Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos for Dinner in Minutes

Get dinner on the table in minutes with this easy leftover pulled pork tacos recipe. The ingredients are simple, and the prep time is minimal. Before you know it, you will have this filling meal ready to serve. Let’s get started!

My Leftover Pulled Pork Taco Backstory

As an empty nester after raising boys, it has been difficult for me to adjust to making smaller meals. Feeding teenage boys often requires large quantities of food, and scaling back has been a challenge. I do love leftovers, so I haven’t scaled back too much. I also put leftovers in the freezer frequently these days.

When I was seeking meal inspiration recently, I remembered I had some leftover pulled pork in the freezer. For some reason, placing the meat in between a bun was not appealing. I have a family recipe for pan-fried tacos that is a favorite, so I decided to branch out and use leftover pulled pork for the filling instead of taco meat. It was a hit! Here’s all you need to make your own version for an easy weeknight dinner.

Easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Even though making pulled pork from scratch isn’t the focus of this recipe, you do need to have some leftover pulled pork to work with. Here’s an easy way to make pulled pork in a crock pot.

Ingredients for Crock Pot Pulled Pork

3–4 lbs pork shoulder (or pork butt)

1 onion, sliced

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions for Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Place sliced onions in the crock pot.

Mix paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Rub onto the pork.

Place the pork on top of the onions.

Mix BBQ sauce, vinegar, broth, and brown sugar; pour over pork.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4–5 hours.

Shred the pork with two forks and mix with the sauce. Serve on buns or as desired. Freeze the leftovers for making leftover pulled pork tacos!

Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos Equipment

The equipment needed for this pulled pork tacos recipe is simple. Here are the basic items you will need:

Bowl for mixing coleslaw

Electric frying pan

Spatula

Pan for serving the pulled pork tacos

Paper towels for lining the pan

Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos Ingredients

To make the pulled pork tacos, here are the ingredients you will need:

2 heaping cups leftover pulled pork

Barbecue sauce to taste (optional, but helps the leftover pulled pork stick together when spooning into the tortillas for frying)

8 corn tortillas

1 bag coleslaw mix

Easy coleslaw dressing (recipe below)

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

To make the easy coleslaw dressing you will need: 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)

1/2 tsp celery seed (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dressing, whisk the first four coleslaw dressing ingredients together, then add the celery seed, salt, pepper, and mix together. Toss with the bag of coleslaw and refrigerate while you make the pulled pork tacos.

Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos Instructions

Mix the bag of coleslaw with the dressing (recipe above) and refrigerate.

Line a baking pan with paper towels.

Heat the oil (I prefer to use olive oil) at 350 degrees in an electric skillet. Separate 8 corn tortillas and have them ready to be filled.

Add a couple of tablespoons of barbecue sauce to the leftover pulled pork, if desired, and mix together in a covered glass microwave-safe container. Heat the leftover pulled pork mixture, covered, for 1 minute in the microwave.

Lay a tortilla in the electric skillet and place two tablespoons of leftover pulled pork in the center. Using a spatula, fold the tortilla closed. Repeat this process for four more tortillas, then your electric skillet will be full. Starting with the first tortilla, flip to the other side so that both sides get fried golden brown. 

After flipping all of the tortillas, remove the first taco and place in the prepared baking pan. Repeat with the other tacos.

As each taco is removed, put a new tortilla in its place, repeating the steps for filling and flipping. Do this until all of the tacos are fried and in the baking pan.

If you need some extra time to get everything on the table and you want the tacos to remain hot, turn the oven on to 200 degrees and keep the pan of tacos in the oven until ready to serve. 

Top with coleslaw and enjoy!

Variations on Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos

You could also serve these leftover pulled pork tacos with pickled onions, if desired. Some people like to squeeze fresh lime juice on their pulled pork tacos. For Mexican pulled pork tacos, you could serve them with salsa.

 

Love to Cook with Garden Fresh Ingredients?

This leftover pulled pork tacos recipe calls for a cole slaw salad mix, but you can also use greens or shredded cabbage from your garden. If making the most of the produce from your garden gives you a thrill like it does for me, you might enjoy making chocolate chip zucchini bread. If you grow potatoes, an easy way to cook them is to make roasted red skin potatoes with garlic and rosemary. Make a healthy, economical meal with scarlet runner beans. Got more squash or zucchini? Cook up some creamy tomato butternut squash soup, some butternut squash mini pizzas, zucchini fritters, or some fried zucchini with dipping sauce. Make the most of a bountiful onion harvest by making French onion sausage soup in the crock pot. There are many delicious possibilities when you grow your own fresh vegetables!

More Meal Inspiration

It’s always nice to have a plan when it comes to meals. If you’re looking for a way to get more organized with your meal planning efforts, I’ve got something for you. Free, editable meal planners! The templates can be used over and over, as often as you need them. You can make as many duplicates as you like, and you’ll be able to save old meal plans for future reference. I hope it simplifies things for you.

Get my digital, editable, printable templates!

Have fun making this leftover pulled pork tacos recipe, and may all of your no-fuss dinner endeavors meet with great success!