Traditionally, the meat for tacos al pastor is roasted on a spit, but for this tasty variant, marinated beef is cooked in an Instant Pot or multipurpose pressure cooker. Your family will keep asking for these fall-apart delicate, flavor-infused pork tacos as a result.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 1 cup chopped onion
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 1 medium orange, juiced
- 1 medium lime, juiced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 (1.41 ounce) package sazón seasoning with achiote
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, or more as needed
- 20 ounces pineapple chunks, drained
- 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas
- ½ cup chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup pico de gallo salsa, or more to taste
- 1 medium avocado, diced (Optional)
- ⅛ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Place pork into a large lidded container.
- Blend pineapple juice, onion, vinegar, orange juice, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, sazón, chili powder, salt, cumin, and black pepper in a blender until smooth. Pour over pork and toss until all meat is covered. Seal the container and marinate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Turn on a multi-functional pressure cooker (such as Instant Pot), select the Sauté function, and add vegetable oil. When hot, add marinated pork and brown on all sides, working in batches if necessary, about 5 minutes per batch. Reserve any extra marinade in the lidded container.
- Turn off the Sauté function. Pour in reserved marinade, then close and lock the lid. Select high pressure according to the manufacturer’s instructions; set the timer for 35 minutes. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for pressure to build.
- Release the pressure using the natural-release method according to the manufacturer’s instructions, about 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure with the quick release method, about 5 minutes. Unlock and remove the lid.
- Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven’s broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Transfer pork to the prepared baking sheet. Keep any sauce in the Instant Pot. Use forks to coarsely shred the pork, removing and discarding any excess fatty chunks. Spread meat out evenly onto the baking sheet. Add pineapple chunks.
- Broil in the preheated oven until the tips of the meat and pineapples are beginning to get a little brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Drizzle the reserved sauce from the Instant Pot over pork to moisten it and add more flavor. Arrange pork and pineapple chunks on tortillas. Add onion, pico de gallo, avocado, and cilantro. Garnish with lime wedges.
- Please note the differences in serving size, marinade ingredients, and the use of corn tortillas when using the magazine version of this recipe.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 431 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 54 g |
| Cholesterol | 43 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 22 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 1339 mg |
| Sugars | 14 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I don’t recommend trying this with any other cut of pork besides what is listed. I tried it with pork loin because my grocery store only sold pork butt in huge quantities, and I wanted something a bit less fatty. I figured it wouldn’t change much — I was wrong. I followed the instructions exactly and didn’t adjust the cooking time. The pork was cooked fine but the sauce turned out very weird and separated, so I didn’t want to pour it over the meat. As a result the pork was quite dry. I know this is my fault for not following the recipe, but I’m still giving it 3 stars because the flavor simply is not like true tacos as pastor. It’s far too sweet.
My husband declared this better than our favorite Mexican restaurants version. This will definitely be a keeper.
Complicated but well worth the effort! al Pastor tastes amazing!
This recipe, which I followed exactly, made a fine and tasty meal, but I have to say it tasted nothing like authentic Mexican pastor meat. I had high hopes given some ingredients I had never used before (sazon and chipotle peppers in adobo) but sadly, that elusive pastor flavor just wasn’t there. Plus, it was a heckuva lot of work! To me it was much closer to a pulled pork sandwich in flavor than a Mexican pastor taco. Kudos, however, for the high pressure method which did indeed create perfectly fall apart meat. Note: I marinated for about 9 hours — no doubt it might have been better to marinate even longer but I still don’t think the flavor would be there. Search continues for at-home pastor…
Perfect recipe for the home cook to make al pastor! The flavor profile was spot on to us and took us back to Mexico, where our obsession with al pastor began. I made the recipe as written with minor substitutes and cook time adjustment due to the amount of meat I had. The only substitutes I made were using canned Chipotle sauce as the Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce were out of stock (used 3 tbsp sauce and probably should have added another 1-2 tbsp), and corn tortillas as that’s our preference. I had about 4.5lb pork butt and cooked for 45 min with 15-20 min natural pressure release. Since I made this the night before, I saved the juices in the pot in another container to reheat the meat in the oven so it wouldn’t dry out. This recipe is the only one I will make going forward for al pastor. Thank you for the recipe!
I am a big big fan of the Al Pastor at my local Mexican restaurant. Have been a little intimidated by the traditional spit roasting, so looked up a recipe that was a little more accessible. This is so so good. Does not taste like what my restaurant serves, but I will definitely make it again. I forgot fresh garlic and didn’t have minced, so I used a liberal tablespoon. Also was liberal with the cumin. I used two pounds of meat and cut into smaller chunks, so I only pressure cooked for 30 minutes. I used fresh pineapple, and after shredding meat and adding pineapple, I sprayed with cooking oil to help with browning under the broiler. I definitely went more than 5 minutes, but I stirred it a few times. My favorite parts of the meat are always the super crispy parts. Downfall: just a smidge too spicy. My kids will not eat it. Next time I will only add one chipotle. I served it with caramelized onions, fresh cilantro, Monterrey Jack cheese, and lime wedges. Also: So as to not waste the extra pineapple juice and chipotle peppers leftover, I made a second batch of marinade and froze it. I actually added a bit more chipotle peppers to that batch…. so most definitely will either use more meat or plan on feeding the kids something else.
Made it for for 12, it was delish! Homemade guacamole and homemade pick de Gallo, used corn tortillas for more flavor. I would use crushed pineapple next time.