If you were to ask me, if there was only one food that I could eat for the rest of my life, what one food I would choose? TACOS! Did you notice, there was no hesitation? None, nada, absolutely no hesitation! Yes I would give up pizza. Yes I would give up burgers. It would be hard, but give up Tacos? I can’t imagine my life without tacos in it!!! It would be a sad, sorry existence indeed.
If you are not familiar with Tacos al Pastor, they are typically made with pork that is marinated in a combination of peppers, chilies, spices, pineapple, and typically achiote paste. Then it is slowly cooked with charcoal or a gas flame on a vertical rotisserie.
I’m guessing many of you are like me and you don’t own a vertical rotisserie. No worries, this version is cooked up in a skillet on your stovetop which makes it quick to cook and easy to make anytime you desire. And once you taste these tacos, you will want to make them all the time!!!
This recipe is inspired by Andale Taqueria y Mercado in Minnesota. They were featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. As soon as I saw the segment I knew I had to figure out how to make them. Living here in California, it’s doubtful I will make it to Minnesota anytime soon to order these tacos at their restaurant. So I set out to convert a recipe that feeds hundreds to one that feeds a family and a few hungry friends.
If any of you give this recipe a try and have been fortunate enough to have the Tacos al Pastor at Andale Taqueria y Mercado in Minnesota please let me know if I got close to what they serve at the restaurant. Try not to eat half a dozen in one sitting and bust open the zipper on your jeans…LOL!
This is a great meal for a busy weeknight. If you get the meat marinating and make the avocado salsa the day before, cooking up the tacos for dinner takes just a few short minutes. Gotta love that, right?
Prepare marinade:
Place Piquillo peppers (along with all the juices in the jar), cumin, pepper, salt, bay leaves, oregano, Achiote paste, garlic, and onion in a large bowl.
If you have trouble finding Piquillo peppers you can substitute with a jar of roasted red peppers. They are very similar in taste.
Add freshly squeezed lime juice.
Add orange juice and vinegar to the mixture in the bowl. The vinegar, lime, and orange juice not only add flavor but are the acids for this marinade.
Use an immersion blender and purée all the ingredients together until you have a smooth liquid.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, purée the ingredients in a conventional blender.
Place pork tenderloin slices in a large ziplock baggie.
Add marinade to the bag with the sliced pork tenderloin.
Refrigerate overnight.
Smush bag occasionally while it marinates overnight to ensure the marinade coats all the pork slices.
Prepare Avocado Salsa:
Place the jar of pickled jalapeño peppers (along with juice), 1 chopped onion, 4 garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
Add avocado.
Use an immersion blender to purée ingredients into a smooth liquid.
Slowly add oil while blending salsa until emulsified and salsa is rich, smooth and creamy.
Place avocado salsa verde in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. This allows the flavors to come together and intensify.
Cook Tacos:
Heat corn tortillas on a lightly greased comal or skillet until soft. It only takes a few seconds on each side to soften them up. Cover and keep warm while you cook up the pork tenderloin.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Fry bacon pieces until they render their fat.
Remove pork from marinade and place on a cutting board. Roughly chop meat into bite sized chunks.
Add chopped marinated pork to the skillet. Cook until the pork is cooked through 3-5 minutes.
Add pineapple to the pan. Stir to combine with the pork and bacon.
Place a mound of cooked pork onto each heated corn tortilla.
Top with a generous dollop of avocado salsa, some fresh cilantro and chopped onion. Serve tacos with fresh wedges of lime.
These are my new FAVORITE TACOS!
Tacos Al Pastor
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 12 oz jar Piquillo peppers packed in water, do not drain
- ½ cup orange juice
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp Achiote
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion, chopped
- ¼ cup vinegar
Avocado Salsa:
- 12 oz jar pickled jalapeño peppers, do not drain
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Avocados, diced
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
For the Tacos:
- 1 lb pork tenderloin, sliced ¼ inch thick
- 4 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cup pineapple, cut into a small dice
- corn tortillas
- limes, quartered
- ¼ cup diced onion
- cilantro, chopped
Instructions
Prepare marinade:
- Place Piquillo peppers, orange juice, lime juice, cumin, pepper, salt, bay leaves, oregano, Achiote, garlic, onion, and vinegar in a large bowl.
- Use an immersion blender and purée all the ingredients together until you have a smooth liquid.
- Place pork tenderloin slices in a large ziplock baggie.
- Add marinade to the bag with the sliced pork tenderloin.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Smush bag occasionally while it marinates overnight to ensure the marinade coats all the pork slices.
Prepare Avocado Salsa:
- Place jar of pickled jalapeño peppers, 1 chopped onion, 4 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt, diced avocado in a large bowl.
- Use an immersion blender to purée ingredients into a smooth liquid.
- Slowly add oil while blending salsa until emulsified and salsa is smooth and creamy.
- Place salsa in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.
Cook Tacos:
- Heat corn tortillas on a lightly greased comal or skillet until soft.
- Transfer cooked pork from the marinade onto a cutting board and chop into a rough dice.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Fry bacon pieces until they render their fat.
- Add chopped marinated pork to the skillet along with the pineapple pieces.
- Place cooked pork onto heated corn tortillas.
- Top with a dollop of avocado salsa, some fresh cilantro and chopped onion.
- Serve tacos with wedges of lime.
Did You Make This?
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