How to Make Tacos al Pastor at Home

If you've ever eaten Tacos al Pastor shaved right off of a rotating trompo spit, then you know how delicious they are, and this authentic recipe does not disappoint.

Ok, so we're not in Mexico City, and this recipe will never taste as good as the original tacos from the street vendors there, but it's 100% delicious and uses an award-winning Tacos al Pastor recipe right from the heart of Mexico.

So, there's no reason you should wait to make these delicious tacos at home when you can still honor the integrity and taste of the original.

Jump to:

• What is Tacos al Pastor?
• What Does Tacos al Pastor Taste Like (and Why is the Meat Red?)
• Tacos al Pastor Ingredients 
• How to Make Tacos al Pastor at Home
• Tacos al Pastor step-by-step recipe photos
• Why You Should NOT Cook The Meat On a Vertical "Spit" in Your Oven
• What to Serve With Tacos al Pastor?
• More Delicious Taco Night Recipes
• 📖 Recipe

What is Tacos al Pastor?

Tacos al Pastor is a type of taco that consists of marinated pork butt (or shoulder) cooked on a trompo (vertical spit).

This famously delicious taco is said to come from Monterrey, Nuevo León, in northern Mexico. The meat is cooked and shaved off the rotisserie (like gyro meat) and is often served on a fresh corn tortilla with pineapple, onions, cilantro, and salsa.

For this recipe, we marinate boneless pork butt (or shoulder) in a tangy, spicy, al Pastor sauce of guajillo peppers, achiote paste, vinegar, pineapple juice, and spices.

The pork is layered with onions and fresh pineapple slices and cooked until its edges are crispy.  All of the fat from the pork and the flavors of these ingredients meld together into something uniquely delicious.

What Does Tacos al Pastor Taste Like (and Why is the Meat Red?)

Let's break down the flavor of al Pastor sauce. The marinade for the al Pastor pork is nuanced and delicious. It consists of guajillo peppers (pronounced: gwa-HEE-oh), achiote paste (this is where al Pastor sauce gets its bright reddish-orange color), vinegar, pineapple juice, fresh garlic, Mexican oregano, cumin, black pepper, salt, and cloves.

I also added a hint of garlic powder and onion powder to the original recipe. The overall flavor has a sweet, sour, and just slightly spicy taste. 

Tacos al Pastor Ingredients 

This is one of our favorite taco recipes to make. With just a handful of pantry staples and spices, you can have a better-than-average taco night without the expense of take-out. Plus, this is a great MealPrep dish to make ahead and freeze (just the sauce, or the finished cooked meat).

And if you don't want to mess with a whole pork butt (shoulder), buy a couple of individual pork shoulder steaks and use those instead. We have slightly adapted Mely's recipe from over at Mexico In My Kitchen, and if you don't know her yet, go check out her blog (we're HUGE fans of her recipes and her authentic Mexican cooking♡).

Al Pastor Taco Ingredients

• corn tortillas
• boneless pork butt or shoulder
• onion
• fresh pineapple (sub 1 can of pineapple)
• fresh cilantro
• one recipe of al Pastor Sauce (below)

Al Pastor Sauce 

• dried guajillo peppers
• achiote paste
• canned or carton pasteurized pineapple juice
• white vinegar
• garlic cloves
• Mexican oregano (sub Italian if you don't have Mexican)
• ground cumin
• kosher salt
• ground black pepper
• 2 cloves
• garlic powder
• onion powder

How to Make Tacos al Pastor at Home

Authentic al pastor is traditionally cooked on a vertical spit called a trompo, but that's not realistic for home kitchens. The good news: a hot cast-iron skillet, a grill, a broiler, or a countertop rotisserie all produce excellent results. Here's how I do it.

Step 1: Reconstitute the Dried Peppers

Add the peppers to a saucepot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Strain and let them cool while you measure out the rest of the sauce ingredients.

Step 2: Make the Al Pastor Sauce

Add all the sauce ingredients and the cooled peppers to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, then pour through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl. This catches any pepper skins and gives you a silky sauce. Taste for salt and set aside.

Step 3: Marinate the Pork

Season the pork butt slices with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Add the slices directly to the al pastor sauce and turn each piece to coat well.

Marinate for at least 4 hours, or overnight for the deepest flavor.

Step 4: Cook the Pork

You've got four great options for home cooks. Pick the one that fits your kitchen.

Option 1: Cast-iron skillet, griddle (my go-to) or plancha

This is the easiest and most reliable method for most home kitchens.

• Slice the pork and pineapple thinly
• Wipe excess marinade off the pork so it sears instead of steams
• Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a heavy skillet or wok until just smoking
• Working in batches, add the pork along with a little onion and pineapple
• Let it sear undisturbed for about 4 minutes before tossing
• Cook 12 to 15 minutes total, until deeply golden and crisp at the edges
• Don't crowd the pan, this is the difference between crispy and soggy

Option 2: Grill

• Place the pork steaks, onions, and pineapple slices directly on a preheated grill
• Cook until the meat is crispy and sizzling and the onions and pineapple are caramelized
• Rest the meat 4 to 5 minutes, then slice into thin strips

Option 3: Broiler kebabs

• Cut the pork into kebab-sized pieces
• Alternate meat, pineapple, and onion on metal or soaked wooden skewers
• Place skewers on a foil-lined baking sheet

Tacos al Pastor step-by-step recipe photos

   

Why You Should NOT Cook The Meat On a Vertical "Spit" in Your Oven

You'll see photos of this method throughout the post because I tested it before deciding to share my honest take. Skip it. If you don't have a real trompo or a countertop rotisserie, one of the four home methods above will give you better results every single time.

Here's why the faux vertical spit fails at home:

• It tips over. Without the weight and engineering of a real trompo, the stack leans like the Tower of Pisa and often collapses partway through cooking.
• The meat doesn't cook evenly. The outside dries out before the interior reaches a safe temperature, which is both a food safety issue and a texture issue.
• The flavor payoff isn't there. A real trompo crisps the meat against an open flame as it rotates. A home oven can't replicate that, so you get steamed-then-baked pork instead of the caramelized edges that make al pastor what it is.

Here's the good news: as long as you get a hard sear on the outside of the marinated pork (in a cast-iron skillet, on a plancha, or under a screaming hot broiler) you'll have some of the best tacos you've ever made. The trompo isn't the magic. The marinade and the sear are.

What to Serve With Tacos al Pastor?

Pile these tacos onto a platter alongside a generous bowl of restaurant-style guacamole, freshly fried tortilla chips still warm from the oil, and plenty of lime wedges. A cold Mexican lager or a salt-rimmed margarita rounds it out.

 Let's get started!

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