Well, you could certainly do one thing right now, and that would be shove your face in these crockpot chalupas.
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I made this last night and it was waiting for me this morning! LOVE IT! Your recipes never disappoint, and there’s nothing better than crock-pot cooking, so effortless!
Sarah
The second thing would be leave your front door open as a symbol of neighborly friendliness, watch the neighborhood car show, and find out how much you can sound like a mom when you repeatedly use words like Vroom Vrooms.
The third would be join obscure video social media networks.
Check, check, check.
Last night I made something else for dinner. It was not chalupas and that was not okay. It was veggie curry in the crockpot and itttttt… was gross. Sad story. I was even feeling especially inspired to pack some vitamins into my body. Inhaling clouds of black exhaust while sitting on a motorcycle in traffic in the Philippines will do that to a person. But apparently the forces of nature wanted me to eat another chalupa instead.
And friends, I did NOT complain.
Are crockpots the best thing ever or are they THE BEST THING EVER?
Hail you, Creator of the Crockpot.
Here are the directions for this recipe: Cover and cook for 8 hours. Done.
You just can’t argue with spicy, flavorful, tender shredded pork and pinto bean filling that cooks itself for you all day while you’re at work. Then you’ll get home from work a hot sweaty mess (or a sloppy snowy mess? I’m not jealous but I’m totally jealous.) and dinner will be made. Your only job is piling it high on top of a crunchy – wait for it – baked tortilla. With.sour.cream. You can do it.
In case you’re wondering if you should you try this on corn tortillas, my answer is yes.
Mexican food for the win.
Crockpot Chalupas
- Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These crockpot chalupas are so easy to make and so addicting! Shredded Mexican flavored pork and pinto beans over a baked crispy tortilla. Yum!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. pork shoulder
- 1 lb. dry pinto beans (rinsed)
- 6 ounces light beer
- 1 15-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 jalapeno peppers or other hot chili, minced (ribs and seeds removed to keep it mild)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder*
- 2 teaspoons cumin*
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper*
- *AND/OR a tablespoon or two of taco seasoning (I used them all)
- generous pinch or two of salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used Mozzarella)
- 12+ flour tortillas
Instructions
- Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker. Cover with dry pinto beans, beer, tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, taco seasoning, salt, and 1 1/2 cup water. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 4-6 hours. Don’t open the lid – it adds to the cooking time.
- Remove the lid after the cooking time and shred the pork using two forks. You can do this directly in the slow cooker. If it’s too runny, continue to cook with the cover off for a little while. If it’s too dry, add more water.
- Sprinkle cheese on top, replace the lid, and cook for another 30 minutes to allow the cheese to melt.
- Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Place tortillas directly on the oven rack and bake for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Flip the tortillas and bake for another 1-2 minutes under golden brown and crunchy. Be careful because they burn easily! Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- Top each tortilla with pork and bean mixture and sour cream.
Notes
The longer you cook this, the better it tastes! We actually cooked it the day before and then reheated it in the crockpot the next day and it was so full of flavor!
Other topping ideas include fresh tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, crumbled Cotija cheese, jalapenos, or guacamole.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: crockpot chalupas, chalupas, mexican pork chalupas
Take that, Monday.
Just wondering what I could use in place of the beer. I am gluten free and don’t know if I can get just one can of gf beer. I don’t like it so I wouldn’t drink the rest.
Thanks!
So the pork shoulder in one pound?
Yep! One pound of pork shoulder.
I love chalupas! Thanks for the recipe. If we are having a large group with a few vegetarian guests do you think it would work to make a small amount without the pork? Same seasonings etc.?
We haven’t tried a vegetarian version of this yet, but it’s worth a shot! Let us know how this goes for you, Rebecca. 🙂
Only 1 lb. of meat for 12 servings?
I love the idea of making it a day before serving to let the flavors really meld together – – silly question, how do you reheat it in the crockpot? Just put it on warm for a bit, I assume? This recipe looks great, thanks for another meal inspiration!
This sounds like a perfectly delicious meal that I will try today. Thanks for sharing! I’m sure it will be one of our favorites.
Hello! I made this in my Instant Pot today on slow cook – for 8 hours on low. The beans were still hard after 8 hours – I followed the recipe exactly I believe, any idea what happened?
I cooked this last night for a lazy Sunday dinner with friends, and it did not disappoint! I started in the afternoon with a 2lb pork tenderloin, so I used canned beans and unfortunately had to cook it on high for 4 hours instead of letting it render down all day. I knew that might not be enough, so when I opened it in the last hour to encounter tough meat, I just sliced it up and put it back in until it was tender. That solved the problem!
My final product was swimming in the cooking liquid (I definitely used a lot of beer), so I strained out the goodies and poured a little bit of the sauce over top, then used a little more taco seasoning to taste. It was amazing! Everyone loved the crispy, warm tortillas and thought the dish was extremely flavorful. For the ease of cooking and the taste, this is definitely a 5-star recipe for me.
So glad to hear that!
Would this work with already cooked shredded pork? Just cook on low?????
We think it could! But maybe would just add the pork for the last hour or so.
Could I use chicken breast instead of pork?
Yes, definitely!
Hi Lindsay and Kristin!
I’m a huge fan of your website and love every recipe that I try… Unfortunately I can’t seem to make this one work. I forgot to turn on my crock-pot before I left for work so as soon as I got home I set it on high for 4 hours… When I opened the crock pot the meat was very tough, too tough to shred :'(, and the beans were not yet cooked. I’m not very experienced with cooking pork and was hoping that you would have some suggestions to throw my way?
Sorry to hear that, Julia! Do you remember what cut of pork you used? When cooking meat in this way, it’s helpful to have a little fattier cut to keep it moist and flavorful. In general, cooking the meat longer (on low for 6-8 hrs) will make the meat even more tender. As for the uncooked beans, were they bought recently? The older the beans get, the longer they will take to cook. They can also remain uncooked if there isn’t enough liquid in the crockpot.
Hi Kristin!
Thank you for your reply and hints! I used a pork shoulder but maybe the cut I bought was too lean. I’ll search for a fattier one next time! The flavor was amazing, I’m looking forward to trying this again :).
That was likely the problem. Hope it goes better next time!
hi Lindsay! I stumbled on your site recently and have been ogling various recipes ever since (like a total food-perv)
I made these last night and they were maaaaaarvelous.
cant wait to drool over and try out more of your recipes. thank you!
Great! Glad you liked it, Paige! 🙂
What size Crock Pot do you use for this recipe as well as the Mexican Shredded Chicken?
Lindsay generally uses a 6-qt round crockpot.
It is very useful. I will make it now. Thank you for your recipe
Enjoy, Jane! 🙂
I made these tonight! So yummy! Thanks for the great recipe!
We love hearing that! Thanks for the comment!
This was a huge hit with my family! My 3 small kids had 3rd servings of it! 🙂
I love hearing that! Thanks for the comment Emily!
so i made this a few weeks ago when i was stocking the freezer. i tasted it straight out of the crock pot and was really disappointed. it was kind of dull. i figured, i’ll freeze it and then i’ll jazz it up with all sorts of toppings when we actually eat it. it sat in the fridge for a few days while i cleared up space in the freezer, and i pulled out a container last night.
um, YUM. i completely agree that this tastes better as it sits. i wouldn’t even plan to make it and eat it on the same day.
sorry i doubted you; this was the bomb-diggity. even my bean-fearing hubby enjoyed it. and, i know this is sort of sacreligious to say, i don’t think it even needed cheese.
but it did need guac. because, guac.
p.s., broiled corn tortillas — brilliant.
Thanks for the comment!