Twin Cities food blogger greens & chocolate shares her family’s cherished Smoked Pork Tacos recipe. There’s only one problem: It’s SO good the whole neighborhood will beg to join your BBQ.

We’ve been making these smoked pork tacos for years now, and I am so excited to finally share the recipe. This is one of those meals I make whenever we have a big backyard party during the warmer months. People love smoked meat and, while it can be a little time intensive because the meat smokes all day, it’s relatively hands-off and is a fun project to keep an eye on throughout the day.

Let’s talk about the specifics of this recipe. It starts with a pork butt which, unlike how it sounds, is not from the rear of the pig. It’s from the upper shoulder region and is well-marbled, making it perfect for pulled pork. It is sold bone-in or boneless and we’ve used both.

For the size of the pork butt, it just depends on how many people you are cooking for. When we are just cooking for our family, I like a 4-5 pound pork butt, which gives us plenty of leftovers and we don’t have to wake up at 5 a.m. to start. Typically you want ⅓-½ pound per person, so keep that in mind.

Cover the pork with a dry rub the night before, allowing it a good 8-12 hours to soak in a bunch of flavor. The rub I use in this recipe combines chili powder, cumin, garlic, onion powder, oregano, dry mustard, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. The recipe for the rub makes more than you will likely use, so you will probably have leftover for next time. This is a good thing!

The morning of, I set the pork out for an hour to let it come closer to room temperature. Then the pork butt gets smoked for 90 minutes per pound of meat at 240-250 F. We always use a meat thermometer for determining when the pork is done, and it’s recommended to cook it to 195-205 F. If you like it to be completely shreddable, cook to at least 200 F. We like ours super tender and shreddable, so we always go to 200-205 F.

While the meat itself is incredible and so flavorful, the creamy cilantro sauce makes these tacos irresistible. I make this cilantro sauce all the time and, in addition to putting it on our pork tacos, we love it on nachos, eggs, grain bowls, burritos, and even as a chip dip. Seriously, it’s so good.

Believe me, with this combination of smoked pork and cilantro sauce, you’re going to have people begging you to have them over for a BBQ!