This is a sweet and tangy pork recipe. It goes great in burritos and tacos, but it also tastes great by itself!
Okay, I am the guy who submitted this recipe, and it's a huge family favorite. To cut the calories (and the sweetness factor), I use only 1 cup brown sugar. (Two more notes: you may use diet cola and you do not need to puree the salsa.) Enjoy!
Read MoreI thought there needed to be a staple added in with the coke, like mushroom soup or something. The pork was good but tasted too sweet and soda-like.
Read MoreOkay, I am the guy who submitted this recipe, and it's a huge family favorite. To cut the calories (and the sweetness factor), I use only 1 cup brown sugar. (Two more notes: you may use diet cola and you do not need to puree the salsa.) Enjoy!
Delicious! We had this last night and it was a big hit. The only thing I changed is that I used the low setting on my crock pot. We've found a new family favorite.
It was a nice change from other pulled pork I've tried. The smell while it cooked was nice but the sweetness of it took a little to get used to.I think it's because I've never had anything cooked with cola and my tastebuds weren't used to it ,but in the end I must say it was very yummy.My husband loved it and my son ate it too so that tells me it's a keeper.
In 5 years using this site, this is my favorite recipe. So good; so versatile. Great in burritos, over rice, on top of salads, etc. So, so good. Helpful hints: - I use a 4lb pork shoulder (because this is so good you'll want leftovers for the week) - I initially cook the pork with the fat on (fat side up in the water), then remove the fat when I cut into quarters and add all the other stuff - Fire roasted salsa makes this great - 1 cup brown sugar is plenty - recommend 3 tbs fajita seasoning and 3 tbs taco seasoning (even a smidge more of both) - The "taco seasoning I" recipe on this site is awesome if you don't have any taco seasoning on hand. Makes the perfect amount for this recipe too. Enjoy. Leftovers heated up and served on top of a salad dressed with ranch = heavenly.
When my youngest daughter and her family lived in New Mexico, we would ALWAYS go to Costa La Vida Mexican Restaurant for the "Sweet Pork Tacos." I've been looking for an acceptable recipe ever since. And, this one is it!!!! I am so happy. It's easy, it's sweet, and I could take a bath in it. Makes the best Sweet Pork Tacos in the world. Thanks for posting this wonderful pork recipe.
Loved it! The only thing I did different was I only added 1 cup of brown sugar instead of 2 because it sounded way too sweet and I am glad I did because it was perfect, it would have been WAY too sweet if I added two. It's great to as a salad topper or a yummy sandwich.
Totally awesome recipe. I love Costa Vida sweet pork and this was as close as I have found. I only had diet soda on hand so as the recipe creator suggested I used that. I also reduced brown sugar to 1.5 cups to reduce the calories a bit. My husband said this was the best thing that has ever come out of the crock pot.
So delicious! I made five pounds of this, and my family ate it up! We put it in a taco shell with a little cheese, then cooked it like a quesadilla. It was very yummy!
I thought there needed to be a staple added in with the coke, like mushroom soup or something. The pork was good but tasted too sweet and soda-like.
Craving Cafe Rio or Costa Vida sweet pork? This is the recipe for you! Soooo Good!
My whole family loved this last night, which is quite a big deal around here! I followed the recipe (almost) to a tee. I kept the "high" setting even though so many said not to and it was super tender and lovely. The only change I made was cutting the brown sugar down to 1 cup instead of 2 - just seemed like way too much. I thought it was super sweet, and yummy with 1 cup - can't imagine it with 2. Loved the green chiles - I wouldn't skip those. I used Pace picante sauce, Lawry's fajita seasoning and Trader Joe's taco seasoning (which is super spicy). I loved the sweet/spicy combo. I made Spanish Rice to accompany this and ate it without a tortilla. My husband put it on a bun.
very good as is, I have to agree with everyone else, a bit too sweet. Next time I will cut the sugar & double the spices. Overal, a definite 5 as written, and will make this many times in future Thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
I was kind of leary of using 2 cups of brown sugar sounded like a lot but I made exactly as the recipie and it turned out fantastic. Thanks Dean
My family LOVES this recipe! It is so good on toated garlic buns and the leftover shredded pork is fantastic to use on natchos as well. I usually rub the pork roast with taco seasoning before I put it in the slow cooker the first time and I also add some garlic cloves to the half water/half beef broth that I cook it in. When I made it this last time I didn't have a can of chopped green chillies, so I put in half a cup of salsa verde instead and it possibly tasted even better than last time (not sure if that's because of the salsa verde or something else though). The other thing that I do a little differently is that I shred the pork right in the slow cooker pot and leave it in the salsa sauce and serve it just like that. I had another pulled pork recipe that I used to use which was a little more smokey-tasting than this one, but we like this one better. So good!
