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Tacos Al Pastor – Our Favorite Tacos From Mexico

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Tacos Al Pastor - Our Favorite Tacos From Mexico

I bet everyone has tacos at least once a week in their homes or they visit a restaurant to eat tacos. We love tacos. But after living in Mexico City for 12 years, we are always looking to eat tacos that taste more like the ones we enjoyed in Mexico. One of our favorites was Tacos al Pastor.

These tacos are delicious. We would go to the local taqueria at least once a week to enjoy these. It is made with pork that is marinaded and topped with cilantro, white onions, and pineapples. In Mexico they were served on small corn tortillas and my kids would easily eat 5 at a time. They were also cheap! They came to about .65 cents a taco – so sometimes it was cheaper to just eat out than make dinner at home.

We have been back from Mexico for about 1 1/2 years now but we have been on the hunt for a delicious taco al pastor. We have found few that are close and we have found many that weren’t even close. So we stop wasting our money on ok tacos – I decided to make them at home. You may have to go to your local Mexican Grocery store to get 1 of the ingredients, but it’s worth it!

 

Tacos al Pastor

(Printable Recipe)

Marinade:

  • 4-5 pounds pork, sliced thin
  • 3 Tablespoons achiote paste (It’s actually a powder)
  • 2 Tablespoons Ancho Chili Powder
  • 1 Tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 Tablespoons oregano
  • 1 Tablespoons cumin
  • 1 Tablespoons salt
  • 1 Tablespoons pepper
  • 3/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1 cup pineapple juice from a can

Additional ingredients:

  • 2 – 1 inch wood skewers
  • 15 small yellow corn tortillas
  • 1 white onion, finely dices
  • 1 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1 fresh pineapple, diced
  • limes

Instructions:

  • Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and let it soak up the juices for at least 3 hours or overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 300*.
  • On a foil lined cookie sheet stack the pieces of pork. (Make sure you put the biggest pieces on the bottom.) Poke the wooden sticks into the meat to stabilize the pile.
  • Cook for about 90 minutes. The edges will brown up a little.
  • Remove from the oven and let sit for about 10 minutes.
  • To cut the meat: Start at the top of the meat and just slice it down the side. Rotate it until you have gone completely around and continue until all the meal is chopped up. You want it to be small pieces.
  • Assemble your tacos: Warm up your tortilla, top with meat, onions, cilantro, lime juice, and pineapples. Eat and enjoy!

Tips:

Tacos Al Pastor - Our Favorite Tacos From Mexico

  • Use a pork loin and have the butcher cut you thin slices of the pork. It’s ok to use a thicker piece of meat but you may need to marinate it longer to make sure the marinade gets through all the meat. You can also make 2 piles of meat if you have too high of a pile.
  • During the last 15 minutes you can add the diced pineapple to the oven to warm it up a bit.
  • You must use pineapple just from a can – fresh pineapple juice will not work.

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Danielle

Tuesday 10th of January 2017

This looks so good. I LOVE Tacos al Pastor, but have never tried to make them myself. I'll have to give this one a try. Thanks!

Janell

Tuesday 10th of January 2017

Thanks! It was so easy to make and we loved it!

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