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4.84 from 6 votes

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Mexican Coleslaw

The juiciest Slow Cooker Pork Tacos! No marinating, just make a simple spice rub and toss it in the crock pot. Then top it off with a homemade Mexican coleslaw that you are going to LOVE!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Total Time4 hours 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Servings: 6
Calories: 625kcal
Author: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

For the pork

  • 2 pounds pork tenderloin
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried minced onions
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth

For the coleslaw

  • 1 head green cabbage shredded
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup avocado oil*
  • 1 & 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt more to taste
  • 1 jalapeno seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro big fistful
  • 1/4 large red onion roughly chopped
  • juice from 1 lime

To assemble tacos

  • corn tortillas
  • radishes thinly sliced
  • more cilantro chopped
  • extra limes quartered (to squeeze over tacos)

Instructions

  • Pat the pork tenderloin dry with a paper towel and place in your crock pot.
  • In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, smoked paprika, crushed red pepper, dried minced onions, dried mustard, and chili powder.
  • Rub the meat all over with the spices. Add the bay leaf and chicken broth, making sure not to rinse off all the spices you just rubbed in. Pour it on the side.
  • Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.
  • Remove from the slow cooker and shred on a platter or plate. Drizzle with the juices left in the crock pot. Keep warm until you're ready to serve.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the coleslaw. Shred the cabbage into very thin slices. (Click here to see how I shred cabbage) Add the cabbage to a large bowl and set aside.
  • The dressing needs to be blended, so you can either do it in the blender (see step 8) or use an immersion blender, which is what I did. I used a mason jar: add the egg and egg yolk to the jar. Add the avocado oil, red wine vinegar, and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt. Push the immersion blender all the way down to blend the eggs first, and pull it upward as you blend. Keep pulsing and moving up and down until the mixture looks like mayonnaise. (Hint: it is mayonnaise :) 
  • To make this in a regular blender, add the egg, egg yolk, red wine vinegar, and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt. Blend on low. Remove the small lid on top and slowly pour in the avocado oil while it is blending, until it looks like mayonnaise.
  • Add the jalapeno, cilantro, red onion, and lime juice to the jar or blender. Blend until combined and smooth.
  • Add about 2/3 of the dressing to the cabbage and stir it together. Reserve the remaining dressing to drizzle over the tacos. You can make this coleslaw a day ahead of time; keep covered in the fridge.
  • To prepare the tortillas, you have a few options. You can either fry them in little bit of oil, about 30-50 seconds per side (heat on medium). Or you can char them over a gas stove, as I have done for the photos: Place one corn tortilla directly over the gas flame, and turn frequently with tongs. Keep going until brown spots appear, then flip the tortilla and repeat on the other side. Wrap the tortilla in a damp tea towel to steam it, adding tortillas as you go and wrapping it tightly each time. Or, the easiest way to prepare corn tortillas is to wrap a stack of 4 tortillas at a time in a damp paper towel and microwave in 30 second increments until soft and pliable.  
  • To serve the tacos, fill a tortilla with pork, and top with Mexican coleslaw, radishes, and cilantro. Squeeze a lime over the top and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Devour!

Notes

You can also try making the dressing for the coleslaw with store bought mayo. Blend about a cup (maybe a bit more) of mayo with some salt (not as much), the jalapeno, red onion, cilantro, and lime juice. 
*If you don't have avocado oil, you can use LIGHT flavored olive oil. (Not extra virgin!)

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 625kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 29g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Potassium: 983mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 556IU | Vitamin C: 63mg | Calcium: 108mg | Iron: 3mg