Made this per the recipe except used 1 cup brown sugar per follow-up review by the original recipe poster Dean and omitted the green chiles. We used diet soda in place of regular soda. It was amazing! So simple to pull together. Cooked the pork on low all day while at work, so there was no need to cut into four pieces. We then added the other ingredients and cooked on high for about 2 hours before serving. The pork was moist and tender and had such a great flavor. Not too sweet or too spicy, just perfect. The leftovers were even great the next day! Will definitely make this again.
This recipe was really good! I think I will use this not only with pork, but as a glaze for chicken breasts on the grill. We used it in burritos with rice and beans. I think some sort of green chili sauce on top would make it even better.
Yummy, we made burritos and quesadillas with this recipe and it is a family favorite.
I make this regularly, but I don't follow the recipe strictly. I use chicken instead of pork (because I don't eat pork, although I'm sure pork is terrific in this) and cook on low for 8-9 hours instead of 5 hours in the first step. I leave out the chilies (again, I'm sure they're good, but my husband doesn't like them) and usually reduce the seasonings. I usually serve this on toasted hoagies with nacho cheese topping. Any way I serve it, I like to include a more savory element (usually cheese) to counter the sweetness. This recipe is fantastic, though, and my husband requests it frequently.
Sweet this is, too sweet for this prediabetic. I did goof and did not read the directions and dumped all the ingredients together and cooked the pork in that. When I realized my goof I did take out the salsa and chili's and run through the food processor, then shredded the pork combined the two and added back to the liquid and left on warm until we were ready to eat. All 4 of my kids devoured this but they preferred it on a roll instead of a tortilla. It was a bit too sweet for me though.
I made this on a whim for a function at my office and I have to say it was DELICIOUS!!!!! Not to mention SUPER EASY!!! I read other reviews and cut down the brown sugar to 1c and it was still plenty sweet. I also used 1cup of mango salsa and 1 cup of mild regular salsa per another review and I thought it was great! I only pureed the regular salsa, but I agree you probably don't need to puree at all. GREAT RECIPE! I"m making it again today for to enjoy with football & friends!!!
My husband and I LOVE this recipe! It is super yummy and super easy. Throw everything in the crock pot in the morning and come home to yummy goodness. It works good with chicken too. It is sweet, though, so if you don't like sweet and spicy, you may want to decrease the brown sugar a little. Me, I love sweet, so I'm happy with it the way it is. I do make my own taco seating and fajita seasoning using recipes I found on Allrecipes. No MSG that way. I also don't puree the salsa. I just dump it in the crock pot as is.
I really enjoyed this... I cooked it longer. I put the pork in the slow cooker with the water on high for about 8 hours then I went to bed and put it on low. Got up in the morning and took about 2 cups of the water out and saved it. Took my pico de galio and everything else plus only one cup of sugar and added the extra 2 cups of water .... Let it stew for another 4 hours... Awesome
I gave this 5 stars because I know it's going to be good. It's cooking, but I made the following changes to mine for convenience and logic: Added everything into crockpot at once and am simmering on high for 6 hrs. Changes I made (for 1 1/2 lb. pork roast): 1 entire packet lawry's fajita seasoning (why: 1 package is for 1 lb. so I added the whole thing), 1/2 cup brown sugar (why: cut in half like everyone else), 3/4 can diet cola (why: I had made another pulled pork recipe that was exquisite that cooked in beer, so I knew I had to cook this in the coke to tenderize the meat). , 7 oz. can green chili's (I didn't half this because it was easier to dump it all in). In general, pork needs a lot of flavors. I omitted the salsa because I used the entire package of fajita seasoning instead (easier). I like flavorful pork! :) I will edit this later if I need to make changes.
Exactly what I have been looking for. I used this for a burrito bar I did for a football party and it was the first thing gone. Everyone loved it.
My husband thought it was great. Me? It tasted good, but like Sloppy Joes in a tortilla.
This was fantastic! I did reduce the sugar to 1 cup as indicated in a lot of the reviews and also keep the pork in the sauce to shred and serve. It was a big hit at our family gathering.
I made this tonight for the first time and it was terrific. I followed the recipe to the tee and just loved it. I couldn't keep my 11 year old out of the crock pot.
