Slow Cooker Pork Tinga with Potatoes, Avocado and Fresh Cheese is a game day favorite! Tender pork and potatoes are slow cooked with chipotles and fire roasted tomatoes and served with tortillas, ripe avocado, and fresh cheese!
This recipe originally appeared on Cooking In Stilettos in February of 2010. The recipe has been updated with new photos and any recipe changes that I have incorporated over the years. This post may contain affiliate links to products I adore and use in my kitchen. Thank you for supporting Cooking In Stilettos.
In Rick Bayless’ Mexico – One Plate At A Time, Rick Bayless mentioned his Pork Tinga recipe which apparently was the best thing ever according to his daughter. I filed that recipe in my mental “must try” recipe box. While in the grocery store, I saw a gorgeous cut of pork that was on sale and thought “No time like the present” as I was craving some seriously good tacos for dinner.
I love using a slow cooker when it comes to pork. My favorite slow cooker has a stovetop safe inset which makes things so easy when it comes to browning the meat and you don’t lose any of the flavor that is on the bottom of the pan. I tend to use a bit of water or broth and deglaze the pan after browning so every bit of flavor is incorporated into the sauce. Plus, as you know, I’m a fan of any slow cooker recipe that is essentially “set it and forget it”.
While it takes some time, I have to tell you that patience is your friend when it comes to this dish. I caught the sous pug more than once pacing in front of the slow cooker due to the aroma wafting through the house.
My local grocery store had queso blanco on hand which was the perfect cheese for this but if you can’t find queso blanco or queso fresco, feel free to use a mild feta cheese. As I’m a spice wuss, I decided to forgo the chorizo sausage and improvised with fresh Italian sausage that I browned with the pork. There are so many levels of flavor in this dish from slow cooked pork and potatoes to the chipotle chile to the fire roasted tomatoes to the zip of the lime when you squeeze it over the top. To cool it off a bit, you can drizzle a little Mexican crema over the top. Like I said, I’m still a novice when it comes to all things spice but this heat was “good heat”. I could only handle one (big) chipotle pepper and that little thing packs a punch!
This Slow Cooker Pork Tinga with Potatoes, Avocados and Fresh Cheese would be a great addition to any game day or tailgate festivities. Now that’s a touchdown if I ever saw one.
On to the recipe:
Lining Up The Ingredients
Cubing up the pork
The fire roasted tomatoes, chipotle and onions are essentially the sauce
Now this, my friends, is a game day must!
Aly M. Cleary | Adapted from Rick Bayless
Yields 8
Slow Cooker Pork Tinga with Potatoes, Avocado and Fresh Cheese is perfect for game day or tailgate festivities. Pork and potatoes are slow cooked for hours in a chipotle fire roasted tomato sauce and served with ripe avocado, fresh cheese, tortillas and a bit of lime for the perfect taco bite!
30 minPrep Time
6 hrCook Time
6 hr, 30 Total Time
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 pound lean, boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 links of mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 3 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 15-ounce cans of diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 canned chipotle chile, finely chopped plus a teaspoon of adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of Mexican oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
- About 1/2 cup shredded Mexican queso fresco, queso blanco or mild feta cheese
- 1 ripe avocado, diced
- Fresh lime wedges
- Sour Cream or Mexican Crema
- Warm corn or flour tortillas
Instructions
- In the insert of a stovetop safe slow cooker or nonstick saute pan, add the olive oil and heat over medium high heat.
- Add the pork in batches and brown on all sides and set aside.
- Brown the Italian sausage and set aside.
- Lightly deglaze the pan with a quarter cup of water and scrape up any brown bits off of the bottom of the pan.
- Add the browned pork and sausage to the slow cooker along with the diced potatoes.
- In a large bowl, fold together the diced onion, fire roasted tomatoes (and their juice), chipotle chile and adobo sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Mexican oregano, black pepper, smoked paprika and salt.
- Pour over the pork and potatoes and fold everything together until the potatoes and pork are covered with the chipotle tomato mixture.
- Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
- To serve, nestle the pork tinga in tortillas and serve with a bit of the shredded cheese, fresh avocado, a drizzle of crema (or sour cream) and a squeeze of lime.
- Enjoy!
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