Slow cooker turkey tacos with guacamole
Try Poppy O’Toole’s easy slow cooker turkey tacos with a rich, chilli-spiked dipping gravy. A whole turkey leg or thigh cooks till it falls off the bone, and is shredded for filling corn tortillas.
Ingredients
For the turkey tacos
- 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 bone-in turkey thigh or leg (about 750g/1lb 10oz)
- 190g/6¾oz ancho chilli paste
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú chipotle paste
- 5-7 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 large tomatoes, quartered
- 2 onions, quartered
- 7³¦³¾/2¾¾±²Ô cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 3 dried guajillo chillies (optional)
- 500ml/18fl oz chicken stock
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the guacamole
- 1 avocado, stone removed, peeled and mashed
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 1 lime, zest and juice
- 1–2 red chillies, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pico de gallo
- 3 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
- small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 1–2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 lime, juice only
- pinch caster sugar
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- splash vegetable oil
- 8–16 small soft corn tortillas
- 200g/7oz cheddar, grated
- 200g/7oz mozzarella, grated
- 1–2 onions, finely chopped
- few handfuls fresh coriander leaves
Method
To make the slow cooker turkey tacos, mix together the brown sugar, paprika, oregano and cumin in a small bowl along with a teaspoon each of salt and cracked black pepper.
Get everything else into the bowl of your slow cooker, then add enough stock to come halfway up the turkey, season well with salt and pepper and then stir in your spice mixture. Put the lid on and cook on high for 5–6 hours or low for 8–10 hours, until the turkey is falling off the bone.
Once cooked, discard the bone and the skin from the turkey thigh and shred the meat left behind in the bowl.
To make the guacamole, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
To make the pico de gallo, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
To make up your tacos, place a frying pan over a medium heat with a splash of oil. Use a pair of kitchen tongs to pick up your first corn tortilla and dip it in the sauce that's in the slow cooker, then place it in the frying pan, laying it flat.
Add some shredded turkey to the centre of your taco, top with the grated cheeses, onion and coriander, then fold your taco over and cook on both sides for a bit of charring and extra flavour.
Transfer the first taco to a baking tray while you repeat the process for all your tacos. You can keep them warm by putting them in the oven on a low temperature while you make up the rest. (At some point, as you use up the turkey, be sure to pick out the cinnamon stick and discard it.) I would serve at least two tacos per person, but if you're hungry, have more.
Serve a small bowl of dipping sauce and another of pico de gallo on each plate for dipping.
