Tacos Al Pastor Recipe

Tacos al pastor in a dish with lime wedges.

5 from 5 votes

This Tacos Al Pastor Recipe is made with savory, smoky, and sweet marinated pork. It’s cooked low and slow until incredibly tender, juicy, and flavorful. Serve stuffed in corn tortillas with classic toppings like pineapple, onion, and cilantro for a crowd-pleasing taco night favorite.

Prep Time20

Cook Time8

Marinating time4

Total Time12 20

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 187kcal

Author: Kadee & Desarae

Ingredients

3-4 lbs Pork butt or pork shoulder

Marinade

2 large pasilla chile
5-6 guajillo chiles
6 garlic cloves
2 teaspoon cumin
2 limes juiced
2 chipotle from can of adobe
2 tablespoons of adobe sauce
¼ cup vinegar
3 cups fresh pineapple
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon mexican oregano
1 large onion
1 cup orange juice

Serving

sliced limes
small tortilla shells
fresh pineapple or pinapple salsa

Instructions

Prep

Boil the pasilla and guajillo chiles in a small saucepan for about 10 minutes, until softened. Remove from water and discard stems and seeds.
Add the chiles to a blender with vinegar, orange juice, pineapple, garlic, onion, cumin, lime juice, chipotle, adobo sauce, salt, oregano, and sugar. Blend until smooth, then divide the marinade in half.

Inject & Marinate

Using a meat injector, inject half of the marinade into the pork shoulder, moving the needle in different directions to evenly distribute throughout the meat.
Pour the remaining marinade over and under the pork. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight for best flavor.

Smoking the Pork

Preheat your smoker to 270°F and let it burn clean. Place the pork fat side up on the smoker with a pan of water nearby. Smoke for 3 hours, then spritz with apple cider vinegar every hour. Optional: add pineapple on top for extra flavor.
Around 6 to 7 hours, when the fat cap starts to split, remove the pork and wrap it tightly in foil.
Return the wrapped pork to the smoker at 270°F for 1 hour. Then increase the temperature to 290°F and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 200 to 204°F.
Remove from the smoker and let the pork rest. Then shred. It should fall apart into juicy, tender pieces with crispy edges and that rich red marinade throughout.
Build your tacos. Add fresh pineapple, crema, cilantro, and onion for a classic al pastor feel. Or go all in with a pineapple mango salsa. It is next level good.

Notes

For the best flavor, allow enough time for the meat to marinate, preferably overnight.
If you do not own a meat injector or cannot find one, you’ll need to keep turning the meat every so often while it is marinating to thoroughly infuse the flavors.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

Nutrition