Slow Cooker Crispy Pork Belly Tacos With Pineapple Chipotle Sauce
We’re taking tacos to the next level with these slow cooker crispy pork belly tacos and pineapple chipotle sauce. Perfectly tender pork belly is crisped to perfection, drenched in a bright and fiery sauce, and wrapped in corn tortillas to make tacos worthy of any special occasion or date night.
Equipment
- Slow cooker 4 quart
- Immersion blender optional
Ingredients
Slow Cooker Crispy Pork Belly
- 20 ounces pork belly skin on
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ½ medium white onion quartered and separated
- 3 cloves garlic smashed
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
Pineapple Chipotle Sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ medium white onion chopped
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon chipotle puree see Notes
- 1 pinch sea salt see Notes
Taco Fixings
- 12 4-inch corn tortillas
- 1½ cups refried black beans
- ½ cup lime crema see Notes
- Lime wedges optional
Instructions
Slow Cooker Crispy Pork Belly
- Score the skin side of the pork belly in a cross-hatch pattern with a sharp knife. Make sure to cut only through the skin and not the flesh.
- Combine the paprika, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, cumin, and agave nectar in a small bowl to create a paste.
- Rub the paste on all sides of the pork belly, making sure to really work it into the slices you made in the skin.
- Add the pineapple juice, lime juice, onion, and garlic to a 4-quart slow cooker. Place the pork belly on top of the onion and garlic so it’s sitting just above the liquid, skin side up.Cover and cook on LOW until the pork belly reaches an internal temperature of 200F, about 4.5 to 5 hours. It should be fork tender and the skin should look crispy.
- Remove the pork belly from the crockpot and let it cool for about 1 hour. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Pineapple Chipotle Sauce
- In a small saucepan, cook the vegetable oil, garlic, and onion over medium heat until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the pineapple juice, lime juice, agave nectar, chipotle puree, and sea salt. Stir to combine, then simmer until fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Blend the sauce with an immersion blender until it’s smooth and creamy. If you don’t have an immersion blender, a regular blender works just fine.Adjust salt to taste, then keep the sauce warm over low heat.
To Serve
- Remove the plastic wrap from the pork belly and slice it into half-inch thick slabs.Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the pork belly and crisp the slabs on both sides until you see some caramelization, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.Return the pork belly to a cutting board, then slice each slab into bite-size chunks.
- Add the pork belly to the pineapple chipotle sauce and stir to combine.
- Serve hot with corn tortillas, refried black beans, and lime crema. You can also add some lime wedges on the side for an extra pop of acid!
Notes
Chipotle puree: Grab a can of chipotles in adobo and puree it in a food processor to get a silky smooth chipotle puree! We love using this in all kinds of recipes, like our chipotle mayo and cauliflower tacos with chipotle glaze.
Sea salt: We like to use smoked sea salt for a little extra flavor in this sauce (Hawaiian and applewood are two of our favorites), but you can use regular sea salt if that’s all you have.
Lime crema: We like to make our own with a half cup plain Greek yogurt, half to a whole lime juiced, and a pinch of sea salt. Tastes so good!
Corn tortillas: Taco nights have gotten 100 times better since we started making our own corn tortillas! It’s super easy and so worth it, because the flavor is out of this world. See our blog post above for our recommendations on how to get started with homemade tortillas.
Scoring the pork: A sharp knife with some weight behind it makes all the difference for this. I’ve found our Material Kitchen chef’s knife to work best, I also always give it a quick tune up with our honing rod beforehand.
Cooking the pork belly: This can be done up to 3 days ahead of time if it makes preparing dinner easier for you. You can also add extra pork to the slow cooker if you want to scale this recipe up. Just be sure to increase the amounts of ingredients for the rub proportionally, but the rest of the pork belly ingredients can stay as is.
Best internal temp for pork belly: Pork belly is best when it can reach and stay at 195 to 205 degrees F for at least an hour. This helps to properly render the fat and give you a perfectly tender texture. Use a meat thermometer to make sure you get the perfect cook every time!
Nutrition
Serving: 1taco | Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 400mg | Potassium: 206mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 86IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg
