A walking taco (also known as taco in a bag) is a popular party and concession stand food around here, and it’s both fun and convenient since all of the toppings get piled into a bag of chips. Walking tacos are commonly made with a ground beef mixture, but with this recipe I’ve gone with carnitas, slow-cooked pork, because carnitas tacos are SO GOOD.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 5 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 50 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- One 4- to 5-pound lean boneless pork shoulder
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 medium white onion, cut into large chunks (about 6.6 ounces or 187 grams), plus 1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder (substitute regular chili powder if you prefer)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- Pinch ground cloves
- Juice of 3 oranges (or 3/4 cup)
- Juice of 2 limes (or 1/4 cup), plus a few lime wedges, for serving
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Six 1-ounce bags tortilla chips
- Chili Lime Sour Cream, recipe follows, or plain sour cream
- 2 radishes, thinly julienned
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Green hot sauce, for garnish
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for garnish
- Zest of 1 lime
Instructions
- Place the pork shoulder, garlic, bay leaves, large chunks of onion, ancho chile powder, cumin, cloves, orange juice, lime juice, 1 tablespoon salt, a generous amount of black pepper and 1/2 cup water in the bowl of a 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook until the meat is tender and can easily be shredded with a fork, 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
- Remove the pork to a large bowl and use two forks to shred. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the pork and 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and dark brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining oil, pork and 1/2 cup cooking liquid (discard the remaining liquid), another 15 minutes.
- Open the tortilla chip bags and crush a few of the chips. Gently roll down the tops of the bags about a third of the way. Fill the bags with some dollops of sour cream, then pork, then garnish with the finely chopped onions, radishes, cilantro and a few dashes of hot sauce. Serve with the lime wedges.
- In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, chili powder, salt and lime zest. Set aside.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 1596 |
| Total Fat | 120 g |
| Saturated Fat | 37 g |
| Carbohydrates | 35 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 90 g |
| Cholesterol | 372 mg |
| Sodium | 1607 mg |
Reviews
The first time I ever made this recipe it was Delicious and amazing you are Amazing
Thank you 6+4=10
Thank you 6+4=10
Would love to know the bags she used instead of the chip bag! Also, super yummy
Anyone saying this isn’t delicious, simply can’t cook. This was absolutely incredible. I deviate a bit, but it’s definitely delicious.
Made these, they came out great, very flavorful, not sure why not for the other review. What I do need to get is the nutation facts, can you post?
It’s hard to make a bad walking taco. I’m from Minnesota and we would usually use Fritos instead of tortilla chips but I understand why she switched those out – didn’t affect my rating. My real issue with this is that the meat should be incredible with all those flavors, but it turned out tasting like meat and…not much else. All the flavors were overpowered. So we ate it and it was fine, but not as good as my usual carnitas recipe and way more work. If you do decide to make it, FYI you can broil it a few minutes to crisp it up and avoid extra oil. Some family members also put it into fajita-size tortillas and added salsa. Flexible recipe but don’t expect to taste the citrus, garlic, etc.
Delicious! Very forgiving with time & specific ingredients. I juiced 4 large navels, only had 1/2 of a large lime. I had to be gone all day, so left it on low for 9 hours–tender as butter, very flavorful! One change, I used Lawry seasoned salt instead of plain kosher salt.