Al Pastor Recipe - Tacos

These al pastor tacos are my homemade take on the Mexican street-food classic: marinated pork and pineapple, cooked hot so the edges char the way they do coming off a spit.

Mine leans on chipotle paste rather than whole dried chillies, because a jar of it is in most supermarkets and a bag of guajillos is not. If you can get hold of dried guajillo or ancho chillies, rehydrate them, take the seeds out and blend them into the marinade instead.

For topping I would go with roasted tomato salsa, guacamole, pickled red jalapeno and pineapple, fresh coriander, and cheese.

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Where Al Pastor Comes From

Tacos al pastor are one of Mexico’s great food mash-ups. Lebanese immigrants brought spit-grilled shawarma with them, and it was reworked with pork, achiote and pineapple into the al pastor sold on every other corner today. Middle Eastern technique, Mexican flavour, and the name means “shepherd style” after the shepherds who brought the spit.

The traditional version stacks the marinated pork on a vertical rotisserie called a trompo, with a pineapple perched on top, and the cook shaves slices off the outside as they crisp. That outer layer is the whole point: the meat closest to the flame chars while everything behind it stays soft. A home kitchen has no trompo, which is why this recipe slices the pork thin and cooks it fiercely instead - thin slices give you far more charred edge per mouthful, which is what you are really after.

It is served simply. Two small corn tortillas, chopped white onion, coriander, a slice of pineapple and salsa. The guacamole and the pickled jalapeno are mine rather than tradition, and both earn their place: one softens the heat, the other cuts through the fat.

Why There Is Pineapple in the Marinade

Everyone knows the pineapple is there for sweetness against the chilli. Fewer people know it is doing something considerably more aggressive at the same time.

Pineapple contains protein-digesting enzymes, and they are the same ones sold in jars as meat tenderiser. The main one, bromelain, takes proteins apart, and it keeps doing so until heat stops it. That is genuinely useful in a marinade: it opens the meat up and lets the spice in. It is also why you should not treat this like a beef marinade and leave it going for two days.

• A few hours is plenty The card says overnight will deepen the flavour and is not necessary, and with pork sliced this thin that is the right advice. Two to four hours does the job. Overnight is fine, longer is not.
• What happens if you overdo it The surface goes soft and slightly mealy rather than tender - the enzyme does not know when to stop. Thin tenderloin is the most vulnerable cut in this recipe, which is exactly what we are using.
• Tinned pineapple behaves differently It is heat treated in the can, so its enzyme is already dead. It will sweeten the marinade and it will not tenderise anything. If you are marinating well ahead, tinned is the safer choice for that reason alone.
• Char some alongside Cook a few slices in the pan while the pork is going and chop them through at the end. Grilled pineapple is sweeter and less sharp than raw, and it is what gets shaved off the top of the trompo anyway.

The Spice Blend

Seven things go into the grinder, and only two of them are doing the heavy lifting.

• Annatto seeds or achiote paste The one that makes it al pastor rather than any other marinated pork. Slightly nutty, faintly peppery, and it is where the deep red colour comes from. Whole seeds are cheaper than paste and keep for a long time, but they are hard, so they want a grinder rather than a mortar.
• Paprika Sweet and peppery, and it backs up the colour the annatto starts.
• Ground cumin Warm and earthy. Grind it yourself if you can be bothered; ground cumin that has been open a year tastes of very little.
• Oregano A dry, slightly bitter herbal note underneath everything else. Mexican oregano is a different plant from the Mediterranean sort and is more citrusy, but either works.
• Cloves Two, and no more. Sweet and aromatic, and very good with pork, but they take over a blend faster than anything else in it.
• Black pepper A gentle heat that sits behind the chipotle rather than competing with it.
• Epazote Optional, and genuinely hard to find outside a Mexican grocer. Pungent and hard to describe - somewhere between oregano, anise and citrus, with a tarry edge. Use a little or leave it out; it is not the difference between good and bad al pastor.

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A Closer Look at the Ingredients

• Pork tenderloin What this recipe uses, sliced thin. It is lean and it cooks fast, so it takes a hard char without drying out in the middle, and thin slices mean more crisp edge. Pork shoulder is the traditional cut and is fattier and more forgiving - use it if you are cooking low and slow, but it wants longer than the timings on the card.
• Pineapple Sweetness, acidity, and a genuine tenderising enzyme. Fresh for the marinade, and a few extra slices charred in the pan if you have them.
• Chipotle paste Smoke and heat in one jar. It is the shortcut in this recipe and it is a good one. Dried guajillo or ancho, soaked and blended, is the traditional route.
• Onion and red pepper Cooked separately and folded through at the end, so they keep some bite instead of collapsing into the pork.
• Garlic Five cloves, minced into the marinade. It is a lot, and it needs to be, because most of it burns off under that heat.
• To serve Warm corn tortillas, chopped white onion, coriander and lime, and whatever else you fancy from the salsa, guacamole and pickles.

