Pork Taquitos - Pulled Pork “Little Tacos”

Stack of taquitos topped with colorful toppings.

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3 from 1 vote

Pork Taquitos - Pulled Pork “Little Tacos”

Taquitos, or little tacos can be made with just about any protein but these pork carnitas taquitos are special!

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings taquitos

Calories 118kcal

Author Beth Neels

Cost $5

Equipment

Ingredients

For Carnitas

2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (or 2 ½ pounds bone-in)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons oregano, dried
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Onion coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
1 jalapeno rough chopped
1 orange cut in half
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

For Taquitos

½ large onion diced about 1/2 c.
1 Tbsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp ground cumin
Pepper
30 Corn Tortillas (at least, depending on how much filling you put in each tortilla)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For Carnitas

Rinse and dry the pork shoulder. Salt and pepper liberally. Mix the oregano and the cumin with olive oil and rub all over pork. Place the pork in a slow cooker and top with the onion, garlic, and jalapeno. Squeeze over the juice of the orange and add the two halves. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Meat should be over 200°F on an internal read thermometer! It is important to cook it hot enough, or it will be tough, or dry. Reserve liquid.
Once the meat is tender, let cool slightly in the juices before pulling apart with a fork. It is important to let the meat cool in the juices. An hour rest wouldn't hurt. I usually let it cool completely in the refrigerator overnight, once the crockpot has cooled enough to put it in the refrigerator.
In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over high heat. Press the carnitas into the oil and fry until crusty on one side. I added about 1 cup of the juice and vegetables from the crock pot to moisten.
Place about 1/2 inch olive oil in a small pan over high heat. Fry tortillas just until they are soft. Remove immediately and drain between paper towels.
Place a few tablespoons of the filling on one edge of the tortilla. Then roll tightly. (See video for method)
Bake at 375°F for 10-20 minutes, depending on how you crispy you like them. You can air fry them for about 5 minutes per side on 350°F. They can also be fried again in the oil used to soften the tortillas.
Both the filling and the taquitos freeze well.

For assembling taquitos

Add pulled pork, onion, garlic cumin and pepper to a bowl. Mix well.
Soften tortillas in a pan with hot oil just until limp. (A few seconds on each side.) Drain between paper towels.
Add a few teaspoons full of meat to a tortilla. Place it on the end closest to you. (see video or step by step process photos above)
Roll taco tightly into a cylinder shape. Place seam side down on rack and continue with remaining tortillas.
Bake taquitos at 350°F to rewarm and crisp up for about 15 minutes, Place seam side down. Flip half way through. Taquitos can be air fried at 350° for about 10 minutes. Again flip half way through. They can also be fried in the same oil used to soften the tortillas. Fry over high heat, flipping after browned on one side.

Video

Notes

NOTE! ***Estimated time is based on using leftover pork, in other words after pork is done. If cooking in the slow cooker, the entire recipe will take about 10 hours.

Pork shoulder, pork butt or pork loin can all be used. Just get the internal temperature above 200°F.

Leftover meat can be refrigerated for 3-4 days.

Reheat in microwave, until hot.

For longer storage, freeze up to 2 months.

Thaw in refrigerator. Reheat per above instructions.

You can freeze assembled taquitos, in freezer bags. Best if used in 3-4 months.

Nutrition