Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al Pastor are a traditional taco originating from Central Mexico. Traditionally made from pork and pineapple, slow roasted on a spit, and served with corn tortillas, salsa, avocado, lime, and cilantro. A little spicy, a little sweet, and so insanely delicious!

For being a very white girl who has spent her entire life in suburbia, I have many ties to Mexico. I was born in San Antonio, Texas, my brother and my husband both served church service missions in Mexico, and I lived in a tiny little border town for a year and a half. I love many things about Mexican culture- the music, colors, and especially the food! I would happily eat some sort of Mexican-inspired dish 7 days a week. While most of my cooking leans heavily Tex Mex, this dish is straight outta Mexico.

Tacos al Pastor

My only experience in Mexico has been in resorts, so I can’t say I’ve truly experienced much authentic Mexican cuisine. But in one resort, there was a tacqueria that served tacos that my brother and husband both affirmed were very authentic. Lightly fried corn tortillas, tender strips of spit-roasted pork and pineapple, salsa, cilantro, avocado, and lime. It is absolute perfection.

Ever since tasting these heavenly Tacos al Pastor, I order them any time I see them on the menu. But they’ve never been quite right. No pineapple, shredded pork, served on flour tortillas… something has always been off. So I set about making them on my own. I scoured the internet for recipes, and most of them involved difficult to find ingredients, and complicated cooking methods.

Combining the similarities of the many recipes I found online, and the delicious tacos of my memory, this recipe was born. It’s simple, can be prepared on a smoker, grill, or in the oven, and results in tender, savory pork and sweet pineapple ready to pile onto tortillas with all of the fixings.

How to Prepare Tacos al Pastor

The only special equipment required for Tacos al Pastor is a skewer of some sort. A wooden or metal kabob skewer works perfectly.

Begin by slicing your boneless pork loin into 1/2 inch slices. Combine all of the ingredients for the marinade, and place the sliced pork in and turn to coat. You can do this in a large bowl or a 9×13 pan. Marinate for at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days. I recommend overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, preheat the oven, grill, or smoker to 350 (or medium high heat on the grill). Cut the skin off of the pineapple, and lop off the top and bottom, then cut the pineapple into 2 big chunks. Place on chunk on the bottom of your skewer. Layer all of the meat next, and then top with the other pineapple chunk.

Cook the meat skewer for 1.5-2 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the pork reads 140. Allow the meat to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Use tongs and a knife to slice of thin pieces of meat and pineapple right off the skewer.

To serve, heat 1/2 inch oil in a large skillet and fry corn tortillas for 15-30 seconds on each side, until very lightly crisp. Pile meat, pineapple, salsa, lime juice, cilantro, and diced avocado onto the corn tortillas and devour!

I am begging you to serve these tacos with a great salsa. I would emphatically suggest my restaurant style salsa, but your favorite jarred salsa will do in a pinch. Just please, for the love of all things holy, don’t use Pace salsa. It’s basically chunky ketchup, and it’s an abomination to tacos.