There are some things I don’t mind eating 4 days in a row. Like pizza. Or margaritas.
As long as I can have different toppings on my pizza every night. And I don’t have to make run to the liquor store for margarita fixins. But I can’t get excited about the same thing over and over again when I have shelves full of cookbooks and magazines calling my name. “Make me! No, make me!”
I didn’t always have that problem but I married a leftover hater. And somewhere along the line, I started to become one, too. Reimagining leftovers in a house full of leftover haters is a pretty nifty skill to have.
With this one crockpot recipe came 4 different meals: tacos, quesadillas (really just a flat taco), flautas (really just a rolled & baked taco), and sandwiches (a taco with bread?).
Well, different enough 🙂
We set out to make a Mexican pulled pork, infusing a pork roast with some of my favorite TexMex flavors. And grapefruit – if you’ve ever made these fajitas, you know grapefruit juice is a great tenderizer.
While pulled pork needs little help in the tenderizing department, the flavors of the marinade change the profile from your standard barbecue sandwich to a meal perfect for taco night.
Shredded Pork Tacos
Pulled pork gets a TexMex makeover with a grapefruit-chile marinade.
Ingredients
- For the marinade:
- 5-6lb pork shoulder roast
- Juice from 1 large Texas ruby red grapefruit
- 3 large, dried guajillo chiles, stems removed
- 2 serrano peppers, stems and seeds (optional) removed
- 1/2 medium white or yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce
- 2 tsp ancho chile powder (can substitute regular)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp salt
- Handful of cilantro
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- For the tacos:
- Tortillas
- Pico de gallo
- Sliced jalapenos
- Lime wedges
- Grilled pineapple rings, chopped
- Guacamole
Instructions
- Place pork roast in a large ziptop bag.
- Place remaining marinade ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Pour over the pork roast, seal the bag tightly, and refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours.
- Empty contents of the bag into your crockpot, placing roast fat-side up, and cook 8-10 hours on low.
- The meat should fall apart and easily shred when done.
- Serve shredded meat in tortillas, topped with your favorite taco garnishes.
- Leftover meat freezes wonderfully in ziptop bags and makes great sandwiches, quesadillas, and flautas.
Notes
Yields: ~12 servings, depending on size of roast
Estimated time: 24 hours