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OMG just made this for dinner and it is possibly my favourite recipe I’ve tried this year. Will definitely become a staple in our house. Thank you!
Kirsti
Ha-looooo!
And welcome to today’s episode of Tacos Are The Best Food Ever featuring Caramelized Pork Tacos.
I don’t mean to be super obvious here, but we have some really delicious things going on in the food department right now that you need to know about. Starting with thin strips of caramelized pork tucked into a soft corn tortilla, moving on to fresh cucumber pineapple cilantro salsa, and finishing with a chili mayo sauce over the top because SAUCE RULES THE WORLD. 🌎
I’m just a little obsessed.
Watch How To Make Caramelized Pork Tacos
Click here to see the step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
Ingredients For This Recipe
Pork
My choice for this is boneless pork loin, but I would imagine something like pork tenderloin would work as well. Either way, thinly sliced is key!
Aromatics
One of my favorite trios – shallots, garlic, and jalapeño. Flavor perfection.
Fish Sauce
This might seem unnecessary but is VERY NECESSARY. Fish sauce adds some saltiness and a good punch of umami, and just really brings the flavors over the top.
Sugar
Sugar is the key to making things caramelized – don’t skip it!
Pineapple Salsa
Oh, this salsa is so good. A mix of pineapple, cucumber, cilantro, red onion, lime juice, and salt. Simple and perfect.
Fixings
Once your pork and salsa are ready, all that’s left is to assemble! Gather your tortillas, some chopped cilantro, squeezes of lime, and chili sauce.
Scrappy Is Best
When I read the book Bread and Wine (affiliate link) a long time ago, one of my favorite concepts/takeaways from the book was this idea that anything can be made into a few certain super-flexible recipes.
Soup, for example. Just about any combination of random ingredients that might happen to be hiding in the depths of the produce drawer of the fridge can probably be made into soup. It might be a scary soup – I’ll give you that. But with a little water, a little salt, a few spices… no biggie. You’ve got a basic soup.
Or stir fry. Assuming you have some sort of grain or rice – or maybe not even because you’re just going to create more of a stir-fry-meets-hash situation? I wouldn’t be mad – you can almost guarantee that any random ingredient combination can become something resembling a stir fry.
And that’s sort of how I feel about these pork tacos, in the most scrappy, hungry, wonderful way.
How To Enjoy These Pork Tacos
These are coming to your face today in TACO FORM. Make no mistake – taco form is the original. This is where it’s at. Warm tortilla stuffed to the brim with all those colors and textures and the Sweet Salty Spicy trifecta. But if you’re a person who sort of takes these things called recipes and runs with them into crazy food places (👋 hiii), this is an open invitation for you to reincarnate these tacos into a new food form.
After we devoured the tacos themselves, I found myself bringing this combo back to life in SALAD FORM (toppings + meat over greens with the chili mayo as dressing), and then in STIR FRY FORM (toppings + meat + leftover quinoa, fried into something that resembled the most delicious sweet and savory fried rice) which was really, really good.
And then there was the DIPPED WITH CHIPS form, but that’s really only for the select few who have a refined enough palate to really appreciate that kind of sacred food wizardry.
Start with the tacos, though, okay? Sizzle up that meat and chop up your salsa and drizzle with spicy chili sauce – just think of it as your gateway to greatness.
More Taco Yum
- Instant Pot Hawaiian Chicken Tacos with Jalapeño Ranch Slaw (you NEED!)
- Walnut Chorizo Tacos with Pineapple Salsa (totally vegan and so good)
- Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Garlic Cilantro Lime Slaw (the perfect summer dinner right here)
- The Best Chicken Tinga Tacos (literally though, the actual best!)
This recipe inspiration is coming to us from the extremely talented Stephanie Le of I Am A Food Blog! Here’s her original caramelized pork taco recipe and here’s her beautiful, drool-worthy cookbook, Easy Gourmet (affiliate link), which is full of recipes like dis. Mwah! 😘
Print
Caramelized Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 tacos (depending on the size of your tortillas) 1x
Description
Caramelized Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa – topped with sriracha mayo, obviously! Quick and easy to make! Naturally gluten free.
Ingredients
For the Pork:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, diced with ribs and seeds removed
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 18 ounces boneless pork loin, sliced into thin strips
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
For the Pineapple Salsa
- 1 cup chopped pineapple
- 1 cup chopped cucumber
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/2 red onion or shallot, chopped
- a squeeze of lime juice
- a pinch of salt
For serving
- 8 tortillas
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1 lime, sliced into sections
- chili sauce (1/4 cup mayo and 2 teaspoons hot sauce like sriracha)
Instructions
- For the pork: Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic, and jalapeño – saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat to high and add the pork and the fish sauce – stir fry for a few minutes until the pork is no longer pink. With the heat very high, add the sugar and water and stir once – then let the pork caramelize by not stirring it for about 1 minute. Repeat this process until the pork is nice and golden brown.
