Pork Carnitas Tacos
with Pickled Onion & Monterey Jack Cheese
- Milk
- Soy
- Wheat
At our local taqueria, a carnitas taco (or 5) is one of our go-to orders. After all, who can resist the rich flavor and tender texture of slow-roasted pork? Tonight, we’re creating a quick version with ground pork that uses carnitas-style seasonings: chili powder, garlic, and cumin, plus tomato paste for umami-packed richness and poblano pepper for smoky notes. It’s all stuffed into steamy tortillas with Monterey Jack cheese, pickled onion, tomato, and chipotle crema—basically, everything we crave on taco night and then some.
Ingredients
1 unit
Yellow Onion
1 unit
Poblano Pepper
¼ ounce
Cilantro
1 unit
Roma Tomato
5 teaspoon
White Wine Vinegar
10 ounce
Ground Pork
1 tablespoon
Southwest Spice Blend
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
1.5 ounce
Tomato Paste
2 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Chipotle Powder
6 unit
Flour Tortillas
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
¼ cup
Monterey Jack Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon
Sugar
2 teaspoon
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry all produce. • Halve and peel onion; very thinly slice one half and finely chop remaining onion. Core, deseed, and dice poblano into ½-inch pieces. Roughly chop cilantro. Dice tomato.
• In a medium bowl, combine sliced onion, vinegar, 2 tsp sugar, salt (we used ½ tsp), and 1 TBSP water. Stir until sugar and salt are mostly dissolved. Set aside, stirring occasionally, until ready to serve.
• Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add pork* and season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Transfer to a plate and set aside.
• Heat another drizzle of olive oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add poblano and chopped onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, 3-4 minutes. • Return pork to pan along with Southwest Spice, stock concentrate, half the tomato paste (all for 4 servings), and ¼ cup water (1/3 cup for 4). Cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan, until mixture is thickened and saucy, 1-2 minutes more.
• While filling cooks, in a small bowl, combine sour cream, a bit of onion pickling liquid to taste (start with ¼ tsp and add more if desired), and a pinch of chipotle powder (add more to taste if you like things spicy). Stir in water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt and pepper. • Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave until warm and pliable, 30 seconds.
• Divide tortillas between plates; fill with pork filling, tomato, Monterey Jack, cilantro, pickled onion (draining first), and crema. TIP: Alternatively, you can put everything in individual serving bowls and let everyone assemble their own tacos.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the pickled onions, which added a tangy kick; some found the seasoning perfect while others wanted more spice 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: Quick and easy to make with simple instructions, though a few felt there were too many steps for tacos.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more cheese and sour cream; try heating tortillas in a pan instead of microwave for better texture.
- Portions: Some found it filling, while others wished for a side dish or more tortillas to round out the meal.
- Leftovers: Taco filling keeps well and makes great next-day breakfast wraps or salad toppers.
Reviews from our home cooks
The Pork Carnitas Tacos are seriously tasty and so easy to prepare! I loved the pickled onions as a topping. Perfect blend of spices without too much heat.
Love one pan meals!! The pickled onions were great and the tacos had just enough spice. I suggest including spicy sauce to turn up the heat to ones liking.
We always love the one-pan tacos! These were so easy and flavorful. The poblano pepper and pickled onion really rounded out the flavor and texture of these!
These tacos were amazing. It was nice that the pork was ground instead of shredded and the pickled onions were just the perfect topping to the spices in the meat. My new favorite carnitas tacos.
Meal was very tasty, but recipe was lacking some detail. E.g., step 6 says "fill with with "pork...... and crema." What is crema?? That was first and ONLY use of the word in entire recipe. I'm assuming it was the sour cream mixture from (5), but it would have been nice to have been told that before I scanned the recipe several times looking for something I thought I'd missed. Vinegar provided was insufficient volume to marinate a half onion. Despite the complications, the pork carnitas tacos were very good.
The Pork Carnitas tacos were some of the most delicious tacos I have ever eaten! With the recipe, I was able to make 5 tacos and NO leftovers or waste.
OMG these tacos!!! Ok so first the pork cooked great, the recipe for the pork was spot on and the pickled onions was new for us, but it tasted so yummy. That sauce was fire! I really lovd this meal.
Wasn't sure how I would like the pickled onions, but, as usual, everything blended together perfectly! The Monterey Jack cheese went so well with the other taco ingredients. Love the taco shells!
Really liked the pickled onions with these tacos. The sweetness of the onions complemented the spicy flavor of the pork.
This is not carnitas! Carnitas is cooked slowly for a long time. And the onion is not pickled. Should be called "Pork Carnitas with Tangy Onion & A Tiny Bit of Monterey Jack Cheese."
Explore Similar Recipes
