Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos
Looking for a good taco recipe? These Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos are packed with flavor – and they’re a real crowd pleaser!
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I love a good slow cooker recipe. There’s something quite appealing about the whole ‘set it and forget it’ thing. Load that slow cooker up with all sorts of delicious ingredients, turn it on and walk away. Then you’ve got delicious dinner waiting for you when you get home that evening. Win!
To be fair, this recipe for Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos isn’t as ‘dump it and forget it’ as some slow cooker recipes. There is a bit of prep work required at the beginning, so this isn’t the ideal recipe for making as you head out the door to work. Instead, this one is good for a weekend day. Or perhaps a day when you’re around the house catching up on chores and whatnot. No matter when you make this one, I can promise that the tacos will taste amazing!
Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos
This recipe is all about flavor. The cooking sauce for the slow cooker features both poblano peppers and tomatillos…and they get broiled in the oven first. That step (the broiling) adds so much flavor. Seriously. It does take a few extra minutes, but trust me when I say the time is well spent.
And get this – that cooking sauce? It doubles as sauce for serving with these tacos, too! Yup, at the end of the day, you transfer the solids from the slow cooker into a food processor or blender. *Blitz blitz blitz* You’ve got a flavorful sauce to drizzle over the shredded pork tacos. I told you the time at the beginning was well spent!
I personally like to serve these Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos with corn tortillas. I do love a good flour tortilla, but there’s something about corn tortillas and shredded pork. It is important to cook the corn tortillas first, though.
I’ve seen corn tortillas served straight out of the package, but they taste so much better if you cook them first. And cooking corn tortillas is easy! Simply place a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add a corn tortilla and let it cook for 1-2 minutes per side. It will develop more flavor, and the texture will be better, too. Add in that shredded pork and this green chili sauce? Yum!
Truthfully, this Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos recipe could be used for a variety of meals. In fact, we used some of the leftover shredded pork and sauce and served it on baked potatoes. We even had a tiny bit of shredded pork left after that, and it went into a soup. Next time we make this, I might actually cook two pork shoulders – just for leftovers!
I know we’re heading into summer grilling season here in the northern hemisphere, but a good slow cooker recipe is still quite appreciated on busy summer days. I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as we did!
Did you make this Slow Cooker Green Chili Tacos at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Slow Cooker Green Chili Pork Tacos
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 5 poblano peppers
- 2 pounds tomatillos husks removed
- 6 whole garlic cloves peeled
- 2 serrano peppers stems removed and sliced lengthwise
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
For the Pork
- 3-4 lb boneless pork shoulder
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- ½ Tbsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 4-oz. cans diced green chilies, drained
- 1 large white onion coarsely chopped
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- diced red onions for serving
- corn tortillas for serving
- lime wedges for serving
Instructions
For the Sauce
- Roast the poblano peppers by laying them directly on gas stove over flame. Use tongs to rotate peppers often until they are charred on all sides. (Note: This step can also be done on a grill or under a broiler in the oven. Whatever the method, don’t skip this step as it produces a ton of flavor!)
- Transfer charred peppers into a bowl. Cover and let steam for 10 minutes. Hold each pepper under running water and peel. Dry peppers and remove stems and seeds. Place peppers in food processor.
- Preheat broiler to high.
- Using medium bowl, add tomatillos, garlic cloves, serrano peppers and vegetable oil; toss until well coated.
- Transfer tomatillo mixture to a sheet pan lined with foil. Broil for 5 minutes, flip and continue broiling for 5 more minutes, or until tomatillos are charred. Transfer mixture (along with any liquid) into food processor; pulse several times until well chopped, but not entirely pureed.
- Pour mixture into a slow cooker.
For the Pork
- Trim any excess fat off pork shoulder. Cut pork into 2” pieces. Using a large bowl, add pork, chili powder, cumin and salt; toss until well combined. Transfer pork into slow cooker.
- Add green chilies and onion to slow cooker; stir until well combined. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until pork is very tender.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer pork to a cutting board and shred using 2 forks. Cover shredded pork and set aside.
- Transfer any remaining solids from slow cooker into a blender or food processor. Add cilantro and ¼ cup of cooking liquid from the slow cooker. Pulse several times until mixture is smooth.
