Tacos al Pastor Recipe (2024)

Like Gyros or Doner Kebab, Al Pastor refers to meat stacked onto a vertical spit, which is then sliced off the outside as it cooks. Put the pork loin in the freezer for 20 minutes or so to firm it up. You'll have an easier time slicing it thin, then put it in the marinade. A dash of liquid smoke in the marinade is a nice cheat, if you like smoky meat.

I think the opposite is correct. First I think "shred" is the wrong term for al pastor. When I hear "shred" I think pulled pork or ropa vieja. Al pastor is all about the crispy bits from the trompo or in this case the griddle/skillet.But in any case, I think you cut the meat before cooking so you can get a more complete "crustification" on the meat. If you slice afterwards, you'll miss a side.

I am also wondering if the meat is cooked first before marinating, and how this should happen, if later does it absorb all the marinade? .

Marinate before and sauce after. Marinate >> Cook >> Sauce. Marinate the meat reserving a small portion (this recipe says 1/2c) to help additionally flavor the meat during cooking. Using the marinade after cooking would do very little in getting flavor penetration and also ruining the crispiness that you're trying to achieve on the meat.

I was too lazy to pat mine dry but cooking it in a 12" cast iron pan created the char I was looking for that reminded me of when I had Al Pastor in Puerto Vallarta. As long as you have a searing hot pan and don't overcrowd it, it should do the trick. :)

I think it was just a way of describing the not so neat pieces of extra meat. When I've bought raw al pastor from Mexican butchers, it's always already cut up into little pieces and mixed in the marinade.

I make this similarly but pound the pork after slicing the disks. Then cut two 1-inch slices of pineapple for the top and bottom supports. I set 3-4 skewers through a pineapple and then layer the pork, finishing off with the final slice of pineapple to hold the skewers together. I cook at 275F for two to three hours. It doesn't have to be cooked all the way. Let it rest until manageably cool. Slice thinly and mix with pineapple then saute on high in cast iron until crisp/cooked.Bon appetit!

Excellent recipe. Here’s the lazy version with what I had at home. Instead of the dried peppers, I used gochugang powder, Aleppo pepper flakes, plenty of smoked pimentón de la vera and a splash of La Morena chipotle sauce. I am a purist from Mexico City and the pastor flavor came through. You gotta use corn tortillas and all the trimmings for real al pastor delight. Also excellent for fish al pastor tacos, like Chef Camara serves at Contramar, her fabulous restaurant in Mexico City.

i have bought chicken pastor from the local Latino market, and it is always chopped up raw and sitting in the marinade. I would say that a smaller rough chop is what you want, to get the crisp ends. Or keep whole, marinate for a long time, and BBQ/grill until crisped and cooked, then chop.

Does this recipe assume you will be buying corn tortillas? I make my own - honestly they're not that hard to make. But would be interested on recommendations for store bought CORN, not horrors of horrors flour, tortillas.

It's one of the toppings. It is served at the table with the onion and cilantro.

Awesome!!! Would have also appreciated a home-made tortilla recipe & simple green sauce recipe.

The very best tacos al pasture I have ever had were from an appropriately ranked, five-star taco truck in Taos, NM (Carittas?); beautiful little delights of crispy pork, perfectly seasoned, sauced and juicy, with just a nice dotting of pineapple bits, on a lightly crisped, yet soft and chewy flour tortilla. I will forever be looking for them in every al pasture I come across. So I'm ready (and hopeful) for this recipe!

Why blot off the marinade between towels only to add the same reserved marinade before cooking?

used 1 tsp of guajillo paste and chiles de arbol flakes

Messed up by marinating with all the sauce, I didn’t pat the meat dry, I didn’t have all the right spices. Still turned out great. Saved it by draining off the extra liquid and fat then continued to fry till charred. I used two smaller fry pans—one cast iron and one nonstick. The cast iron produced a better char, and a second batch in the cast iron was even better because it loosened the tasty char bits in the first batch. Best tacos I ever.

I made this tonight and we really enjoyed it. My only issue was getting the pineapple to caramelize. I cooked it as directed, and waited for it to brown a little. And waited and waited and waited. Finally, I gave up and stopped. It tasted good, but looked nothing like the picture. It was still pale. Any idea what I did wrong?

Not a huge fan of this recipe. It lacked flavor, even after 24 hours of marinating, and saucing. Adding hot sauce to tacos was a must.

The al pastor marinade is also splendid for grilling. Just keep your tenderloins whole, cook on your gas or charcoal grill, and then slice and serve with accoutrements.

This would be very good for informal entertaining. I used chicken breasts because that’s what I had on hand.If you don’t have pineapple, I think nectarines or mangoes would work just as well.

I've made this in two different ways. Once was the easiest, basically "seared" on the weber kettle. Next was a little more complex, again using the kettle, but I used my rotisserie. As it's a horizontal one (as apposed to vertical), I had to use extra prongs to hold the place. I also left the marinade on the meat, and let it run offset for quite a while. Both were a success, with the 2nd being the slight winner.

Awesome!!! Would have also appreciated a home-made tortilla recipe & simple green sauce recipe.

Stacking large thin slices of marinated meat and pineapple slices in the air fryer and keeping the temperature at 140c to 150c created a similar effect as a giros stand oven. The top charred a lot more than the sides and it kept the insides quite moist. Sliced them thin after letting the pile of meat rest.

Excellent recipe. Here’s the lazy version with what I had at home. Instead of the dried peppers, I used gochugang powder, Aleppo pepper flakes, plenty of smoked pimentón de la vera and a splash of La Morena chipotle sauce. I am a purist from Mexico City and the pastor flavor came through. You gotta use corn tortillas and all the trimmings for real al pastor delight. Also excellent for fish al pastor tacos, like Chef Camara serves at Contramar, her fabulous restaurant in Mexico City.

Delicious and pleasing. Marinade is similar to a homemade adobo sauce; used 2 pasilla chilis instead of cascabel, 1 tsp ancho chili powder instead of dried ancho chili (this all is what was available locally). A little extra fresh orange juice for the sweetness to cut down spiciness of the red chilis de arbol. Pineapple takes longer to caramelize (20 minutes). Used red onion instead of white. Didn't add marinade when sauteeing the meat, but people used the reserved marinade as sauce on tacos.

A bit of expresso in the marinade can hint the taste of smoke without additives. Looks like weekend tacos! ;)

I make this similarly but pound the pork after slicing the disks. Then cut two 1-inch slices of pineapple for the top and bottom supports. I set 3-4 skewers through a pineapple and then layer the pork, finishing off with the final slice of pineapple to hold the skewers together. I cook at 275F for two to three hours. It doesn't have to be cooked all the way. Let it rest until manageably cool. Slice thinly and mix with pineapple then saute on high in cast iron until crisp/cooked.Bon appetit!