Homemade Adobada Tacos 

Pork adobada tacos are a Mexican street vendor food that you can now easily make at home. Layers of pork shoulder is smothered in a chile paste mix with layers of pineapple and bacon and roasted in the oven.

Living in San Diego means that we are blessed to eat a lot of delicious Mexican food. And I’m not talking about Taco Bell Mexican food – I’m talking about everything from street tacos to carne asada fries and other unique recipes from all over the region.

And I don’t need a passport to go to Tijuana to get this food. I find it all over Southern California. It’s a delicious problem to have.

Several years ago I had the pleasure to attend an event at Chef Marcela Valladolid’s house here in San Diego. I enjoyed so many amazing foods that I never had before.

My favorite dish is what I am sharing with you today, Adobada Tacos. And if you have never tried this before, oh boy, are you in for a treat!

Ingredients you need

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• Dried chiles: This recipe uses dried guajillo and ancho chiles. The ancho chile is simply a dried poblano pepper that ripened from green to red. It is mild and has a sweet and smokey flavor. The guajillo is a dried mirasol chile and spicier than the ancho, but not flaming in heat.
• Achiote paste: Usually found in brick form, this is made with ground annatto seeds along with other seasonings like cumin and coriander. It gives your dish a sweet, spicy and smokey flavor.
• Orange juice: This balances the spicy and smokey flavors of this dish. You can use freshly squeezed or bottled orange juice.
• Boneless pork shoulder: This will be sliced and layered with the other ingredients, sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices
• Bacon: This is layered with the meat and pineapple and gives the dish moisture and flavor. Don’t skimp with turkey bacon, and use real pork bacon.
• Pineapple: Fresh pineapple is preferred, but you can use canned pineapple. Don’t skip this as the pineapple not only gives tremendous flavor to the meat, but also moisture. And it’s super tasty in the tacos!
• Served with: chopped onions, cilantro, lime wedges and small tortillas.
• Kitchen staples: Distilled white vinegar, garlic, vegetable oil, salt and pepper.

Step-by-step directions

1. Hydrate the chiles. Soak chiles in a bowl with warm water for 10 minutes. Drain and discard the water.
2. Prepare paste. In a blender combine hydrated chiles, achiote paste, garlic cloves, vinegar, orange juice, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and consistency is paste like.

4. Layer the pork. Slice the pork lengthwise for easier layering. Place each slice between two sheets of plastic wrap and flatten until about ¼-inch thick using a meat mallet.
5. Add other layers. Place a couple of slices of meat on a lightly greased pan and season with salt and pepper. Spread adobo paste on meat until fully covered. Top with slices of bacon then with slices of pineapple. Repeat the layers until you use up all of the meat, bacon and pineapple.
6. Marinate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for for 2 hours.

7. Roast. Pull meat out from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. You do this so the meat will warm up slightly and cook evenly. Drizzle meat with a little oil and roast at 375ºF until cooked through, about 40 to 50 minutes.
8. Slice the roast. Once done, let it rest 10 minutes then transfer the entire stack to a cutting board. Do not discard the oil left on the baking pan. This deliciousness will be used to heat the tortillas. Starting from one side of the neat stack, thinly slice downwards so you get all the layers together: marinated pork, bacon and pineapple.
9. Heat the tortillas. Using a pastry brush, brush on the reserved leftover oil from the pan to both sides of a tortilla. Place tortillas on a warm pan over medium-high heat until warmed through.
10. Assemble tacos. Make tacos by stuffing tortilla with sliced meat, chopped onions, cilantro, cooked pineapple and a squeeze of lime juice.

Expert tips and recipe FAQs

If you have made a large batch and have leftovers, you can easily freeze them for later use. They will keep in the refrigerator in a resealable container for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months.

You can also serve it with some Spanish rice. For some culture fusion, this would be fabulous with Shirazi salad (cucumber tomato salad). You can also use the leftovers and make some baked taquitos.

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Homemade Adobada Tacos

Chef Marcella Valladolid

Pork adobada tacos are a Mexican street vendor food that you can now easily make at home. Layers of pork shoulder is smothered in a chile paste mix with layers of pineapple and bacon and roasted in the oven.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Additional Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 10

Calories 417 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 ancho chiles
• 2 guajillo chiles
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ bar achiote paste
• ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 lbs boneless pork shoulder sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch-thick slices
• 10 slices of bacon
• 1 small pineapple peeled and thinly cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
• 4 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 4-6 limes cut into quarters
• Small corn tortillas

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Instructions

 

• To hydrate the chiles, soak them in a bowl with warm water for 10 minutes, Drain and discard the water.
• In a blender, combine hydrated chiles, achiote paste, garlic cloves, vinegar, orange juice, salt and pepper. Blend until all ingredients are combined and consistency paste like. Set aside.
• Place a slice of pork between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet, gently flatten meat until it is very thin, about ¼-inch thick. Pound and flatten the remaining slices of meat.
• Lightly coat a baking pan with oil. Place a couple of slices of meat on the greased pan. Season with salt and pepper. Spread adobo paste on meat until fully covered.
• Add 3 slices of bacon over the pork layer then top with a couple slices of pineapple. Repeat the layers until you use up all of the meat, bacon and pineapple.
• Place in the refrigerator and let the meat marinate for 2 hours.
• Pull meat out from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
• Drizzle meat with a little oil and roast until cooked through in the center, about 40 to 50 minutes.
• Once cooked thru, let it rest 10 minutes then transfer the entire stack to a cutting board. Do not discard of the oil left on the baking pan. This deliciousness t will be used to heat the tortillas. Starting from one side of the neat stack, thinly slice downwards so you get all the layers together, cooked strips of pork, bacon and pineapple.
• Using a pastry brush, brush on leftover oil from the pan to both sides of a tortilla. Place tortillas on a warm pan over medium-high heat until warmed through.
• Make tacos using sliced meat, onion, cilantro, cooked pineapple, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Notes

Adobada tacos are typically served with small corn tortillas, but you can also use flour tortillas. You can top your tacos with the addition of guacamole, guacamole salsa, pico de gallo, sour cream or your favorite salsa.

TO STORE: Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 417kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 26gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 261mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5g

Keyword adobada taco, adobada tacos, tacos adobada, tacos de adobada

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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