These Easy Ground Pork Tacos are a 20 minute recipe made with pantry staples. This easy meal is made with juicy and flavorful ground pork, fried corn tortillas, and fresh and colorful toppings.
Tacos are always a hit in my house…and this recipe is one of those insanely quick and easy ones that comes together in under 30 minutes and uses up pantry staples.
I thawed a pound of ground pork, pulled out the tortillas, and raided the veggie drawer for a colorful, flavorful, incredible, but oh-so-simple meal. These are one of the best ways to get tacos on the table quickly and to satisfy everyone’s cravings. If you want to amp up the heat, try this with spicy chorizo tacos too.
Ingredients Needed:
For the Ground Pork Recipe
- Oil – used to sauté the onion and brown the pork.
- Onion – creates a sweet flavor base for the meat before browning.
- Ground Pork – you’ll need 1 pound of pork for these tacos.
- Taco Seasoning and Salt – you can use homemade taco seasoning or a premade seasoning.
- Garlic – use freshly minced garlic.
- Orange Juice – pineapple juice works great too.
For the Taco Shells
- Oil – to fry the corn tortillas before serving.
- Corn Tortillas – corn tortillas work best for frying into taco shells.
- Salt – gives the tortillas a little extra flavor.
For the Tacos
- Cabbage and Olive Oil – toss red or green shredded cabbage with a little oil before serving to give it a little moisture.
- Toppings – I like to top my tacos off with scallions, radishes, avocado, and diced tomato.
- Cheese – a sprinkle of cotija or queso fresco for a salty, cheesy finish.
- Limes – a squeeze of lime juice is a great way to add a little extra tanginess.
How to Make Ground Pork Tacos
We’ll start with the ground pork recipe. It’s incredibly quick and easy!
First, preheat a skillet over medium-high heat, then add in oil and onion. Sauté for 5 minutes, then add in the ground pork. Cook, breaking up as needed until browned.
Add in the salt, taco seasoning, and garlic and stir to coat. Reduce the heat, then add the orange juice. Simmer the meat for 5 minutes or until thickened and cooked through.
Next, heat plenty of oil in a skillet or Dutch oven. One at a time, fry the tortillas in the oil until a light golden-brown. As the tortilla fries, fold it in half to create that taco shell shape. Transfer the tortillas to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt.
Toss the cabbage with oil, then assemble your tacos and enjoy!
How Long Do You Cook Ground Pork For?
It usually takes me about 15 minutes to cook the ground pork fully. The best way to tell that it’s done is to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. It should be 160ºF.
Serving Suggestions
I definitely recommend serving these with rice and beans…because tacos are lonely without them. And no one wants lonely tacos.
I also recommend topping them off with red or green cabbage, scallions, radishes, cotija or queso fresco, avocado, and tomato.
Alternatively, use literally any of your favorite taco toppings. Try sour cream, lettuce, mango salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, you name it.
How to Store
Leftover ground pork will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge if frozen, then warm on the stove with a splash of water, juice, or broth to moisten.
More Easy Taco Recipes
Quick Ground Pork Tacos
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
For the ground pork:
- 1 tbsp oil
- ¼ onion chopped
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 1 tsp taco seasoning
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ⅓ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
For the tacos shells:
- Oil for frying
- 12 corn tortillas
- salt
For the tacos:
- 1 cup red or green cabbage shredded
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 3 Scallions chopped
- 3 radishes sliced thin
- 2 limes cut into wedges
- ¼ cup cotija or queso fresco crumbled
- 2 avocados pitted and sliced
- 1 to mato chopped
Instructions
Cook the ground pork:
- Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the cooking oil and onion.
- Sautee the onion, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
- Add the ground pork and cook through, breaking up as needed to ensure even browning, about 10 minutes.
- Add the salt, taco seasoning and minced garlic to the pork and stir to coat.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the orange juice.
- Let the meat simmer 5 minutes longer, stirring as needed while the juice thickens and to ensure the pork is cooked through.
Fry the tortillas:
- Meanwhile, in a high sides heavy bottom skillet or Dutch oven, add 1” of oil, leaving at least 1 ½” clearance from the top of the oil to the skillet rim.
- Let the oil heat, over medium heat until it’s 350 degrees.
- Carefully with long tongs, place one tortilla in at a time, quickly frying to a light golden brown. As the tortilla fries, fold in half and frying a little longer.
- Pull the tortilla when it is lightly golden, as it will cook longer as it rests.
- Place on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with a little salt.
- Repeat for the remaining tortilla shells until all are fried.
Assemble the tacos:
- Toss the cabbage in the teaspoon of olive oil.
- Arrange all of the toppings out for assembly.
- Start the tacos with a sprinkle of cotija in each shell, topped with the cooked ground pork, and pick and choose your favorite toppings, like the cabbage, scallions, sliced radishes, and chopped tomatoes.
- Squeeze fresh lime juice over top, if desired, and enjoy.
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These were just outstanding! I absolutely loved the cotija cheese and the lime. I’ll be making again!
We loved these tacos, fresh and tasty!
These pork tacos were amazing. It was a nice change from regular beef tacos. My kids loved the recipe too.
Yum! What a great new option for taco night! We loved thes pork tacos. The cabbage and radishes added a perfect fresh crunch.
These are our new favorite tacos! I get tired of beef filling, and this porky filling was packed with flavor! Loved all the toppings suggestions, too!