It happened again, guys.
I was innocently out to lunch, enjoying my most fave tacos that ever did exist on this very earth at Torchy’s Tacos in Austin <—- LOVE that place!
And IT happened…
Sometimes, it hits me when I’m actually eating the food in question. Sometimes, it happens when I’m cooking. I never know when it will for sure.
What hit me, you ask?
I somehow realized I can make this meal at my house, in my kitchen, with clean ingredients.
Now, while this might seem like an obvious notion for a food blogger to recognize…I must be a little thick-headed.
Because it sure takes me a while sometimes – like it did with these amazing burgers.
Out of nowhere, while I was enjoying (read: devouring) my green chile pork taco at Torchy’s with Dustin, I realized I should make this at home! Not only could I then control the ingredients going in, but I could (heehee!) have them MORE often! And, heck, why not make them in a slow cooker, to boot!?!
Which, really, is what made me the happiest. Because easy, delicious, slow cooker recipes are my happy place.
People often ask me about whether tortillas are part of a clean diet.
If we’re talking flour tortillas using all-purpose flour, then nope, not so much clean.
BUT, if we’re talking about HIGH quality, low number of ingredients corn tortillas (like these tasty homemade corn tortillas), then I say heck yea! But, within moderation.
Slow Cooker Green Chile Tacos
However, if you’d rather stay away from all things tortilla, you can always enjoy these “tacos” over a bowl of brown rice, cauliflower rice, or wrapped in a crisp lettuce wrap.
If you’re ever in the Austin area, give me a ring and we’ll grab some tacos at Torchy’s or, better yet, I’ll make ’em!
- 1 1/2 - 2 lbs pork shoulder roast AKA butt roast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 poblano chile peppers seeded and cut in half
- 1 jalapeño seeded and cut in half
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and cut in half
- 1 lb tomatillos husks removed and quartered
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic whole
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/3 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 12-16 corn tortillas try my homemade corn tortillas
- 1/4 red onion finely diced for topping
- 1/3 cup queso fresco Mexican cheese, crumbled
- 2 limes for topping
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Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.
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Season the pork with the salt and pepper and then add to the hot oil. Sear on all sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.
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Places the browned pork into the bowl of a slow cooker, followed by the poblano chiles, jalapeno, green bell pepper, tomatillos, yellow onion, garlic, ground cumin, dried oregano, cilantro, chicken broth/stock, and bay leaf.
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Turn the heat to low and cook 6-7 hours, or until the pork is tender enough to be pulled apart with a fork.
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Remove the pork and shred using a fork (you may need to wait for it to cool a bit).
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In the meantime, remove the bay leaf from the slow cooker and discard. Either using an immersion blender directly in the slow cooker bowl or by transferring the slow cooker contents to a kitchen blender, puree the cooked peppers, onion, and chicken broth mixture until smooth. This is the chile verde sauce. Woohoo! Season to taste with any salt as needed.
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To serve, layer a corn tortillas on a flat surface (I highly recommend looking for good quality corn tortillas - you may need to wrap in damp cloth and microwave for 10-20 seconds to make them pliable). Top the tortillas with a mound of the shredded pork, followed by 1-2 tbsp. of the pureed chile verde sauce. You can also top with additional chopped cilantro, diced red onion, and/or crumbled queso fresco. Feel free to squeeze some lime juice as well!
Recipe Video
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Made this today and my entire family devoured it. My picky eating kids loved it. I’d just say add 2-4 Jalapeños. Needs a bit more heat! I will absolutely make this again!
Best best best recipe ever! Easy, flavorful, fast!
I’m a busy Mom and all about easy but good. This crockpot recipe is now my new favorite, packed with flavor,l and super easy! Since I had to make a last minute run to pickup some of the ingredients I had to speed up the cooking time so I set it to High for 4 hours and it worked out perfect. Overall I highly recommend this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing.
I wanted to love this recipe so much and it smelled amazing while cooking….but overall it was kind of bland compared to the Torchy’s Tacos green chile pork that I routinely eat here in Texas. I would recommend including a fully loaded chile pepper with seeds for more flavor.
Those look delicious. We’re big Mexican food lovers so I know these would be a popular choice around here.
I was super excited to make this. I should have know that with only one jalapeno in the recipe it would be too mild for my liking. There is zero heat in the salsa. Next time I will up the jalapenos by 2 or 3. Thanks for a great recipe, just a few tweeks to make it hotter and perfection!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe Lacey. I too live in Austin TX and am addicted to Torchy’s Tacos, especially the Green Chili Pork. I just tried this recipe and it turned out fantastic. I served it with onions and cilantro and a dash of Cilantro-Lime sauce on homemade flour tortilla and it was just the treat for labor day.
Do you have a recipe for queso fresco? Also wondered how you cook your zucchini noodles? Both things I’ve never done and don’t what what I’m looking for in a recipe. I didn’t see either on your site but you recommended the fresco on this recipe and zuke noodles on a chicken recipe. I made your cilantro lime chicken the other day…. AHHHHMAZING!! My family loved it. It was a different flavor for us using lime. WOW. yum.
Lacey’s slow cooker recipes are always on point! I didn’t realize at the time I picked up the ingredients that the cilantro wasn’t just a garnish but ALSO in the sauce! You can always substitute with coriander.
As with everything that has a sauce or is a soup, this dish just gets better with time. The next day after cooking the flavor of the green sauce and pork really come to life. Consider throwing over cauliflower rice or throwing into egg whites for an awesome breakfast.
Thank you for another great recipe!
Kryslin, thanks so much for the review and suggestions for others – I SO appreciate that and am glad you enjoyed this recipe and my other slow cooker recipes as well! 🙂
Do the poblanos make it really spicy? My husband likes this super mild, so I’m always hesitant when working with chilies/peppers.
Nope, it’s not spicy at all – my hubby’s the same way 🙂
Oh good! Thanks for the quick reply.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. It looks absolutely yummy and so easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
Yay! You’re very welcome -enjoy!