320 minutes•Medium•Serves 4
Home-Style Ancho Pork and Pineapple Tacos
Experience the vibrant flavors of Mexico City with this homemade Tacos al Pastor recipe. Tender pork shoulder marinated in a rich adobo of dried chilies, spices, and pineapple, then seared to perfection. Served on warm corn tortillas with classic garnishes.
Recipe Rating
Not yet rated by chefs
Ingredients
- ●1kg Boneless pork shoulder, raw
- ●400g Pineapple, raw edible flesh
- ●50g Dried ancho chiles
- ●15g Dried ancho chiles
- ●2 chipotle peppers in adobo
- ●120ml (1/2 cup) orange juice
- ●60ml (1/4 cup) white vinegar
- ●3 cloves garlic
- ●1 tsp Mexican oregano
- ●1 tsp cumin
- ●1/2 tsp cinnamon
- ●12 corn tortillas
- ●1 white onion
- ●20g Cilantro
- ●45g Lime juice
- ●13.5g Olive oil
- ●3g Salt
Instructions
- 1Hydrate Chilies: Toast dried ancho chilies in a dry pan for 30 seconds. Soak in hot water for 15 minutes until soft. Drain.
- 2Make Marinade: Blend soaked chilies, chipotle peppers, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, and cinnamon until smooth.
- 3Marinate: Coat pork slices thoroughly in the marinade. Layer pork in a dish or bag. Refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- 4Heat all 13.5g olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cook pork in four equal batches, 8 minutes per batch or until cooked through. Add every portion of marinade to its pork batch and cook it through; no marinade is discarded. Chop the cooked pork.
- 5Grill Pineapple: In the same pan, grill pineapple slices until caramelized. Chop into chunks.
- 6Warm all 12 tortillas. Divide pork, all cooked marinade, pineapple, onion, cilantro and the measured lime juice among them; serve three tacos per serving.
Recipe details
- Cuisine
- Mexican
- Category
- Main course
- Preparation
- 18 minutes
- Cooking
- 47 minutes
Estimated total: 320 minutes. Planning estimate: stated duration ranges use their midpoint; standard preparation, heating and handling allowances are included. Overlapping tasks are counted once. Resting/chilling is included in total time.
How these estimates were calculated
- Prepare measured ingredients: 10 min planning allowance (vegetable_prep)
- pan preheat: 3 min planning allowance (pan_preheat)
- mix: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- mix: 3 min planning allowance (mix)
- pan preheat: 3 min planning allowance (pan_preheat)
- saute: 8 min planning allowance (saute)
- transfer: 2 min planning allowance (transfer)
- Chosen 10-minute initial preparation allowance includes implicit chopping and measuring; written preparation is not counted here again.
- Explicit reviewed multiplication: 4 sides/batch actions; source quantities and pan capacity reviewed.
- Explicit new edible boneless input; no bone yield inferred.
- Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount.
- Replace guajillo with weighed dried ancho chiles, a source ingredient substitution.
- Owner-authorized explicit recipe amount or suitable ingredient substitution.
- chipotle peppers in adobo: USDA FoodData Central Branded: LA COSTENA, published 2023-11-16; product-label estimate, formulation and label rounding may vary (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2676978/nutrients)
- chipotle peppers in adobo: USDA FoodData Central Branded: LA COSTENA, published 2023-11-16; product-label estimate, formulation and label rounding may vary (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/2676978/nutrients)
- Chipotle-in-adobo product-label reference, selected for count or measured volume; brand varies.
- orange juice: USDA cup portion weight
- Matched to generic canned, unsweetened orange juice.
- white vinegar: USDA cup portion weight
- Matched to generic distilled white vinegar.
- garlic: USDA cloves portion weight
- Matched to 3 cloves of raw garlic.
- Mexican oregano: USDA tsp, leaves portion weight
- Matched to dried oregano leaves. Assumed Mexican oregano is nutritionally comparable to generic dried oregano.
- cumin: USDA tsp, whole portion weight
- Matched to ground cumin seed. Assumed ground cumin is nutritionally comparable to cumin seed.
- cinnamon: USDA tsp portion weight
- Matched to ground cinnamon.
- corn tortillas: USDA tortilla portion weight
- Matched to 12 small corn tortillas.
- white onion: USDA medium (2-1/2" dia) portion weight
- Matched to 1 medium raw onion.
- Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount.
- Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount.
- Recipe Studio chosen explicit quantity for an ingredient required by the written method.
- Table salt; unknown quantity means sodium is omitted, not guessed.
- Boneless pork shoulder, raw: Explicit new edible boneless input; no bone yield inferred. Original: {"item":"pork shoulder","amount":"1 kg (2.2 lbs)","notes":"thinly sliced"}. Authored: {"item":"Boneless pork shoulder, raw","amount":"1kg"}.
