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Home » Recipes » Main Dishes » General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw (Slow Cooker)

General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw (Slow Cooker)

September 20, 2011 19 Comments

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General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw is an easy pork slow cooker recipe combining Mexican and Chinese flavors.

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(slow cooker) General Tso's Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw - easy homemade crockpot recipe that's a spin on General Tso Chicken. SnappyGourmet.com

General Tso’s Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw, an easy homemade crockpot recipe. One of my favorite dishes at Chinese restaurants is General Tso’s Chicken. If you’re not familiar with General Tso’s chicken, it’s typically made with dark chicken meat that has been battered, deep-fried, and covered in a sweet and spicy saucy and usually served with broccoli.

Apparently, the dish also goes by other names such as Governor Tso’s, General Tao’s, General Tsao’s, General Gao’s, or General Gau’s chicken. I’ve always known it as General Tso’s but whatever you want to call it, it’s probably not the healthiest choice by any means (but it does have broccoli so it can’t be THAT bad, right????). Recently, I set out to make a new version of one of my favorite dishes with a bit of a twist for an easy weeknight meal using my slow cooker!

If you don’t want to make this in your slow cooker, you could also make my Instant Pot Pulled Pork. 

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.com

I’ve been meaning to get my slow cooker back out since it somehow got buried over the summer. Every time I use my slow cooker (Crock-Pot) I always tell myself I really need to use it more.  But so many slow cooker recipes have SO much prep involved that it’s not even worth it.  This recipe does NOT have a lot of prep so it’s quite “snappy”!  haha!  I have a lot more ideas for my slow cooker I want to try this fall/winter so stay tuned for more recipes. If you like using your slow cooker, I have a few past recipes that you also may enjoy including:

Spicy Sausage & Beer Cheese Dip

Mexican Style Chicken Chili

Mini Dark Chocolate Frangelico Pudding Cakes

I should start off by saying this dish is a TWIST on General Tso’s Chicken. Unfortunately, there’s no good way to make General Tso’s Chicken in a slow cooker since the chicken is typically battered and deep-fried. I wish it was that easy! But this recipe has the same flavors in the sauce and the dish is quite versatile and a lot healthier!

You can add as much pork as you can fit in your slow cooker or you could even substitute chicken thighs/legs if you can’t eat pork. I decided to use pork tenderloin because it’s a lean cut and shreds nicely after being in a slow cooker. I thought I’d turn the dish into “tacos” in an effort to get my kids to eat them. Instead of serving the dish with broccoli like many Chinese restaurants, I picked up a few bags of broccoli “slaw” (found by the packaged salads and cabbage slaw at your grocery store). If you’re unsure about the broccoli slaw (it’s definitely not for everyone!), use shredded cabbage or shredded cole slaw mix instead.

You may need to alter the recipe depending on the size of type of slow cooker you have.  I added all my sauce ingredients right to my slow cooker and whisked it in there rather than using a bowl.  I used Kikkoman less sodium soy sauce and hoisin sauce.  They should be at most grocery stores and easy to find.

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.comI added two pork tenderloins (total wight was about 2 1/2 pounds) but I coul have easily added twice that.  You can cut the pork into pieces if you have a smaller slow cooker.

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.comCook the pork on slow for about 6-8 hours.  The pork will be very tender and start falling apart.

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.com

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks.  It should fall apart very easily and should not take much effort to shred.  Put the pork in a bowl and mix with some of the sauce from the slow cooker.  Or you can add it right back to the slow cooker with the sauce and continue to cook a little longer and keep it warm until ready to serve.

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.com

For the slaw, mix all the ingredient in a bowl and refrigerate while the pork is cooking.  I used broccoli “slaw” but you can use shredded cabbage instead or even this Asian Slaw.  Serve the pork and slaw over tortillas.  You don’t really need chopsticks but I tried to make it fun for the kids.

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.com

You could also serve the pork with rice or noodles instead of tortillas, but we liked the tortillas! Hope you enjoy this General Tso’s Pork Tacos!

(Slow Cooker) General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw Recipe | SnappyGourmet.com

Hope you enjoy! A fun appetizer to go with this would be these easy Crab Rangoon Crostini, an Italian and Chinese fusion dish! Or for another fun fusion taco recipe, check out my easy Caribbean Tacos. Delish!

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5 from 3 votes

General Tso’s Slow Cooked Pork Tacos with Orange Broccoli Slaw (Slow Cooker)

A fun twist on my favorite Chinese dish that is easy to make thanks to a slow cooker!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes
Yield 8 -10
Author Lisa Huff

Ingredients

Pork:

  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 (8 oz.) bottle hoisin sauce
  • 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 5 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 tablespoons fresh ginger minced
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin (or any amount that will fit in your slow cooker)

Slaw:

  • 2/3 cup orange juice
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
  • 2 (10 oz.) packages broccoli slaw (or cabbage slaw)

Soft tortillas

    Instructions

    • Whisk together broth, hoisin sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, garlic, ginger, and red pepper in slow cooker until well combined.
    • Add pork to slow cooker and spoon some of sauce over top. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker and shred with 2 forks. Place pork in serving dish and coat with desired amount of sauce from slow cooker.
    • Meanwhile, while pork is cooking, whisk together orange juice, olive oil, and cilantro in large bowl. Stir in broccoli slaw. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
    • To serve, top tortillas with pulled pork and slaw.

