Crispy Cheese Pork Carnitas Tacos

Crispy Cheese Street Tacos

If you haven’t made crispy cheese street tacos yet, you are missing out! A small pile of shredded cheese is placed directly on a non-stick or cast iron skillet and cooked until it becomes bubbly and the bottom is caramelized brown. It creates an intense cheese flavor and amazing crunch texture that is sooooo good!

After you have your flour tortillas with golden crispy cheese, you can fill them with just about anything and they will be amazing. From some healthy pressure cooker chicken to classic taco meat, you really can’t go wrong.

My favorite part of these crispy cheese tacos is that the caramelized layer of cheese keeps all the juices from the pork carnitas and sauces in the taco. You won’t end up with a mushy tortilla, but will instead keep the perfect texture for the great flavors packed in the little street taco.

• healthy pressure cooker chicken

Pork Carnitas Tacos on Blackstone Griddle

I made these crispy cheese tacos on my Blackstone griddle for our summer olympics this summer and they were a huge hit. I normally make the crispy cheese tacos in my kitchen on a cast iron skillet, but I needed to crank out large quantities quickly, so the Blackstone griddle was the perfect solution.

As the crispy cheese tortillas were ready, I tossed them on a plate and people would take them as they went through the line and top them with the smoked pork, chicken and beef I served with them. I also had an iced tub with a variety of toppings and everyone was raving about them!

Smoked Pork Tacos

For these crispy cheese pulled pork carnitas tacos, we used some fantastic Traeger smoked pork carnitas. If you don’t have a pellet smoker, you could also use pressure cooker pork carnitas for a much quicker meal. Heck, you can even take a huge shortcut and grab some pre-cooked carnitas at the grocery store and you will still have a delicious meal!

• Traeger smoked pork carnitas
• pressure cooker pork carnitas

What are pork carnitas?

Pork carnitas are a pulled pork that has been slow roasted with chili powder, cumin, garlic, lime juice, orange juice, onions and brown sugar for amazing Mexican flavors.

The most important step to carnitas is caramelizing the meat on a skillet with some of it’s cooking juices. This browns the edges of the shredded pork and adds even more fantastic flavor.

How to make crispy cheese tacos?

To get started, we are going to want to toast our tortillas in a skillet. We don’t ever want to be serving raw tortillas. Toss them in a heated skillet for 30-60 seconds on each side and get a little color on them as you heat them up. After your tortillas are warmed, set them aside on a plate covered.

The most important thing to keep in mind when making crispy cheese tacos, is that you have a clean non-stick surface. I always use my cast iron skillet, but any non-stick surface will work.

I’m usually a huge proponent of shredding your own cheese, but for these crispy cheese tacos, I’ve used both and they are both good. Arrange shredded cheese in a thin circle the size of your flour tortillas. Cook over medium-high heat until the cheese is bubbly and the bottom is golden brown.

Place your toasted tortilla over the cheese and press down firmly. Use a spatula to work the caramelized cheese off the pan and remove from the pan.

Toppings for Pork Carnitas Tacos

After you have your beautiful crispy cheese flour tortillas made, it’s time to fill them with all the Mexican inspired goodness. Start with caramelizing some pork carnitas in a pan and adding them to the tortillas.

When it comes to toppings, you can do just about anything, such as guacamole or queso. I kept it relatively simple for these pork carnitas tacos because I wanted to highlight the wonderful flavor of the meat. I spooned on some pico de gallo I grabbed at the grocery store and whipped up a quick chipotle lime sour cream.

The sour cream added the perfect touch of creaminess and the bright tomatoes and cilantro in the pico was a great compliment to the rich flavors of the carnitas and crispy cheese. It really is the perfectly balance street taco that you have got to try!

• guacamole

How to make chipotle lime sour cream

While you could just top the pork tacos with regular sour cream or crema, this chipotle lime sour cream kicks it up a notch and is totally worth the extra few minutes it takes to put together. In a small bowl, mix the following ingredients

3/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon honey

juice of one lime

1 chipotle in adobo, finely diced

1 Tablespoon adobo sauce

dash of salt and pepper

Whisk it all together and give it a quick taste. If you are using a larger lime, you may want to add a touch more honey to balance out the acidity.

Serving: 1 small taco | Calories: 203 kcal | Carbohydrates: 7 g | Protein: 11 g | Fat: 15 g | Saturated Fat: 8 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5 g | Cholesterol: 47 mg | Sodium: 261 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 2 g