Mouthwatering pork tongue tacos with cilantro avocado creme isn't your average taco recipe!
Tongue is one of the most tender parts of the animal - this taco recipe is sure to prove to you how amazing offal can be.
Made in a crockpot, most of the work for these tacos is hands-off. Plus, the recipe is gluten free!
Lengua (tongue) tacos are a favorite of mine, so when I can get my hands on beef or pork tongue I know what I'm making!
Serve these tacos in Gluten Free Plantain Tortillas or burrito bowl-style like Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls.
Quick Look: Pork Tongue Tacos
⏲️Ready In: 6 Hours 5 Minutes (5 min prep, 6 hours slow cooker)
🍽Servings: 3
🥗Nutrition: 578 Calories / 28g Protein
🥘Main Ingredients: Pork tongue, Beef broth, Chipotle, Avocado
📋Dietary Notes: Gluten free, Grain free, Dairy free, Nut free
⭐Why You'll Love It: Tongue is one of the most tender cuts, which means amazing tacos! These tongue (lengua) tacos are slow-cooked for ease.
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What's in these pork tongue tacos
Well, besides the pork tongue, because I'm sure you've figured that part out already.
To flavor the pork tongue, I use a simple blend of chipotle and chili powder, so the finished product has a bit of a spicy kick.
Then, a dollop of ghee or butter adds a lot of rich flavor. (Although you can leave this out.)
For a tortilla, you can use whatever you like! But for the photos here, I used oven plantain tortillas. I LOVE the slightly sweet flavor that plantain tortillas adds to tacos!
Finally, to top it off, a quick cilantro avocado creme sauce made with just avocados, cilantro, lemon juice, and a little milk helps to balance out the spice blend.
I also highly suggest using a cruncy topping like thinly sliced red cabbage, sliced radishes, or pickled red onions here! A little crunch adds a whole new level to tacos.
How to prepare pork tongue
When I first published this recipe way back in 2016, I was always looking to simplify recipes as much as possible. As a result, I originally just popped the pork tongue with the spices into a crockpot and cooked it low and slow until it shredded.
If you've made pork tongue before, you'll noticed that I skipped something - peeling the tongue.
At the time, I didn't think it was too necessary. And guess what? The meat was hard to shred, but overall it was fine.
Now, though, I can identify that the outer skin of the tongue is chewy and a little tougher than the tender perfection inside. So yes, I 100% recommend peeling the tongue now!
How to peel a pork tongue
The pork tongue will be easiest to peel once it's mostly cooked, so you don't have to worry about peeling at the start of this recipe.
After the pork tongue has been in the crockpot for 6 hours, remove it and let cool until it's easy enough to handle.
Use a paring knife to cut into the tongue and peel off the thick, textured outer layer and any muscle near the base of the tongue. If you can't get enough of a grip on the outer layer to peel it off, use the paring knife to carefully cut away the layer, being careful not to tear off the meat.
Once the outer layer is off, you should be able to cut up the pork tongue into smaller pieces or shred it with two forks.
Ways to serve pork tongue tacos
I'm all about customizing tacos - I literally wrote an e-book full of taco recipes and variations - and I have suggestions on what would work well here!
In addition to the cilantro avocado creme included in the recipe below, I love adding a bit of crunch with fresh sliced radish or cabbage.
I definitely think a bit of zing from pickled red onions would do really well here! Then again, I think pickled veggies belong on almost any taco.
If you don't want to make plantain tortillas, go ahead and try flour tortillas!
More gluten free taco recipes
- Walleye Fish Tacos with Radish Coleslaw
- Weeknight Beef Taco Bowls (Low Carb)
- Paleo Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
- Gluten Free Fry Bread Tacos
Did you try pork tongue tacos? I'd love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating or tag me on Instagram - I appreciate your feedback.
Print📖 Recipe
Pork Tongue Tacos with Cilantro Avocado Creme
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Tongue is one of the most tender cuts - which means it makes amazing tacos! My favorite taco toppings here are thinly sliced cabbage, thinly sliced radish, and/or pickled red onions.
Ingredients
Pork Tongue Tacos
- 1 batch Plantain Tortillas
- .8-1 pound pork tongue
- 1 tablespoon chipotle powder
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons ghee or butter (optional)
- ¼ cup water or beef broth
- thinly sliced red cabbage, for garnish
- thinly sliced radishes, for garnish
Cilantro Avocado Creme
- 1 avocado
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk
Instructions
- Place the pork tongue, chipotle powder, chili powder, salt, ghee, and broth in a small crockpot.
- Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Remove the tongue and use a paring knife to remove the rough outer skin of the tongue. Chop up the remaining meat of the tongue and return to the crockpot until ready to serve.
- To make the cilantro avocado creme, add the avocado, cilantro, lemon juice, and coconut milk to a blender and blend until smooth.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2-3 tacos
Ruth Margaret Haberkorn says
Stupid spell check I meant "hubby" not hobby lol.
Ruth Margaret Haberkorn says
I am excited to try this. My local pork farmer sells offal for $1.99 a pound. I find it really hard to eat meat everyday because of the expense but with that price hopefully I can stretch it out that we can have some more protein in our diet. I believe my hobby has had beef tongue tacos so I hope this will go down well with him. He is a bit more sensitive to the offal than me. I am not exactly in love with offal but I can stomach it enough especially knowing it is helping my body.
Chelsea says
That's one of my favorite things about offal - it's usually much cheaper than other cuts! I just see it all as meat, so offal has never really struck me as weird. But I guarantee you - tongue is one of the most tender cuts out there. It's so delicious!
Dave M says
I custom raise pork in Michigan. Typical for prosciutto, pancetta, Guanciale, etc.
Decided to work with more product. Tongue was less than 48 hrs old. My slow cooker is “turkey” size, so I put tongue in small glass bowl, covered with foil with spices & some duck fat, 1/2 cup stock & put I dine slow cooker for 8 hrs.
AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING !!!!!!!!!
Chelsea says
Yes! A slow cooker works wonders for pork tongue!
Grace says
This is awesome. You're awesome. I'm convinced. Although I don't know if I can find pork tongue for quite that cheap at my farmer's market. Do you think it comes a little cheaper in ND?
Also, great story behind the recipe! Really well written and fun to read. I'll keep you posted on these babies when I make them next weekend :).
Chelsea says
It may come a little cheaper here in ND. Part of what makes offal so cheap around here is that so few people want them. It's hard to find here unless you speak to a rancher directly. I hope the recipe works for you! It's admittedly tough to shred the tongue with forks, but I *made* it work, haha! And it's really my favorite way to have it 🙂