- Serve the shredded pork with warmed corn tortillas, diced red onions, lime wedges and the sauce (from the step immediately above).
Looking for more tasty taco recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
cant wait to make this soon for me for the pork can i use mushrooms i never had slow cooker green chili tacos before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
I don’t think I would recommend putting mushrooms in a slow cooker as they would turn mushy. I do however think you could use the same flavors, but saute the mushrooms in a skillet instead. Let me know if you try it out!
Two of my favorite things – tacos and slow cookers. The sauce sounds ridiculous and the spices and green chilies in the pork, my goodness!! Such a great simple recipe but with loads of flavor. Can’t wait to pull out my slow cooker and go for it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Yes! I hear ya on slow cookers, Kristy. They can be used to do some really fun things – and making a big pile of tasty shredded pork is pretty high on that list! 🙂 I say make it a taco night soon!
these look very tasty david. we don’t eat pork but you could use other meats i guess.
Yeah, I think you could totally use other meats here, Sherry. I could see this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, too – the cooking time would be shorter, but it would work pretty much the same way. Thanks!!
Mexican food is one of my favorites and I love tacos of any kind! This pork filling looks amazing and I love that it’s cooked in the slow cooker. Perfect for dinner!
Thanks so much, Kathy! This shredded pork really is quite flavorful…and it makes plenty to feed a crowd or for easy leftovers!
I could probably eat tacos every single day. I just love them so much!! These look super delicious, David, and now I have a huge craving for some. I can see these in my future real soon. 😉
I’m with ya! Taco Monday…Taco Tuesday…Taco Wednesday…you get the point! Well, I guess I do need a burger in there on occasion. And maybe some pizza. Haha! Either way, these tacos turned out well. Definitely put ’em on the list!
Yum. I need to get out my slow cooker and use it more often. Case in point – these tacos. gorgeous. Love your sauce.
Thanks so much, Mimi – the sauce is one of the coolest things about this recipe! You’ve got all that yummy cooking liquid, so why not utilize it? 🙂
Yummy, love cooking meats in the slow cooker — especially for tacos! These look so delicious with that green tomatillo chili sauce!
I’m with ya, Michelle! Shredded pork for tacos is so easy to make, and I really like all of the extra flavors in this one! Those roasted tomatillos really add a lot!
Me too David. I love a good slow cooker recipe. Anything to make life easier! Love this slow cooker green chilli tacos recipe. Lots of spiciness! Lynne isn’t an eater of pork unfortunately so like Sherry M I would be making this with boneless skinless chicken breasts too.
Normally I associate slow cookers with winter food, but they make dinner easy in the summer, too! This shredded pork was so flavorful! I do think boneless, skinless chicken breasts would achieve a similar result…and Lynne would be happy there, too! 🙂
Oh boy, this shredded pork looks so perfectly cooked and inviting. Indeed, I could easily eat it as it, without any tacos or as a part of a simple salad. But I must admit that as a part of these tacos, it’s even more delicious. Great job!
I have to admit that I was really pleased we had a bag of leftover shredded pork from this recipe, Ben! Of course, the tacos were delicious…but we used the leftover shredded pork for soup and quesadillas!
Wow! Ok…yes, a smidge labor intense on the front end but when I opened that crockpot after 8 hours I felt like a ROCKSTAR! The pork was fall-apart tender and the green chile sauce was amazingly rich and flavorful! Tons of leftovers so tonight is posole and if there’s still some left we’ll have green chile pork baked potatoes tomorrow! Thanks, David, for another great recipe!👍🏻
Awesome! I’m so glad you really enjoyed this recipe, Marla. And what a creative way to use the leftovers for both posole and then baked potatoes! We used some for soup a couple weeks back – probably the last cold week we had before this crazy weather arrived…haha. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!!
Slow cookers are great, youre right just set them and forget and what waits is a nice dinner like your recipe for today
Exactly – I’m a huge fan of slow cookers…even in the summer when we’re grilling out most nights! Thanks, Raymund!
Tacos are one thing we eat on repeat in our house and these look incredible, David! Can’t wait to add them to our weekly menu!
Tacos are definitely a favorite in our house, too, Marissa – there are just so many great ways to mix ’em up! These are quite tasty…and you end up with extra shredded pork which can be used for so many other recipes, too! (Or just more tacos…haha.)