- For the salsa: Toss everything together in a medium bowl.
- For the tacos: Warm the tortillas quickly in a skillet with a little bit of oil. Arrange the pork between 6 tortillas and top with the salsa and the chili sauce.
Equipment
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Buy Now → Notes
For the chili sauce, combine two parts mayo and one part hot sauce (more or less depending on how hot your hot sauce actually is – I used Sriracha which is just moderately spicy). Whisk to combine or shake in a jar. Add water if needed to thin out the consistency – serve over the tacos.
For leftovers, store each element (pork, salsa, and sauce) separately.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: taco recipe, pork tacos, pineapple salsa, pork recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of best taco recipes. Check it out!
Great weeknight meal. I don’t end up making this often but when I do the fam says why don’t we have this more often!! Def put it in your rotation. I have replied the salsa and cut up the pork as prep the night before. Then so very easy to cook and assemble on a week night.
These were pretty good , although the pork seemed a bit dry. I think I might brine the pork next time in a salt and brown sugar brine, for more flavor and moister finish on the pork
Love the ease of using pork tenderloin as the protein. So good!
Hi -can I ask a dumb question ? Do u mean pork loin like tenderloin. Or pork loin like boneless loin chop or ?
I am overthinking this and need saving
Thx
Excellent! My fiancée asked if I could make it again tomorrow. It was a definite win.
This turned out SO DELICIOUS!! I accidentally overcooked the pork and it did not even matter the flavor was so good. I’m going to try adapting this for a slow cooker pulled pork version to make it even easier. But either way, I am saving this recipe for many future dinners!
Wow! These were so easy to make and packed so much flavor! Going into the regular rotation.
The recipe exceeded my expectations. Despite adding sugar, the pork loin did not taste overly sweet. The combination of pineapple salsa and sriracha mayo provided just the right amount of heat. Although it took some time for the meat to caramelize, patience paid off as it resulted in moist and flavorful pork.
This did not work for me! The pork wouldn’t caramelize even at very high heat and I had to throw it all out uneaten. First time your recipes didn’t work for me.
Oh my Goodness these were good! I had to sub a few things to make it FODMAP friendly because my wife has IBS but they still turned out Awsome! Thank you so much!!
I made this recipe last night and it was a hit with both my hubby (who is extremely picky!) and my 2.5-year-old daughter. So quick and easy on a busy weeknight – adding it to our rotation!
Looks good. Will have to try.
These look amazing, however, I don’t eat pork. How would you recommend substituting chicken for the pork in terms of cooking time? Thanks!
Great question! We haven’t tested this, but I’d stir fry for maybe 2-3 minutes first, and then follow the steps to caramelize the chicken.
These were absolutely delicious!!
Love the addition of cucumber to the salsa. So fresh and tasty!
I’ve been making these for several years now. A family favorite. Either in taco form or without the shell. I always recommend these.
Well, this disappeared very fast at dinner tonight. Everyone loved it. The chef too, because it was fast & easy. Thanks for a winner!!
I made this tonight. OMG it was amazing. Loved it! Made it with the avocado slaw and not the salsa stated in the recipe. Because that’s what I had on hand. The chicken caramelized perfect.
This was ridiculously good. WOW.
Delish! My husband (who always claims he doesn’t like pork) gobbled this up. This dish is a keeper!
Loved how quick and easy these were! I felt the pineapple salsa was missing tomato, so I tossed some in and it made it that much better! Will definitely be added to the rotation at our house!
This was delicious! A new family favorite. Thank you for this and so many other recipes.
These were a big hit with the family. We subbed out fish sauce with soy sauce due to an allergy issue, and it worked fine. I’ve been asked to make these again soon. Nice and easy, too.
WOW! Just WOW! So easy and super delicious.
So glad you enjoyed it, Amy!
I wanted to let you know that this is my son’s absolute favorite dinner (although I make it with more often with chicken than with pork and sometimes with mango instead of pineapple). He LOVES it.
When he came back from military training, it was his welcome home dinner. He requested it for his 21st birthday (if you have to have your 21st in lockdown, at least have your favorite) and no doubt it will be served at many celebrations to come.
Thank you!
How awesome, Lesley! Honored that you’ve made this recipe on such special celebrations and milestones in your family. Thank you for the comment!
I’ve been making these pork ya is for three years now they are the best