Pulled Pork Nachos

These pulled pork nachos start with fresh pork on the smoker, NOT pulled pork leftovers. I cross hatch the fat cap, season it with a sweet BBQ rub, smoke till the bark sets, wrap and crank the heat to finish. Shred it, pile it high on chips with warm nacho cheese sauce and fresh pico de gallo, and you’ve got a tray that feeds the whole tailgate.

What Goes Into Pulled Pork Nachos

Ingredient	Notes
Bone in pork butt	Also labeled pork shoulder. I prefer bone in for flavor, and the bone pulling out clean is also a good sign you’re finished.
Sweet BBQ rub	Use whatever you like best. Sweet works well because it plays off of the pickled jalapeños that go on top.
Roma tomatoes	Diced, for pico. Roma because they have less juice than a regular slicing tomato.
White onion	1/4 onion, finely diced.
Jalapeños	2 peppers, finely diced for the pico.
Cilantro	Finely chopped.
Limes	The juice of two limes for the pico.
Salt	To taste for the pico.
Tortilla chips	Store bought works great. This is what I used.
Nacho cheese sauce	Store bought works here too. Just warm it up before you use it.
Sour cream	Dollop it on after the pico.
Pickled jalapeños or serranos	The final touch, spooned over the top. They provide a brightness that cuts through everything underneath them.

Find exact amounts for everything in the recipe card below.

How I Made the Pulled Pork Nachos

I scored the fat cap with a cross hatch pattern and coated the whole shoulder with sweet BBQ rub.

On the smoker it goes until the bark has set and it’s got the color I want it to.

Move it to a foil tray and seal it up with foil.

Now crank up that smoker and let it go until it’s probe tender.

Pull it off, let it rest and then shred it. Pick the bone out as you go along and you can pull out any extra large pieces of fat too.

While the pork was smoking I diced up tomatoes, onion, jalapeños, cilantro, squeezed two limes and added salt to make the pico. Then I tossed it and put it in the fridge to chill.

Grab a baking sheet and spread out a layer of chips. Top it with pork, cheese sauce, then pico.

Dollops of sour cream go over that and you’re ready for pickled jalapeños.

Times and temperatures for everything are below in the recipe card.

Why I Wrap It Up and Crank the Heat

Wrapping is common practice in smoking. Letting the meat cook covered in its own juices is the final phase in a lot of recipes. One tip you may not know about is that I wrap mine and crank the smoker.

Everything smoke related is going to happen before you wrap the meat. Once that bark has formed and the color is where you want it, keeping that meat out in the open isn’t going to do anything but dry out. Wrapping the meat seals that phase of the cook off from everything else.

No more outside air can get in, so it can’t dry out. The bark can’t burn either because it’s sitting in its own steam. That’s why cranking the heat works. You’re no longer smoking that meat. You’re braising it in a covered pan, which works faster at higher temps.

It finishes the same either way. The difference is just time.

Smoke It Overnight and Don’t Have To Watch It

This cook takes awhile. There’s just no getting around that. What you can do is sleep through it.

Start it before you go to bed. Let it cook low and slow and when you wake up you’re most of the way there. If the nachos have to be somewhere at a time then I recommend starting it overnight. That takes all the guess work out of when you need to start it.

You still shred it fresh. Pork holds heat for awhile when it’s wrapped and resting so leave room for that.

Cook the Pork in the Oven

Use the same temps you would on the smoker, start to finish.

You lose the smoke and maintain everything else. Well worth trading off when you’re going to cover it with nacho cheese and pico anyway.

Wrap it up, throw it in a foil tray and cook until probe tender just like you would on the smoker.

Build It in This Order, and Not Randomly

Chips, Pork, cheese sauce, pico, sour cream, peppers. Layering nachos is NOT random.

That’s also why I put the cheese sauce on before the pico. Pico is cold and wet. Straight onto a naked chip it’ll make it soggy in seconds.

The sour cream and pickled peppers get added last because they’re cold and they’re finishing touches. Toss them under hot pork and they’ll just melt into everything and lose their purpose.

The other way to make your chips soggy is time. Make the tray right when you plan to serve it. Nacho’s are never make ahead, even when everything on it is.

Tips for Pulled Pork Nachos

• Cross Hatch the Fat Cap. Helps the rub penetrate the fat layer and help it render.
• Let it Rest. Do not get excited and skip resting the meat before shredding. This allows the juices to redistribute through the meat instead of dripping out as soon as you touch it.
• Store Bought Works Fine. I used store bought chips and store bought nacho cheese because I’m not pretending they’re from scratch. The pork is doing all the heavy lifting flavor wise here.
• Make Enough for Everyone. This makes a ton, and there will probably be pork left over to make something else with.

Make-Ahead and Storage

The pork can be made ahead of time. Smoke it overnight or a day before, leave it whole and wrapped in the fridge and shred and heat it up when you need it.

Make the pico while the pork is smoking and store it in the fridge until you build the nachos.

Leftovers. Pork will keep in an airtight container and reheats great. Just add a splash of liquid when reheating so it doesn’t dry out.

Don’t bother saving leftover nachos. That’s the thing about nachos, you can’t really save them.

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• Carne Asada Loaded Baked Potatoes
• Smoked Braised Lamb Birria
• Mexican Style Smoked Burgers

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