Hawaiian Tacos

Take a trip to Hawaii for taco night with these easy Hawaiian Tacos! Ground pork is combined with a sweet and savory sauce, and then served in tortillas with a pineapple mango salsa and topped with homemade cilantro lime sauce.

Want more taco recipes? Try these Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos or these Black Bean Tacos.

We are obsessed with these Hawaiian Tacos!

I originally posted a version of these tacos back in 2013. And that version was great, but I decided to step it up a bit, and I’m so glad I did!

The salsa stayed the same. But in the original version, I just added barbecue sauce to the ground pork. This time, I used the same sauce I use in my huli huli chicken, and it was definitely the right decision! Plus the added cilantro lime sauce just takes these over the top.

This is a dinner that tastes like summer, but that you can eat all year long!

Ingredients

For the Cilantro Lime Sauce:

• Cilantro: You need 1/2 cup of lightly packed cilantro. I don’t usually measure this, but just tear off a handful of cilantro.
• Sour Cream: I use regular sour cream, but low fat could be used as well.
• Mayonnaise: Again, I typically use regular. You could also sub in plain greek yogurt, although your sauce would be thicker.
• Lime Juice: You need 1 tablespoon of lime juice. This is typically half a lime.
• Salt and Pepper: Make sure and taste the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Pineapple Mango Salsa:

• Pineapple: You need 1 cup of fresh pineapple. I dice it pretty small, and usually use about half of a pineapple.
• Mango: You need one large mango. Again, you’ll want to dice it fairly small.
• Avocado: When choosing an avocado, you want to to be ripe, but not overly ripe. If it’s too ripe, it will fall apart when you stir it into the salsa.
• Cilantro: You can add cilantro to taste, but I start with about 1/2 cup, measured before chopping.
• Red Onion: I like using a red onion because they are more mild when raw, but if you want something even more mild, you can use green onions.
• Jalapeno: Remove the seeds and ribs for less heat.
• Lime Juice: You’ll want the full lime for the salsa, which will be about 2 tablespoons of juice.
• Salt: Again, taste after making the salsa and add salt as needed.

For the Tacos:

• Ground Pork: You can always sub in ground beef or ground chicken, but I really like the pork in this recipe.
• Brown Sugar: I use light brown sugar.
• Soy Sauce: I always suggest low sodium soy sauce. Otherwise, your sauce will be too salty.
• Ketchup: This is regular ketchup.
• Vinegar: I like to use apple cider vinegar, but you could also sub in white vinegar if that is all you have.
• Ginger: Using fresh ginger is best, but you can sub in ground ginger if necessary. If using ground ginger, you’ll want about 1/4 teaspoon.
• Garlic: Again, fresh is best!
• Tortillas: You can use flour or corn tortillas. We prefer flour, but either totally work!

How to Make Hawaiian Tacos

STEP 1: Start by making the cilantro lime sauce. Place all of your ingredients in a blender or food processor.

STEP 2: Process this until it is smooth and thick. I like to transfer it into a jar or a squeeze bottle, then refrigerate this until needed.

STEP 3: Cook your pork in a large skillet, breaking it up until it is browned and cooked through.

STEP 4: To the pork, add the brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, ginger, and garlic. Once it’s all combined, cook it down for a few minutes to thicken up the sauce.

STEP 5: Make the salsa by mixing all of the ingredients together. Make sure to taste it and add salt, as needed.

STEP 6: To assemble the tacos, add some of the pork mixture to each tortilla. Top with the salsa, then drizzle some of the sauce over the top.

Tips and Tricks

When making the salsa, you want to make sure to cut everything about the same size, and to dice it fairly small. this makes it easier to serve and to eat.

I like to char my tortillas before using them. You can do this over a gas stove, or you can heat them in a skillet.

Both the salsa and the cilantro lime sauce can be made ahead of time. In fact, you could make the pork before, as well, and then just reheat when ready to serve.

Store each of the components separately in the refrigerator. The leftovers are delicious!

More Recipes with a Hawaiian Twist

Hawaiian Hot Dogs
Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Hawaiian Sloppy Joes

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