It’s Taco Tuesday! And I went all the way, making these yummilicious Instant Pot Tacos De Carnitas from scratch.
INSTANT POT TACOS DE CARNITAS FROM SCRATCH
Yes, you read that right, I made everything from scratch, including:
- Cassava Tortillas
- IP Pulled Pork
- Black Bean Salad
- Avocado Dressing
That’s quite a few moving parts for one single recipe, I know, BUT… consider the following:
- the carnitas, or pulled pork, is a set-and-forget recipe. I just made a quick and easy dry rub, chopped a pork shoulder into 4 big chunks, and my Instant Pot did the rest of the work
- While the pork was cooking at high pressure for 1 hour, I whipped up a black bean salad, using my fancy Chop, Dump & Toss technique
- I set the black bean salad aside and blended a super fast but super tasty avocado dressing in my mini food processor
- And since I’m curbing my gluten and grains consumption as much as possible, I made my own cassava tortillas, which I love doing because it gives me an excuse to use my new favorite kitchen gadget: the cast-iron tortilla press It beats rolling out tortillas with a pin by far. This is what I’m talking about:
Fun, right? I could do that all day! Get my Spinach Cassava Tortillas recipe and try it out. Make them with or without spinach; they’ll be healthy and delicious either way.
SHOPPING LIST FOR MY INSTANT POT TACOS DE CARNITAS
It takes a bit of prep work and organization, but it’s way easier than it looks and oh-so-delicious! Let’s start with the shopping list(s).
1) CARNITAS (PULLED PORK)
- Boneless Pork Shoulder (about 4 lbs.)
- Garlic Powder
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Himalayan Salt
- Black Pepper
- Bay Leaf
- Stock or Bone Broth
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2) BLACK BEAN SALAD
- Black Beans (dry and home-cooked or canned. Rinse well before using if canned)
- Red Bell Pepper
- Poblano Pepper
- Jalapeño Pepper
- Fresh Cilantro
- Red Onion
- Lime Juice
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Himalayan Salt
3) AVOCADO DRESSING
- Avocado
- Fresh Cilantro
- Lime Juice
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Himalayan Salt
HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS INSTANT POT TACOS DE CARNITAS (VIDEO!)
Now that we have established all the elements that go into this from-scratch recipe, I’d like to point out the obvious: you don’t have to make everything from scratch. Duh! You can buy a bag of taco shells, a can of refried beans, and even a bottle of dressing. But where’s the fun in that? Plus, if you try making this whole recipe at home, I’m positive that the freshness and intensity of the flavors will be worth everything.
Now watch how easy it is to whip everything together for these gorgeous flavor bombs. Taco Tuesday never tasted so good, I promise!
Did you see that? Not hard at all! And do yourself a favor, get the same stainless steel Taco Holders I’m using in the video. They are inexpensive, but go a long way in making the task of stuffing tacos a breeze. Plus, they make the presentation clean and professional, like you’re running your own Taqueria.
Here’s the full recipe! Let me know if you try it. It’s a huge crowd-pleaser, and the leftovers are even better the next day (make a lot because leftovers are a rare commodity with this yummy stuff).
INSTANT POT TACOS DE CARNITAS
🌮 Cassava Tortillas
🌮 IP Pulled Pork
🌮 Black Bean Salad
🌮 Avocado Dressing
Ingredients
INSTANT POT PULLED PORK
- 4 lbs pork shoulder (pork butt) boneless
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1½ tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup chicken stock or bone broth
BLACK BEAN SALAD
- 15 oz black beans dry and home-cooked or ready and canned
- ½ red bell pepper medium, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper medium, chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 tbsp red onion finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 lime juiced
- 1½ tbsp olive oil extra virgin
AVOCADO DRESSING
- 1 avocado medium
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
- ¼ tsp Himalayan salt
- 1 lime large, juiced
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
INSTANT POT PULLED PORK
- Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together to make a dry rub
- Cut pork shoulder into 4 big chunks and add them to the bowl. Coat them well with the dry rub
- Set the Instant Pot to "sauté" and add the extra virgin olive oil when it's warm enough
- Sear the Pork chunks, browning them on all sides. I needed to split them into 2 batches to have enough room in the IP (mine is a 6 qts. Duo)
- Remove pork from the IP and add the stock with the bay leaf to deglaze the pot. Make sure you scrape the bottom really well
- Return the pork to the IP, place the lid on top, close it firmly, and set the IP to "Pressure Cooking" at "High Pressure" for 1 hour
- Let the steam out for 10 minutes through "Natural Release". Now you can remove the pork chunks from the IP and shred the meat with 2 forks or with Bear Paws as I do, which makes the job of shredding and pulling quick and easy. Set aside.
Black Bean Salad
- Add the beans to a medium/large bowl
- Chop all the vegetables and juice the lime
- Place all the ingredients into a bowl and toss thoroughly. Set aside
AVOCADO DRESSING
- After removing the pit and the skin, add the pulp of the avocado to a mini food processor
- Add the juice of the lime and the rest of the ingredients. Blend until creamy. Add more lime or olive oil if necessary
- If it's still too thick, you might want to add a little bit of water, but that would dim the flavor
TACOS DE CARNITAS
- Layer all the elements inside your taco shells or tortillas in the following order: Black Bean Salad, Pulled Pork, Avocado Dressing
- If you are as hungry as we are, feel free to double-deck your tacos with double stuffing. Dig in!
Nutrition
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