches. So good! I did everything exactly as written for the pork. The only trouble I had was burning the rub on the roast during the browning step. This will be my go to pulled pork recipe since I always have those ingredients on hand.
Matt May 4, 2014
This is literally the worst thing I have ever eaten. I wish I were kidding and that I was a troll. Seriously horrible.
aimeebama May 1, 2013
Delicious and easy. The slaw makes it sing (plus a touch of hot sauce and a dollop of plain yogurt on top).
Jen W. February 4, 2013
Fantastic recipe... everyone loved it!!!!
theericmonster January 5, 2013
I made these tacos last night, they were great! So easy and delicious. Thanks!
pidgeon92 June 12, 2012
I made this recipe about a week or so ago, and just finished the last of the pork leftovers today. I was originally concerned that the liquid might end up very greasy, but most of the fat disappeared in the browning process. The meat was very, very good.

I saved the liquid, and put it in the fridge. The next day I skimmed the fat (which I also saved and will use to fry something), and I froze the liquid into cubes. I think it will do well as a beef broth substitute in some recipe in the future.

The coleslaw was great. I made mine with freen cabbage, julienne carrots, chopped jalapenos and cliantro, and made the dressing exactly as written.

As I said, the pork lasted a week or ten days after the initial dinner. I made tacos with it for lunch a few times, and put it on a pizza with pineapple and a spicy mango sauce one evening.
bobbie J. March 19, 2012
BEST CARNITAS EVER!!!!!!

and it's easy besides. I'm adding this to the recipe file for sure!
Jim S. February 21, 2012
I made the dish today as the recipe called for. My wife and i enjoyed it, especially the slaw. The pork needs more umph. Maybe chili powder. I like the idea of real onions. Or maybe mix the slaw and pork together before putting it in the taco. It wouldn't look as good, but the lime and refreshing taste of the slaw would blend the taste and texture better. I had the burning-searing problem also. I will marinate it longer and use an oil with a higher burn-point next time. Might help.
avimom February 9, 2012
I made the slaw to go with beef tacos on Superbowl Sunday and added shredded jicama to a pre-packaged broccoli slaw mix. The dressing is perfect! Not too vinegary and not too tangy. All my guests loved it.
Mary G. February 7, 2012
Loved the slaw and using the crock pot for this was an added bonus! I did also find the rub burned when searing.
AntoniaJames February 6, 2012
I had the same experience as Student Epicure did. with the searing/burning of the spice mixture. I wondered if that was because I did not allow them to sit on the roast for long enough. I actually did "sear" all sides, but found that the rub had created a crust, so the meat wasn't actually seared anyway. And I also found that the pepper, onions and garlic overwhelmed the lime zest in the pork roast. I used a Malabar pepper, which is bold and assertive, so that may have been partly to blame. Also, I did not have either "onion powder" or "garlic granules," but did have some dried minced onion that I bought for another recipe, and some "minced garlic" that Penzey's sent as a freebie when I ordered something from them. I ground those up in my spice grinder with the pepper and it seemed to do the trick nicely. I had a lot more of the rub than I thought necessary, so I only used about 2/3 of that which I made. No problem there, though, as it seems to be a nice combination, and of course, it will hold, so I'll use it for something else. I'll probably add more lime zest though. As for the cooking time, I got a late start this morning, so my roast didn't get into the crock pot until about 9:30. I poured hot water from my tea kettle into the crock pot, which I'd preheated while preparing the rub, searing the meat, etc. I was concerned that with the hot water, the roast would cook too fast. I checked the roast after 3 hours on high and it seemed to be making great progress. I turned it down to "Low" and cooked it for another three hours, at which point it seemed absolutely perfect: moist, pull-apart tender, and delightfully fragrant. And it tastes great, too. Plan to make the slaw using carrot, napa cabbage and cucumber. ;o)
student E. February 3, 2012
I made this for dinner last night. To preface, the meat turned out delicious -- very tender and well seasoned. However, I had a lot of trouble searing it because the zest, garlic, and onion powder started to burn before I could. I decided to not finish searing it, so as to prevent burning. The citrus really came through more in the slaw than in the meat itself -- I'm wondering if it would work to add more citrus juice to cook the meat to imbue it with more citrus flavor? Overall, I enjoyed this!
Kitchen B. January 30, 2012
Plan on trying this with some tenderloin if I can't find pork roast - I live in Nigeria where pork isn't big. It looks wonderful. And looking forward to the slaw