Mexican street corn is a summer classic, and these Pulled Pork Elote Tacos bring that delicious flavor to taco night! I saw Burnt Pellet BBQ make something similar, and I had to try it for myself.
To kick things off, I smoked a pork butt seasoned with my Smoked Chipotle Mezcal until it was fall apart tender. I also made a corn salsa, elote sauce and toasted up some tortillas with cheese. Finally, I added the pulled pork, corn and elote sauce on top to make the best pulled pork tacos of the summer!
Why You’ll Love Pulled Pork Elote Tacos
This is an insane flavor combo, and the best way to bring the flavors of a Mexican restaurant home.
key point
The key to the pulled pork is the pork fat in the crutch. It really adds a ton of flavor and makes the pulled pork very juicy.
Everything else is pretty straightforward. The tacos will crisp with cheese and the pulled pork on top. Fold them over and get that nice crust, then add the fresh corn and elote sauce for a punch of flavor.
Pulled Pork Elote Tacos Ingredients
This pork taco recipe is an all-day affair, however the process is really straightforward! It takes 1 hour of prep and 6 hours of cook time to serve 4. It’s an extremely popular dish among my friends and family, and it’s my favorite way to enjoy Mexican street corn with a pulled pork flair at home.
To cook your pulled pork, you’ll start out with a whole pork butt, your favorite BBQ seasoning, and yellow mustard. Smoke it up in a crutch of your favorite light beer and pork fat.
Use my homemade elote recipe to create your own sauce out of mayonnaise, sour cream, hot sauce, and lime juice.
Prep for your grilled corn with several ears of corn, chopped cilantro, diced red onions, Cotija cheese, Tajin seasoning, and canola oil.
Finish up the recipe by bringing all our components together with some corn tortillas, shredded cheese, and lime wedges for garnish. Feel free to throw in some ripe avocados, chopped red bell pepper, black beans, or any of your other favorite toppings to make this your new favorite Mexican dish! You can also make extra street corn to enjoy with tortilla chips.
Pull your smoker out and let’s get going!
For more great recipes, check out my Elote Chorizo Dogs, Elote Style Chicken Wings and Grilled Tri-Tip with Charred Corn Salsa.
How to Make Pulled Pork Elote Tacos
The Pork
Place your pork butt on a baking sheet, lather with yellow mustard all over and generously season all sides with your favorite BBQ seasoning in order to completely cover the roast. Place them in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
Preheat your smoker to medium heat (about 250F.) Add some wood chips or wood chunks if desired for extra smoky flavor.
Pull your pork butt out and place on the smoker to cook until 165F internal (about 4-6 hours). Once the pork butt has hit the temperature, pull it out and place in a large foil bin.
Fill the bin with your pork fat and light beer. The liquid in the bin should come past 50% of the pork butt’s height, so add more or less if necessary. Tightly cover your bin with foil and place the airtight container back on the smoker at 250F to smoke until the meat is tender to probe and shreddable (another 3-4 hours).
Once the pork butts are done, pull them off and let them rest for 30 minutes. Now, let’s make final components of these Pulled Pork Elote Tacos.
The Corn and Elote Sauce
Preheat your grill to medium-high heat (around 375F) for direct cooking.
Next, grill your corn over the high heat for 6-8 minutes until fully cooked and slightly charred. Pull off the hot grill and slice the corn off the cob. Add the corn to a medium bowl and mix together with all of the other ingredients for the grilled corn mixture.
Finally, mix in a bowl all the ingredients for the Elote Sauce.
Taco Assembly and Serving
Next, pull your pork butt. Then, add a cast iron skillet to the grill and let preheat. Add the tortillas to the skillet and spread a layer of shredded cheese on top of them. Then add a small handful of shredded pork on top of that and let toast for 1-2 minutes.
Then pull the tortillas off and gently open them to then start building your Pulled Pork Elote Tacos. Start with the grilled corn and then the elote sauce on top.
Serve and enjoy!
Pulled Pork Elote Tacos
Ingredients
Pork:
- 1 Whole Pork Butt
- 2-3 tbsp Smoked Chipotle Mezcal or Your Favorite BBQ Seasoning
- Yellow Mustard for binder
Crutch:
- 24 oz Favorite Light Beer
- ½ cup Pork Fat
Elote Sauce:
- 2.5 tbsp Mayonnaise
- 1.5 tbsp Sour Cream
- 1 tsp Hot Sauce
- 2 medium Limes juiced
Grilled Corn:
- 3-4 Corn on the Cob
- 2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro
- 2 tbsp Diced Red Onions
- 1.5 tbsp Cotija Cheese
- 1.5 tsp Tajin Seasoning
- Canola Oil as needed
Tacos:
- Tortillas
- Shredded Cheese
Instructions
- Place your pork butt on a baking sheet, lather with yellow mustard all over and generously season all sides with your favorite BBQ seasoning in order to completely cover the roast.
- Place them in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 4 hours but ideally overnight.
- Preheat your smoker to about 250F. Add some wood chips or wood chunks if desired for extra smoky flavor.
- Pull your pork butt out and place on the smoker to cook until 165F internal (about 4-6 hours).
- Once the pork butt has hit the temperature, pull it out and place in a large foil bin.
- Add your pork fat and light beer to the foil bin. The liquid in the bin should come past 50% of the pork butt’s height, so add more or less if necessary.
- Tightly cover your bin with foil and place back on the smoker at 250F to smoke until the meat is tender to probe and shreddable (another 3-4 hours).
- Once the pork butts are done, pull them off and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your grill to medium high temperature (around 375F) for direct cooking.
- Next, grill your corn over the high heat for 6-8 minutes until fully cooked and slightly charred.
- Pull off the grill and slice the corn off the cob. Add the corn to a bowl and mix together with all of the other ingredients for the Grilled Corn.
- Finally, mix in a bowl all the ingredients for the Elote Sauce.
- Next, pull your pork butt.
- Then, add a cast iron skillet with the tortillas, shredded cheese and a small handful of pulled pork to toast for 1-2 minutes.
- Pull off and build your taco. Start with the grilled corn and then the elote sauce on top. Serve and enjoy!
These look amazing but i’m a little confused as you list Pork Fat in your list of ingredients and talk about Beer and Beef Broth in the article?
Thanks for the catch Brian. Juggling too many things and it should have said pork fat. It’s updated now, hope you try these!
This was a fantastic way to use up a bunch of pulled pork we had in the freezer. (our cook for it was similar enough to this recipe). I used flour tortillas because my husband has an unnatural hatred for corn tortillas:D, and he was skeptical that this would come together – it was amazing! Can’t wait to try out more of your recipes!
Oops, forgot to add star rating!
does pork fat mean lard?
Yup!