- Dried ancho chiles: Replace guajillo with weighed dried ancho chiles, a source ingredient substitution. Original: {"item":"guajillo chilies","amount":"50g (3-4)","notes":"dried, seeded"}. Authored: {"item":"Dried ancho chiles","amount":"50g"}.
- Dried ancho chiles: Owner-authorized explicit recipe amount or suitable ingredient substitution. Original: {"item":"ancho chilies","amount":"15g (2)","notes":"dried, seeded"}. Authored: {"item":"Dried ancho chiles","amount":"15g"}.
- Pineapple, raw edible flesh: Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount. Original: {"item":"pineapple","amount":"1/2","notes":"peeled, sliced into rounds & chunks"}. Authored: {"item":"Pineapple, raw edible flesh","amount":"400g"}.
- Cilantro: Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount. Original: {"item":"fresh cilantro","amount":"1 bunch","notes":"chopped"}. Authored: {"item":"Cilantro","amount":"20g"}.
- Lime juice: Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount. Original: {"item":"limes","amount":"2-3","notes":"wedges"}. Authored: {"item":"Lime juice","amount":"45g"}.
- Olive oil: Recipe Studio chosen explicit quantity for an ingredient required by the written method. Original: not separately listed. Authored: {"item":"Olive oil","amount":"13.5g"}.
- Salt: Recipe Studio chosen explicit quantity for an ingredient required by the written method. Original: not separately listed. Authored: {"item":"Salt","amount":"3g"}.
- Boneless pork shoulder, raw: Explicit new edible boneless input; no bone yield inferred. Original: {"item":"pork shoulder","amount":"1 kg (2.2 lbs)","notes":"thinly sliced"}. Authored: {"item":"Boneless pork shoulder, raw","amount":"1kg"}.
- Dried ancho chiles: Replace guajillo with weighed dried ancho chiles, a source ingredient substitution. Original: {"item":"guajillo chilies","amount":"50g (3-4)","notes":"dried, seeded"}. Authored: {"item":"Dried ancho chiles","amount":"50g"}.
- Dried ancho chiles: Owner-authorized explicit recipe amount or suitable ingredient substitution. Original: {"item":"ancho chilies","amount":"15g (2)","notes":"dried, seeded"}. Authored: {"item":"Dried ancho chiles","amount":"15g"}.
- Pineapple, raw edible flesh: Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount. Original: {"item":"pineapple","amount":"1/2","notes":"peeled, sliced into rounds & chunks"}. Authored: {"item":"Pineapple, raw edible flesh","amount":"400g"}.
- Cilantro: Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount. Original: {"item":"fresh cilantro","amount":"1 bunch","notes":"chopped"}. Authored: {"item":"Cilantro","amount":"20g"}.
- Lime juice: Chosen weighed edible amount; not an inferred yield from the original count, package or vague amount. Original: {"item":"limes","amount":"2-3","notes":"wedges"}. Authored: {"item":"Lime juice","amount":"45g"}.
- Olive oil: Recipe Studio chosen explicit quantity for an ingredient required by the written method. Original: not separately listed. Authored: {"item":"Olive oil","amount":"13.5g"}.
- Salt: Recipe Studio chosen explicit quantity for an ingredient required by the written method. Original: not separately listed. Authored: {"item":"Salt","amount":"3g"}.
- Boneless pork shoulder, raw: 1000 g · USDA reference 167843
- Pineapple, raw edible flesh: 400 g · USDA reference 169124
- Dried ancho chiles: 50 g · USDA reference 169396
- Dried ancho chiles: 15 g · USDA reference 169396
- chipotle peppers in adobo: 30 g · Food reference
- orange juice: 126.3 g · USDA reference 169099
- white vinegar: 60.36 g · USDA reference 172237
- garlic: 9 g · USDA reference 169230
- Mexican oregano: 1 g · USDA reference 171328
- cumin: 2.1 g · USDA reference 170923
- cinnamon: 1.3 g · USDA reference 171320
- corn tortillas: 288 g · USDA reference 175036
- white onion: 110 g · USDA reference 170000
- Cilantro: 20 g · USDA reference 169997
- Lime juice: 45 g · USDA reference 168156
- Olive oil: 13.5 g · USDA reference 171413
- Salt: 3 g · USDA reference 173468
tacos al pastor · pork shoulder · pineapple · dried chiles
Estimated nutrition per serving
917 calories · 50.8 g protein · 63.2 g carbohydrate · 52.1 g fat · 10.8 g fiber · 561 mg sodium
Source and basis: USDA FoodData Central and reviewed product references; ingredient-based calculation per serving. Documented USDA or manufacturer portion weights; all listed ingredient mass included before cooking losses. Full ingredient matches and assumptions below.