Equipment You’ll Need

Simple kit, but the pan needs to take real heat.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Pork shoulder for tenderloin Fattier, more traditional and more forgiving. Slice it thin all the same and give it longer in the pan.
• Chicken thighs for pork Same marinade, same method. Thighs rather than breast, because they stay juicy under that sort of heat.
• Smoked paprika and a pinch of chilli for chipotle Gets you most of the way. You lose a little of the sour, fermented edge chipotle has.
• Achiote paste for annatto seeds Simpler if you can find it, and it dissolves into the marinade rather than needing a grinder. Use about a tablespoon in place of the seeds.
• Tinned pineapple for fresh Fine for sweetness, and it will not tenderise, so it is the better option if the pork is going to sit in the marinade a long time.
• Flour tortillas for corn Not traditional, and they will not split on you. Small ones, warmed the same way.

How to Make Al Pastor, Step by Step

Six steps, and the pork and the vegetables cook separately before they meet.

1. Grind the spice blend first. Paprika, cumin, epazote if you have it, oregano, black pepper, annatto seeds and the cloves, all into the grinder and worked to a fine powder. Do this before anything else, because annatto seeds are genuinely hard and a blade grinder needs a few goes at them. Grinding whole releases oils that a shop-bought jar lost months ago, and the powder needs to be fine enough to coat every slice rather than sit on it in grains.
2. Marinate the pork. Mix the spice blend with the minced garlic, half the oil, the chopped pineapple and the salt, then add the thinly sliced tenderloin and turn it until every piece is coated. Two to four hours in the fridge is plenty and overnight is the most I would give it, because the pineapple is quietly digesting the meat the whole time. Slice the pork as thin as you can manage - that is the single thing that decides how much charred edge you end up with.
3. Cook the pork hot and fast. Get the grill up to 240 C, spread the pork on a lined tray in one layer, and give it 12 to 15 minutes until it is cooked through with blackened edges. One layer matters more than the timing: crowd the tray and the meat steams in its own juice instead of charring, which is the difference between al pastor and stewed pork. Line the tray, too, because this marinade has sugar in it and sugar at that temperature welds itself to bare metal.
4. Get the vegetables going while the pork cooks. Heat the rest of the oil in a heavy frying pan over a medium-high heat and cook the sliced onion and red pepper until they are soft and starting to catch, five to seven minutes. Then add a splash of water, put a lid on, drop the heat to medium and give them another five. The splash of water is not padding: it steams the last of the firmness out of the pepper without you having to hold it over the heat long enough to burn the onion.
5. Bring them together with the chipotle. Tip the grilled pork into the pan with the vegetables, add the chipotle paste, and toss everything for two or three minutes over a medium heat. The chipotle goes in here rather than into the marinade on purpose. It is already smoked and already concentrated, and under a fierce grill it turns acrid; two minutes in the pan is enough for it to coat everything without cooking down to bitterness.
6. Warm the tortillas and build. Thirty seconds a side in a dry pan until they are soft and pliable - straight from the packet they crack when you fold them, and the heat is what stops that. Dry pan, no oil: you are driving moisture back into the tortilla, not frying it, and oil at this point makes it greasy and stiff. Two small tortillas stacked is the street standard, because one will not survive the juice, and lifting the pork out with tongs rather than a spoon leaves the worst of that juice in the pan. Pork and vegetables first, then salsa, guacamole, the pickled jalapeno and pineapple, coriander and cheese. Eat them straight away, because a built taco waits for nobody.

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Recipe Card for Al Pastor Tacos

Recipe Card

Al Pastor Recipe - Tacos

Pork sliced thin, marinated in achiote, chipotle and pineapple, then cooked hot so the edges char the way they do coming off a spit. Built into warm corn tortillas.

★★★★★ 5 from 2 votes · Rate this recipe

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Prep

20 min

Cook

25 min

Total

45 min

Serves

4

Per serving

550 kcal

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Equipment I Use

Hybrid Non Stick Frying PanSpice BlenderBaking TrayTongs

Ingredients

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Ingredients for Al Pastor:

450 g Pork tenderloin, thinly sliced 2 slices Pineapple, finely chopped 1 Onion, medium size, cut in half and sliced 1 Red bell pepper, sliced 5 Garlic cloves, minced 2 tsp Chipotle paste, or use rehydrated dried guajillo or ancho chillies, blended into the marinade instead 2 tbsp Vegetable oil ½ tsp Salt

Ingredients for Al Pastor spice blend:

1 tbsp Paprika 1 tbsp Ground cumin 1 tsp Epazote, (optional) 1 tsp Oregano ½ tsp Black pepper 1 tsp Annatto seeds, (you can use achiote paste to marinate pork instead) 2 Cloves

To serve:

12 Small corn taco tortillas Salsa Guacamole Pickled Red Jalapeño & Pineapple 1 handful Fresh coriander, (coriander) Cheese, Choose: Oaxaca, Cheddar, Queso Fresco, Mozzarella.

