These juiciest oven-baked pork tacos are as good as they look and even better the next day!
This post may be slightly exciting and contradictory since it uses several “package” products. However, there is a difference – in my mind at least – between packaged and processed, and the ingredients below lean towards the former. My recipes will typically be a little more “homemade”, but I wanted this to be my first post for a reason.
This recipe for the juiciest oven-baked pork tacos is adapted from a pin on Pinterest – the first pin recipe that I tried. It came out so wonderfully, and I loved the picture so much that it made me want to start food blogging (again – bonus points to you if you dig up the old one). Plus, this dish is just damn delicious! And it’s a great value because of the number of servings you get out of it. And the icing on the cake: they make even better leftovers!
Juiciest Oven-Baked Pork Tacos
Ingredients
- ¾ pound ground pork (minced pork)
- 1 large yellow onion - diced
- 14 ounces refried beans
- 1 cup Neapolitan Sauce or Pasta sauce Southern Hemisphere (Tomato Sauce in North America)
- ½ can green chilis (green chilli in British English)
- 1 tablespoon chili powder (chilli powder in British English)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes - crushed
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups cheddar cheese - shredded
Instructions
- Heat about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet and add onion. Sweat for about 3 minutes.
- Add pork and chorizo and brown, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the meat is broken up into small bits and cooked through. Drain completely.
- Add the beans, tomato sauce, green chillies (add the whole can if you like more spice), and seasoning. Simmer until all is combined and thick, almost paste-like.
- Line a baking dish, or two, with the hard taco shells sitting upright. Tip: if you’re having difficulty getting them to stand up, ball up some foil between a couple. Fill shells about half full of mixture; it should fill about 20 shells. Top with cheese.
- Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Serve with sour cream and a diced-up tomato (with a few of the extra chilis and a little cilantro if you’re feeling ambitious).
- To reheat as leftovers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and put tacos in while the oven is preheating. After about 5 minutes at full temp, crank the oven up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 5 minutes or until the filling is heated. Keep an eye on them, so the cheese doesn’t get overly brown.