Description
Make authentic tacos al pastor at home with juicy marinated beef, pineapple, and three easy cooking methods: grill, oven, or slow cooker.
Ingredients
Scale
- 5 lbs beef shoulder (boneless)
- 1 large pineapple
- 1/3 cup chili powder
- 3.5 oz achiote paste (use half)
- 1 white onion (peeled and halved)
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground clove
- 2 tsp epazote (optional)
- flour or corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple (diced)
- 1 white onion (sliced or diced)
- 1 bunch cilantro (chopped)
- limes (quartered)
- Salsa Verde
- Roasted Tomato Salsa
- Pico de Gallo
- 3 pasilla (negro) dried chiles
- 3 dried Guajillo chiles
- 2 dried chiles de arbol
Instructions
- Chile powder: Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles, toast in a dry skillet, and grind to a powder.
- Marinade: Blend chili powder, achiote paste, onion, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, Mexican oregano, cinnamon, clove, and epazote; reserve 1/2 cup for basting.
- Prep Meat: Slice beef shoulder into 1/4 inch slices for grilling or oven, or cut into 3 to 4 inch chunks for other methods.
- Marinate: Toss beef with marinade and refrigerate for 4 to 10 hours.
- Grill/Smoker: Stack slices on skewers with pineapple bases and tops; grill at 250°F for 3 1/2 hours, basting in the last hour, then shave meat downward.
- Oven (Slices): Stack slices on skewers with pineapple bases and tops; bake at 250°F for 3 1/2 hours, basting in the last hour, then shave meat downward.
- Oven (Chunks): Roast chunks in a roasting pan covered with foil at 250°F for 5 hours, then remove foil and roast for 1 more hour.
- Instant Pot: Cook chunks and marinade on High Pressure for 25 minutes with a 15-minute natural release, then broil for 10 minutes.
- Slow Cooker: Cook chunks and marinade on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours, then broil for 10 minutes.
- Assemble: Pile beef into tortillas and top with onion, cilantro, pineapple, lime, and salsa.
Notes
Use the pineapple top and bottom as bases for skewers. Achiote paste provides the authentic deep red color. Mexican oregano offers a citrusy note compared to Mediterranean oregano.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Category: Dinners
- Method: Grilling, Roasting, Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 taco
- Calories: 196 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 478 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 23 g
- Cholesterol: 77 mg
Keywords: tacos al pastor, beef tacos, Mexican cuisine, slow cooker beef, authentic tacos