Pork and Black Bean Tostadas

Pork and Black Bean Tostadas are bound to be a favorite with the slow cooker pork tossed with black beans on a crispy corn tortilla and delicious toppings.

This post has been updated from its original March 28, 2014 publishing with new photography, content, and clarified recipe card.

Meat thrown in a slow cooker is one of my favorite things.  If it’s pork, I’m even happier.

Mixing pork with black beans makes for excellent tostadas. But fear not, this mixture will work well in many things like:

• tacos
• burritos
• taco salads
• enchiladas
• taquitos or flautas

Pork and black bean tostadas obviously have beans in them, but you won’t want to omit the rice as a side dish. Spanish Rice is a family favorite.

What’s a tostada?

A tostada is a Mexican deep-fried corn tortilla topped with meat and or beans, and then fresh vegetables like lettuce or cabbage, onions, radishes.

Tostada means toasted in Spanish, so the deep-fried tortilla fits that definition.

How to make Pork and Black Bean Tostadas

These tostadas are relatively easy to make and are completely adaptable.

Slow Cooker Country Style Pork Ribs

These tostadas really need shredded pork. I love using country style pork ribs because they aren’t really ribs, but the ends of trimmed pork roasts.

Season and sear all the sides of the pork. Allow them to get nice and brown.

The size of these ‘ribs’ varies every time I buy them. Cooking these on low so they shred once done will take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours.

I use chicken broth almost all the time when slow cooking, but sometimes I like to use chicken bouillon granules, Knorr granulated bouillon to be exact. Feel free to use broth instead of the bouillon.

The sweetness in the apple juice is really a flavor enhancer. If you really object to it or don’t have any, use more broth.

Once the pork is done, pull it out of the slow cooker and allow it to rest. I usually shred it in-between stirs while sautéing the vegetables. Reserve a cup of the liquid the pork cooked in and discard the rest.

When dicing the onions and mushrooms, I really diced them really, really small to hide them in the pork and beans mixture from my daughter. But leave them as chunky as you like.

Seasoning the mixture is important. The amount of cumin, salt, and pepper can be increased or decreased according to your own personal tastes and dietary needs. If you like things spicy, feel free to add chili, chipotle, or cayenne powder.

Topping your tostadas is a highly personal thing. I have made these several times and sometimes I top with cabbage and crema. Sometimes lettuce and cheddar cheese.

Here’s a list of possible toppings:

• shredded lettuce
• shredded green cabbage
• sliced radishes
• cheese: queso fresco, Monterey Jack, pepper Jack, cheddar
• sour cream or Mexican crema
• fresh squeeze lime
• diced onions
• chopped cilantro
• salsa
• pickled jalapeños 

How to fry tortillas for tostadas

Frying corn tortillas can be a messy job. Wear an apron. Really.

The oil needs to be good and hot before you begin to fry. But it also can’t be too hot. That’s helpful, right?

I have a not-great stove. I start my oil and first couple of shells on medium-high, by the last few shells, I am frying on medium.

They need to spend a few second in the oil to get a nice crisp on them. The sides will have little bubbles all around them. Air pocket bubbles may form on the top, like the in above image.

This is when you will want to flip them over. Take care when doing so. All in all, each shell will take about 30 seconds in the oil.

Once they have reached the desired crispness, lay them on a paper towel lined plate.

Thank you for sharing!