    Notes

    SNAPPY TIPS: I would suggest sticking with the reduced sodium soy sauce so that the dish doesn’t taste too salty. You can serve the pork and slaw in tortillas or you can also serve the pork with rice or noodles.
    SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: You could use chicken legs/thighs instead of the pork. Instead of the broccoli slaw you can substitute shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix.
    Course: Main Dish
    Cuisine: Asian
    Keywords: homemade general tso's chicken, slow cooker general tso
    Did you try this recipe?Tag @SnappyGourmet or #SnappyGourmet!

     

     

    Tags: asian, chinese, dinner, general tso, pork, recipe, tacos Categories: Main Dishes, Recipes, Slow Cooker

    About the Author

    Lisa Huff is a Cookbook Author, Freelance Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Blogger/Writer, and award-winning home chef. She loves creating unique recipes from healthy to decadent including cocktails, appetizers, main dishes, dessert recipes and more and has appeared on various shows, publications, and websites. <More about Lisa Huff>

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Diane says

      July 15, 2016 at 10:46 pm

      I made this for a dinner party. My guest’s ears were wiggling! It was that good! Everyone asked for the recipe. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Lisa Huff says

        July 21, 2016 at 2:10 pm

        So happy to hear you and your guests enjoyed! :)

        Reply
    2. Melanie | Melanie Makes says

      January 15, 2015 at 2:13 pm

      What a great recipe to add to my slow cooker arsenal – Pinned!

      Reply
    3. Alisa @ Go Dairy Free says

      January 15, 2015 at 10:34 am

      Brilliant way to get that General Tso flavor without the frying Lisa! I’m a big fan of that dish, too, but it seems like we never go to Chinese anymore – will have to try at home.

      Reply
    4. Tonia from TheGunnySack says

      January 15, 2015 at 9:35 am

      Can you believe I’ve never tried General Tso’s Chicken? This sounds fantastic and I love that there is minimum prep for the slow cooker!

      Reply
    5. Caroline says

      March 20, 2013 at 12:36 pm

      This looks and sounds so delicious! It’s like a combination of all of my family’s favorite dishes in one!

      Reply
    6. Norwegian_gal says

      July 7, 2012 at 2:48 am

      Hi!
      Thank you for sharing this recipe, it looks very good and I’d like to try it soon. Since I don’ t live in the States anymore, I don’t have access to all ingredients. Would you kindly explain what the ingredients in a broccoli slaw are, so I can make it myself? I recently threw my slow cooker out because it was US-power and a lot of work to get the converter to stay in place etc, but I definitely want to buy a new one here in Norway – but they are SO expensive here! :( Bought mine in TX for maybe $40, here the large one costs around $200+!!!
      Regards, Norwegian_gal (with TX in my <3)

      Reply
      • Lisa Huff says

        July 10, 2012 at 8:56 pm

        Hi! Broccoli slaw is shredded broccoli stems and sometimes also has shredded carrots and cabbage. You could substitute a cole slaw mix which would be shredded cabbage and carrots if that is easier. Wow, amazing that slow cookers are so expensive over there!!! They are everywhere here and SO cheap!! Wish I knew someplace over there to suggst to you to buy one! Thanks for visiting my blog! Hope you enjoy the recipe!

        Reply
      • Pam N. says

        November 22, 2013 at 9:56 am

        I know shipping overseas is expensive, but if you look on-line the week after Christmas or in January when all the stores are having inventory sales (home or White sales and discounted discontinued items) you may find a great bargain and it would offset shipping charges. Good luck!

        Reply
    7. Kim says

      January 31, 2012 at 3:08 pm

      Tried this for the first time…AWSOME!!! So easy and delicious, already shared the recipe with others. Highly recommend trying this one.

      Reply
    8. Karen Harris says

      January 17, 2012 at 7:51 pm

      This sounds so delicious. I can’t wait to give it a try.

      Reply
      • snappygourmet says

        January 18, 2012 at 9:42 am

        Thanks Karen!

        Reply
    9. KarenLana says

      October 6, 2011 at 1:33 pm

      I made this yesterday and it is AMAZING! So quick and easy and tastes wonderful. We served with rice and stir fried veggies. I’ll definitely double the meat next time as there was plenty of sauce. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. =)

      Reply
    10. Anne says

      September 25, 2011 at 9:46 am

      Great! I will make this one day this week.

      Reply
    11. Anne says

      September 25, 2011 at 9:25 am

      Yum! I have a porkloin, not a tenderloin. Wonder if that would work.

      Reply
      • snappygourmet says

        September 25, 2011 at 9:29 am

        Anne, I’m sure a pork loin would work just as well. Just cut it up in a few pieces if you have a smaller slow cooker. Hope you like it!

        Reply
    12. linda says

      September 23, 2011 at 4:01 pm

      OMG! Cannot wait to try this! My family is gonna freak! General Tsao’s is their favorite and on a tortilla….what a great idea! Love it! Thanks!

      Reply
    13. Nichelle Riann says

      September 21, 2011 at 7:53 pm

      That recipe sounds so yummy! I can’t wait to try it.

      Reply
    14. Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts says

      September 20, 2011 at 8:16 pm

      What a great recipe! This is my go to order at a Chinese restaurant. But I love the idea of the flavor being on pork. Then serving it as a taco? Sounds amazing!

      Reply

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