Al Pastor Tacos
Al pastor tacos are a pork taco marinated in a sweet and smoky sauce. The pork is sliced into thin flat pieces, marinated, then skewered and sandwiched between two large pieces of a pineapple rind and cooked. Once the al pastor meat is cooked, slice off pieces and assemble a taco filled with salsa verde, onions, fresh pineapple and cilantro!
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Marinate Time
6 hours
Total Time
8 hours
Ingredients
- 7 lb pork shoulder butt
- 1 pineapple
- 4 California Chile pods, seeds removed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 white onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 6 oz canned pineapple juice
- 1/4 c vinegar
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 4-6 wooden skewers
Toppings
- Cilantro
- Diced White onion
- Pineapple chunks
- Salsa verde (recipe in notes)
- Lime Wedges
Instructions
- Rehydrate the Chile pods by soaking them in very hot water for 10 minutes, also add in the bay leaves
- In a blender add the white onion, garlic cloves, pineapple juice, vinegar, paprika, Mexican oregano, cumin, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cinnamon and ground cloves
- Add the rehydrated chiles and bay leaves to the blender
- Blend until smooth
- Slice the pork shoulder to 1/4” thickness, large flat pieces
- Put all the slices in a large baking dish or bowl and pour the sauce from the blender over top, coat all the pieces in sauce
- Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 6 hours
- Preheat the oven to 350 (once the meat is done marinating)
- Cut the rough rind off the pineapple then cut two large, thick, slices for the bottom and two slices for the top
- Poke 2-3 skewers into the middle of each pineapple slice then place the slices onto a baking sheet lined with foil
- Piece by piece, slide the marinated pork on to the skewers (half on each one, if you load it all on one skewer it will be too heavy and fall over in the oven)
- Place the other pineapple slices on top
- Bake for 1 1/2 hours, scooping up the juices at the bottom of the pan and basting the meat with it, every 20 minutes
- Check with a thermometer that the meat is cooked through (180 degrees)
- Pull from the oven and cut slices off the edges and build your taco with onion, salsa verde, pineapple chunks and cilantro
Notes
- Salsa Verde Recipe
- The achiote substitute seasonings were already added in to the recipe, for a break down of what those measurements are, see the post section titled "achiote substitute"
- Alternative cooking method (flat top grill) - cut all the pork into bite sized pieces, place in a ziploc bag with the sauce and marinate 6 hours. Heat up the flat top grill on medium, drizzle with oil then dump all the meat on top, cook until done.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
25Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 399Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 194mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 30g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.