Pork Al Pastor
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This Pork Al Pastor recipe is packed with bold, authentic flavor and perfect for making the best tacos at home! Made with tender pork shoulder marinated in a smoky, spicy sauce, cooked to juicy perfection and sliced thin for serving. This easy recipe is a delicious way to bring classic Mexico street taco flavor right into your own kitchen.
Bring the flavor of Mexico to your kitchen
My husband and I have hired the same taquiza for multiple parties at our house, and even our wedding! A taquiza is a traditional Mexican catering service featuring a serve-yourself buffet of authentic, varied tacos.
The reason we continue to pick Taquiza Los Chuchys over and over again is because they bring a traditional trompo (vertical spit) to cook their marinated pork, and slice it off into tacos. The flavor is incredible, and since I can’t hire them to come to my house every week, I decided to make the best homemade version I could make without a vertical spit.
This recipe works because:
- The marinade is incredible! This is what really brings the flavor to this recipe with authentic Mexican chilies and spices.
- You’re basically building your own vertical spit, without any special equipment! All you need is a large rimmed pan and skewers.
- It’s seriously impressive! I mean, who busts out a spit of perfectly cooked al pastor at home? You will now!
- The actual hands-on time is only 30 minutes. While this recipe is impressive for a party, I actually like to make it over the weekend, then eat the leftovers throughout the week in bowls, salads, tacos, and quesadillas.
Key ingredients
Above I show you all of the ingredients for this al pastor recipe to give you a good visual for your shopping list. Below I’ll give you some notes on specific ingredients in the recipe. You can find the full list of ingredients with measurements in the recipe card.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce – you will find these in a can at grocery stores, either in the Hispanic section, or near the other canned peppers and chilies. We’ll use the entire can to make the marinade.
- Al pastor seasoning – between this pork recipe and my chicken al pastor, I’ve been making al pastor on the regular at home. So I mixed up all of the chilis and spices into a seasoning blend that I keep in my pantry. You can mix this up if you plan to make al pastor more than once, or simply use the spices in this recipe. Ground annatto is probably the only ingredient you might not be aware of. I ordered this spice on Amazon, but you can also find it in Hispanic markets. If you can’t get your hands on any ground annatto, you can use paprika instead. I use ground dried guajillo chiles, as this is an authentic chili used to marinate al pastor. If you can’t find any at the store, you can use traditional chili powder.
- Pork shoulder (or pork butt) – you’ll want a boneless pork shoulder for this recipe, as you want to thinly slice it, and it’s difficult to slice around the bone. I don’t recommend substituting in another cut of pork. The fat from the pork shoulder will slowly cook down, which adds moisture to the meat keeping it juicy and tender.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Make the al pastor marinade by blending up chipotle peppers with avocado oil, spices, pineapple juice, and apple cider vinegar.
- Marinate the sliced meat for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours in a large bowl covered with a lid, or in a large zip-top bag.
- Build the vertical spit by placing two slices of pineapple next to each other in the bottom of a large cast iron skillet, 9″ x 13″ baking dish, or rimmed baking sheet. Place a skewer in the middle of each piece of pineapple. Begin to layer on the marinated pork slices. Once you’ve completed all of the layers of pork, add the remaining pineapple slices on top.
- Roast the al pastor low and slow in the oven at 275°F for 2 hours. This will cook the pork through in the middle and give you some pieces on the outside with a nice char.
How to serve al pastor
Use the longest, sharpest knife you have available. I used an 11 inch knife, that we originally bought to slice a leg of Spanish ham. Worked like a charm! Hold the pork with tongs in one hand. Use your other hand to thinly slice the meat from around the edges. Let it fall into the drippings in the pan.
When you get to the middle, remove the pineapple slices on top and dice it up. Remove the skewers and dice the remaining pork on a cutting board.
The thinly sliced pork and diced pineapple can be added to tortillas with diced white onion and fresh cilantro to make traditional al pastor tacos.
You can also take the pork and pineapple and make burrito bowls with a base of cilantro lime rice. Or use the al pastor to top salads or nachos, or make burritos or quesadillas. I used some of the leftover pork and pineapple to make quesadillas with pepper jack cheese. Served with some salsa and guacamole on the side. Chefs kiss, it was delicious!
What I learned while testing this recipe
- You want to slice the pork as thin as possible, which means you need a sharp knife. You can also use an electric knife to make things even easier. You can also partially freeze the pork. Definitely not solid, but 1-2 hours in the freezer will make it more firm and easier to slice.
- When making the spit at home, you can use wooden skewers, but I’ve found that the longer they’re in the oven, the more pliable and less sturdy they become. These metal skewers are perfect because they’re tubes without a hook on the end.
- If you do use wooden skewers for the spit, place the pork and pineapple in the middle of the baking dish, so if they pork starts to fall over, the drippings from the pork will stay in the dish and will not go in your oven.
- For the easiest option, purchase a vertical skewer pan online (they’re $20 bucks). Yes, I own one, and yes it’s the easiest way to make this recipe, but I wanted to give you an option that didn’t require buying any new equipment!
- You’ll probably need to remove at least one rack from your oven to fit the vertical spit. I recommend doing this before you preheat the oven so you don’t have to find somewhere to put a hot rack after the oven has heated up.
Tacos Al Pastor
Ingredients
- 3 pound boneless pork butt, or pork shoulder
- 7 ounce can chipotles in adobo sauce
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon ground annatto, or paprika
- 1 tablespoon guajillo chili powder, or traditional chili powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano, Mexican oregano if available
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 6 ounce can pineapple juice
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar
- 1 pineapple
For serving
- 24 corn tortillas, or street-taco size flour tortillas
- ½ cup diced onions
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Equipment
Instructions
- Slice a pork shoulder as thin as possible.
- Add the entire can of chipotles in adobo sauce to a blender with the avocado oil, annatto, guajillo chili powder, salt, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, ground cumin, pineapple juice, and apple cider vinegar. Blend until smooth.
- Marinate the sliced pork shoulder at least 4 hours, up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 275°F.
- Remove the top, bottom and skins from the pineapple. Slice into 1 inch thick slices.
- Place two slices of pineapple next to each other in a large cast iron pan, 9″ x 13″ baking dish, or rimmed baking sheet. Skewer on the marinate pork, then top each skewer with two more pineapple slices
- Place in the oven for 2 hours.
- Remove from the oven, use the longest, sharpest knife you have available to thinly slice the pork from around the edges and let it fall into the drippings in the pan.
- When you get to the middle, remove the pineapple slices on top and dice it up. Remove the skewers and dice the remaining pork on a cutting board.
- The thinly sliced pork and diced pineapple can be added to tortillas with diced onion and cilantro to make traditional al pastor tacos.
Notes
- The servings for this recipe will vary based on how you serve it. I calculated the servings if you were making 24 small tacos, with 3 tacos per person, therefore serving 8 people. For a big party, you can definitely double the amount of pork and marinade, just be sure to use sturdy metal skewers for the homemade spit.
- After 2 hours, if you’re not ready to serve the pork yet, you can tent a piece of foil over the pork and turn the oven temperature down to warm. This will prevent the outside of the pork from getting too charred, but will keep the pork warm until you’re ready to serve it.
- Leftover pork should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend eating it within 5 days. You can reheat it or eat it cold. I recommend reheating it in a skillet on the stove over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes. This will heat it up and give it a little extra char on the outside.
- This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.
- If you plan to make this recipe regularly (which of course you’ll want to!), you can mix up my al pastor seasoning, and use 6 tablespoons of the seasoning to replace all of the spices in the marinade.
Nutrition Facts
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