Moist, juicy, tender pork carnitas with crisp brown edges, and a fresh, colorful, fruity mango black bean salsa, topped with roasted tomatillo salsa verde on slightly toasted tortillas – these Pork Carnitas Tacos with Mango Black Bean Salsa are the definition of flavor-packed!
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Here’s a question for you guys. Soft tacos or hard tacos?
Growing up in New Zealand, finding authentic Mexican food was like finding water on Mars. What was considered authentic was the ready made taco kits available in supermarkets, until a place called Flying Burrito Brothers came along in Christchurch that did a pretty fine job of representing Mexican cuisine. This was a while back though, the last time I ate there was in 2009, so I’m not sure how much the scene has changed now.
The result of that dearth of choice was that I grew up eating hard tacos, out of store-bought taco kits (!). Thankfully it only happened a few times, because we could never get into hard tacos. I mean hard taco shells?? Where’s the logic in that? It defies the whole purpose. 🙂
But then I went an had a habit-forming experience when I ate soft tacos and actual authentic Mexican food, and I’ve never looked back! The amount of flavor that you can pack into these little guys surprises me every time. I know I’ve been on a mini Mexican food binge recently with this roasted tomatillo salsa verde, this roasted tomatillo enchilada sauce and these ridiculously flavorful tequila braised slow roasted pork carnitas.
But bear with me for just one more time, because today I’m going to show you how to use those slow roasted pork carnitas to make an even more unreasonably flavorful dinner or party food dish – Pork Carnitas Tacos with Mango Black Bean Salsa!
These slow roasted pork carnitas (oven roasted carnitas) are absolutely going to transform anything that you pair them with. Moist, juicy and tender with crisp brown edges, these pork carnitas are one of my favorite taco fillings ever. And then couple that with a mango, black bean salsa and you’re in taco heaven. This fresh, colorful, fruity salsa is super versatile and has a great balance of sweet and savory. It’s hard to even call it a recipe, it’s a simple combination of sweet mangoes, hearty black beans (not to mention good for you! – as they have plenty of health benefits), sweet corn, onions, avocado, cilantro and then dressed with lime juice. You can serve it with anything really, or just eat it as a salad or an appetizer with some corn chips, but paired with these pork tacos – they just taste right at home. That’s really the best way to describe it. 🙂
I’ve shared tacos on the blog before – like this Allspice fish tacos with roasted grape salsa, but these pork carnitas tacos are more traditional, and with the tangy, juicy, creamy pork and the fresh fruity mango black bean salsa, these tacos taste incredible. So if you saved up some of that slow roasted pork carnitas in your freezer or you have some pulled pork, then you should definitely make these carnitas tacos. And maybe serve them with some roasted tomatillo salsa verde on the side, and you’ve got a party in town. 🙂
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Pork Carnitas Tacos with Mango Black Bean Salsa
Ingredients:
Pork Carnitas Tacos
- 16 Small corn tortillas
- Thinly sliced red cabbage optional
- 1 recipe Slow Roasted Pork Carnitas
- 1 recipe Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde (or store bought if you prefer)
Mango Black Bean Salsa
- 1 avocado cubed
- 1 mango cubed (or frozen mango, thawed, cubed - about ¾ cup)
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- ½ can black beans rinsed and drained (from a 15 oz can)
- ½ can sweet corn can rinsed and drained (from a 15 oz can)
- 2 - 3 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 -2 jalapeno chopped and de-seeded
- Juice of 1 lime to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions:
Pork Carnitas Tacos
- Prepare the carnitas and salsa verde (recipe links for those are in the Ingredients list). This can be done the day before.1 recipe Slow Roasted Pork Carnitas, 1 recipe Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde
- Heat a non-stick pan or griddle on medium heat. Brush it with some oil and heat the tortillas until they are heated on both sides. I like them to be slightly toasted on both sides, but still pliable.16 Small corn tortillas
- Top the tortillas with carnitas, mango black bean salsa, salsa verde, cabbage and serve.Thinly sliced red cabbage
Mango Black Bean Salsa
- Mix the first 7 ingredients, plus juice of ½ a lime together in a bowl, being careful not to crush the avocado. Add more lime juice and salt to taste.1 avocado, 1 mango, ¼ cup red onion, ½ can black beans, ½ can sweet corn can, 2 - 3 tbsp cilantro, 1 -2 jalapeno, Juice of [adjustable]1[/adjustable] lime, Salt to taste
- Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Tips & Tricks
Food prep tips
The carnitas and the salsa verde can be made a day ahead. While the carnitas are cooking in the oven, prep the ingredients for the tomatillo verde. When the carnitas are done slow cooking, they will need to rest for 30 minutes. During this time, you can prep the ingredients for the salsa verde (roast them in the oven). While the verde ingredients are cooling down after roasting in the oven, the carnitas can be shredded and grilled under the broil setting. Both of these can be stored in the fridge in air-tight containers for up to 5 days.Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
mila says
OMG Dini you are speaking my language…I never got the whole hard shell thing…like wtf is that all about… I never understood the flavor or the tiny razor cuts in your mouth that you get after eating them. This looks great as always honey. I love the salsa flavor combos!
Kevin | Keviniscooking says
Sipping coffee this morning reading and drooling over these beauties. Wow Dini!
Liz says
Thank you Dini for the nice recipes.
Bam's Kitchen says
Drool factor 10 fold!!! You need to submit this to food porn for sure. That bite shot made me feel weak in the knees. Great recipe! Sharing everywhere. Have a super weekend!
Sarah says
Visiting your blog right before dinner was a bad idea because now I just want to go down to the kitchen and it ALL THE THINGS! Seriously, those carnitas look insanely good! I miss having access to authentic Mexican food. I never knew how spoiled I was living in Arizona – there were so many good options. Now that I live in England my only hope of decent Mexican food is making it myself. This is one is getting filed away to make later – love it!
Jennifer says
I am thinking of turning these into tachos for my next snack! You can’t beat creamy pork with crispy edges. That salsa verde is everything! I want to eat it on my eggs every morning!