Instructions

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1

Prepare the Spice Blend

In a spice grinder, combine paprika, cumin, epazote (if using), oregano, black pepper, annatto seeds, and cloves. Grind into a fine powder.

2

Marinate the Pork

In a large bowl, combine the spice blend, minced garlic, half of the vegetable oil, chopped pineapple and salt. Add the thinly sliced pork tenderloin and toss until it is well coated in the marinade. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours, or overnight at the most - the pineapple carries a tenderising enzyme that keeps working until it meets the heat.

3

Cook the Pork

Preheat your grill to 240°C (465°F). Spread the marinated pork on a lined tray in a single layer and grill for 12-15 minutes, until it is cooked through with charred edges. Crowded pork steams instead of charring, so use two trays rather than piling it up.

4

Prepare the Vegetables

In a large frying pan, heat the remaining vegetable oil over a medium-high heat. Cook the onion and red pepper until soft and slightly caramelised, about 5-7 minutes. Add a splash of water, cover with a lid, reduce to a medium heat and cook for another 5 minutes.

5

Combine Pork with Vegetables and Chipotle Paste

Add the grilled pork to the pan with the vegetables along with the chipotle paste, and toss everything together. Cook for another 2-3 minutes over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. The chipotle goes in here rather than in the marinade because it is already smoked and turns acrid under a fierce grill.

6

Assemble the Tacos

Warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for about 30 seconds a side, until soft and pliable. Stack two per taco, add the pork and vegetable mixture, and top with salsa, guacamole, pickled red jalapeño and pineapple, fresh coriander and cheese. Serve straight away.

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Chef’s notes＋

Slice the pork as thin as you can. Thin slices give you far more charred edge per mouthful, which is what stands in for a vertical spit at home.

Two to four hours in the marinade, and overnight at the most. Fresh pineapple carries a protein-digesting enzyme of the sort sold as meat tenderiser, and it keeps working until the heat stops it. Left far too long, the surface goes soft rather than tender. Tinned pineapple is heat treated, so its enzyme is already dead.

One layer on the tray, and line it. Crowded pork steams in its own juice instead of charring, and this marinade has enough sugar in it to weld itself to bare metal at 240 C.

The chipotle goes in at the end, not into the marinade. It is already smoked and concentrated, and under a fierce grill it turns acrid.

For a cheesy finish, put the cheese straight onto the dry pan, lay the tortilla on top of it, and flip once the cheese has melted and stuck. You get a crisp cheese crust on the tortilla rather than a cold handful inside the taco.

Keeping it: three days in the fridge, two months frozen. Reheat fast in a very hot pan so the edges crisp again, and warm the tortillas fresh.

Nutrition per serving＋

550 kcalProtein 35 gCarbs 45 gFat 25 gSat fat 7 gFibre 7 gSugar 8 gSodium 650 mgServing 340 g

Al Pastor Recipe - Tacos · https://chefsbinge.com/al-pastor-recipe-tacos/

Check out my other Recipes:

Variations

• Chicken al pastor: swap the pork for chicken thighs, same marinade.
• Spice it up or down: more chipotle or fresh chilli for heat, less for a milder, family-friendly version.
• Oven method: no grill? Roast the marinated pork on a hot tray, then finish it under the grill for char.
• Al pastor bowls: skip the tortillas and serve it over rice with all the toppings.
• Sous vide: cook the marinated pork at about 63 C for a few hours, then char it hard on the grill or with a blowtorch for crisp edges without drying it out.

What to Serve With Al Pastor Tacos

Al pastor is as much about the toppings as the pork.

• Warm corn tortillas, chopped white onion, fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime, which is the classic set-up and needs nothing else.
• A spoonful of my Roasted Tomato Salsa and some guacamole.
• Pickled red onion, or pickled jalapeno with pineapple, for a tangy kick.
• For a cheesy finish, put the cheese straight onto the dry pan and lay the tortilla on top of it, then flip once it has melted and stuck. You get a crisp cheese crust on the tortilla rather than a cold handful inside the taco.
• Make a feast of it with my Cochinita Pibil Tacos or a Quesadilla Con Carne.

Storing and Reheating

Keep leftover cooked pork in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat it fast in a very hot pan rather than gently, so the edges crisp up again instead of going soft and grey.

It freezes well for up to two months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating, and warm the tortillas fresh every time - a reheated tortilla that has been frozen with the meat is a sad thing.

FAQ for Al Pastor Tacos

A Few Words from the Chef

Al pastor was the taco that got me hooked on Mexican cooking. That sweet, smoky, charred pork is hard to beat, and you do not need any special kit to make it well at home - a very hot pan and pork sliced properly thin will get you most of the way to a trompo.