loaded carnitas tacos with avocado tomatillo salsa

I live in Canada. I have a taco addiction. That’s a bit of a problem. There are no taco trucks here. No mom and pop taquerias. There are a couple of places doing great tacos in town but there are lineups. For tacos. That’s why I make my own. Loaded carnitas tacos are how I get my taco fix at home. And you can too.

Carnitas are the star of this particular taco. Lousy carnitas – lousy tacos. Well, that’s not the only place to fall down with tacos. Lousy tortillas – lousy tacos. But let’s not get distracted. I make carnitas a couple different ways. Sous-vide carnitas are really good. Make them ahead of time and just fry them up to order. Or you can go old-school and make more traditional pork carnitas. They are really, really good too.

Loaded carnitas tacos with queso, pico, pickled onions and avocado tomatillo salsa.

Once you have your carnitas sorted out and you have some decent corn tortillas it’s time to turn to the filling. I like a few garnishes in these loaded carnitas tacos. Pickled onions – check. Queso fresco – check. Home made pico – check. And avocado tomatillo salsa. That’s a great salsa for pork.

Loaded carnitas tacos with queso, pico, pickled onions and avocado tomatillo salsa.

Avocado tomatillo salsa is a nice addition to loaded carnitas tacos but it’s great on burgers and sandwiches too. Boil 2 or 3 tomatillos with a bit of jalapeño and a clove of garlic. Drain, toss it in a food processor with an avocado and a big handful of cilantro. Blitz it all together. Add salt to taste. And the cool thing is it doesn’t turn brown in no time like guac. It lasts hours. A day or more even.

This avocado tomatillo salsa is a snap to make and goes with everything Mexican.

The tang of tomatillos and creaminess of avocados come together beautifully in this salsa.

Then all that’s left it to build them. A tortilla, some carnitas and then the toppings you love. It’s how I deal with my addiction. You can too.

Loaded carnitas tacos with queso, pico, pickled onions and avocado tomatillo salsa.
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5 from 3 votes

loaded carnitas tacos with avocado tomatillo salsa

Loaded carnitas tacos make a delicious and really quick weeknight meal. Just make sure you make the carnitas on the weekend so they're ready when you need them.
Course Main
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients

Avocado tomatillo salsa

  • 3 fresh tomatillos husked
  • 1/2 jalapeño seeded. You can go up to one whole jalapeño
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 ripe avocado peeled and seeded
  • 6 sprigs of cilantro minced
  • salt to taste

Loaded carnitas tacos

  • Pork carnitas sous vide or old-school (see above for links)
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • Pickled onions
  • Queso fresco
  • Pico de gallo
  • Avocado tomatillo salsa

Instructions

Avocado tomatillo salsa

  • Cover the tomatillos, jalapeño and garlic with water in a small saucepan.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook until the tomatillos darken, about 15 minutes.
  • Drain and let cool.
  • Combine the tomatillos, jalapeño, garlic, avocado and cilantro in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
  • Salt to taste.

Build the tacos

  • Wrap the corn tortillas in a clean dish cloth, dampen the cloth slightly and microwave until hot.
  • Top tortillas with carnitas and top with the garnishes of your choice.

Notes

The carnitas take time to prepare. Make sure you allow for it. Read the recipes before you plan your meal.

16 thoughts on “loaded carnitas tacos with avocado tomatillo salsa”

  1. 5 stars
    Hi Romain, the more I make of your Mexican recipes, the more addicted I get. The flavors are just wonderful. Loaded carnitas tacos with avocado tomatillo salsa is no exception! Just super tasty stuff. And the salsa and Pico de Gallo were just perfect!

    I realize that I have been living with this western mock version of Mexican food; wheat tortillas, industry spice mixes and some pre-made version of guacamole and tomato salsa. Bland. Tasteless. Doing the real stuff is a world apart! So good!

    Thanks a million for sharing the recipes!

    Reply
  2. Yesssss! Taco lovers unite! David and I do Taco Tuesday every week and I LOVE the look of this avocado tomatillo salsa! Have you tried roasting the tomatillos before using them? It’s one of my favorite flavors and I can’t wait to give this a try with our tacos this week!

    Reply
    • I do roast tomatillos in other dishes but I’ve never tried it with this salsa. Usually when I roast the tomatillos I also roast the chilies, garlic and onion as well but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work here.

  3. That avocado/tomatillo salsa looks fantastic! Just enough tartness from the tomatillo, spice from the jalepenos, and cooling from the avocado. I think I’m going to use that on a lot of different things!!

    Reply
  4. You need to move over to my side of Canada! We have taco trucks and mom and pop taquerias! We even have tacofest! But you’re right, homemade from scratch is always better. Always. I can’t even put into words how amazing these tacos look. I always love learning cool new things from you. I have never tried using tomatillos before, I better get right on that! The salsa sounds too good to pass up! 🙂

    Reply
    • Joyce – thank you for the kind words. I don’t understand what the problem is here with tacos. There are a lot of places serving up really bad tacos on flour tortillas but not much in the way of semi-authentic. There was one really good place near me but it burned:-(

    • Neena – if you can get tomatillos easily that salsa is a nice change and for some reason it keeps way better than guacamole (doesn’t go brown in 2 seconds).

  5. These toppings are unreal! Love the idea of the avocado tomatilla salsa! It sounds like a total flavorgasm. Now, I know what toppings to use when I make your pork carnitas! 😉 Thanks!

    Reply
    • The avocado tomatillo salsa is really good with just about anything Mexican. Super versatile and not too much work to make. Hope you like it and the carnitas.

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