Tacos Al Pastor
This Pork Al Pastor recipe is packed with bold flavor and perfect for making tacos at home! Made with tender pork shoulder soaked in a smoky, spicy marinade, it’s tender, juicy, and full of classic street taco flavor.
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
Calories 518kcal (26%)Carbohydrates 60g (20%)Protein 44g (88%)Fat 12g (18%)Saturated Fat 3g (15%)Polyunsaturated Fat 3gMonounsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 102mg (34%)Sodium 1020mg (43%)Potassium 1012mg (29%)Fiber 10g (40%)Sugar 16g (18%)Vitamin A 412mg (8%)Vitamin C 57mg (69%)Calcium 116mg (12%)Iron 4mg (22%)
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