Dinner · 40 min · mexican

Tacos al Pastor

Mexican flavors, weeknight effort. Pork shoulder meets achiote paste in a 40-minute dinner worth keeping in rotation.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Pork shoulder
• 3 tbsp Achiote paste
• 1/2 cup Pineapple juice
• 1 White onion
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 cup Fresh pineapple
• 12 Corn tortillas
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 Lime
• 1/3 cup Cilantro

Steps

1. Slice the pork shoulder into thin steaks, about 1/4 inch thick. Thin slices are the whole trick — they drink in the marinade faster and sear instead of steam.
2. Mash the achiote paste with the pineapple juice, olive oil, minced garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt, and a good grind of black pepper into a smooth brick-red marinade. Taste it: it should be earthy, sweet, and a little sharp.
3. Coat every slice of pork, stack the slices in a bowl, and rest them in the fridge at least 2 hours, or overnight if you can. The color should stain deep into the meat.
4. When you are ready to cook, lay a cast-iron skillet over the highest heat your stove gives and let it get genuinely smoky-hot. Sear the pork in batches, about 2 minutes per side, until the edges char and crisp. Work in batches — crowding drops the temperature and you lose the char.
5. While the pan is still hot, toss in the pineapple chunks and sear 1 minute, just until the edges caramelize.
6. Warm the tortillas directly over a gas flame or in a dry skillet, 30 seconds a side, until they puff and pick up spots. Stack them in a towel as you go so they stay supple.
7. Chop the pork into small bite-size pieces. Build each taco with a spoonful of pork, caramelized pineapple, diced onion, and cilantro.
8. Serve with lime wedges. A hard squeeze of lime over the char is not garnish — it is the dish waking up.

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