This was pretty good. Made as directed, except that I only added 1/2 C. soda and 1 C. brown sugar. I also skipped pureeing the salsa, ( I thought I read a review from the recipe creator, stating that this step wasn't necessary.) It shredded up nicely, but was still a little too sweet for a Mexican dish. Ate it on wheat buns and thought it made a nice alternative to the barbeque pulled pork sandwiches.
Fantastic! Used 1 cup of brown sugar and didn't bother to puree the salsa. Suspect diet soda would work fine. Ate on tortillas with chopped green onions and cilantro. Cooked on low over night and then a few more hours on low with the seasonings. Let it sit overnight in the fridge and then heated it up.
This was good and sweet. I cut back a cup on the brown sugar and used diet pepsi, it was the only cola I had on hand. It was too sweet, needs some savory added somewhere.
Excellent! My family & friends loved it just as it is written, except instead of canned chilies I diced up some roasted anaheims which I had on hand. Definitely a new regular dish in our house!
We loved this version of pulled pork. For some menus it may need a little less brown sugar, but for mine it was perfect. Just the right amount of sweet and spicy. Will definately be making this again since we just bought half a hog.
The tastiest pulled pork recipe I've made so far! Used Peach/Mango/Chipotle salsa- had a great little tang to it!
Just made this and it is fantastic!! I added a little bit of taco sauce to my burrito and the contrast between the sweetness of the pork and the little bit of heat from the sauce was awesome! Will use this from now on!!
I was skeptical about this recipe, but decided to give it a try. I admit since I don't care for really spicy stuff that I adjusted the recipe. I only added 1 cup salsa, 1 cup brown sugar, but other than that every thing else was the same amount, except that I actually cooked the pork in the sauce for about 6 hours and it turned out wonderful, just perfect for me. My daughter thought next time I might want to add 2 cups salsa, but I liked it the way it was.
i found a blog with a recipe similar to this so made a slight modification. Add half a can of traditional enchilada sauce. Perfect touch to this recipe!
Everyone loved this! that's 4 adults, 4 kids. And everyone agreed it was amazing. I had mine on a bun with coleslaw. The kids did theirs in tortillas with burrito fixings. I don't think you can go wrong with this recipe.
This was very good. Didn't have all the ingredients and we like things spicy so I made a few changes. We'll definately make this recipe again.
SUPER EASY RECIPE!!! I bought a slow cooker just so I could try this recipe! I work all day, so I had to change the timing a little (other than that, I made the recipe exactly as stated - I used regular Coke, and 1/2 mild salsa and 1/2 medium salsa because I didn't know how spicy it was supposed to be [we're wimps, we don't like super spicy foods, and we don't eat salsa], and I chopped up the green chili a little finer instead of just dumping it in straight from the can). I started this as soon as I got home from work on Friday. I cooked on High for the first 5 hours (like the recipe instructs), then added all the ingredients and cooked on Low overnight (for 8 hours). Since it was Saturday morning when it was done and I didn't have to work, we made burritos for breakfast! My teenagers and I thought this was really yummy! One boy thought it tasted a little too much like Coke, though, and wasn't as keen on it as the rest of us. Once he said that, I could taste the Coke flavor, but only slightly. Love, Love, LOVE this recipe! The boy who loves sweet pork from Costa Vida / Café Rio says this is the BEST! I'm definitely keeping this recipe - going to make it for the family party at SuperBowl! Thank you for sharing it, Dean!!!
I did a 4 lb pork shoulder, salted it. 1 cup brown sugar instead of 2. Can of green chiles, as suggested. A jar of TJ's Salsa Authentica and an entire packet of McCormick Taco Seasoning. No need to blend it, just mixed it in a bowl and poured it over the top of the salted roast. Cooked in the slow cooker on low 6 hours and it was perfect. Next time I will add sriracha. It was the best sweet pork I've made yet. Thank you!
This was really good and easy. I did a few things different but mostly out of laziness or neccesity. I didn't blend the salsa. I used Coke Zero because that is what I had. I ran out of Taco Seasoning but I did have the Fajita seasoning. Overall - it was really tasty and would be great over rice. When I make it again, I will used 1/2 the sugar because it was a bit too sweet for me and my husband is a diabetic. I wonder - was the cola for taste or tenderizing?
This is absolutely fantastic... I made it the first time as directed, WONDERFUL!!! Second time I mixed it all together in the crock pot added some diced jalapenos and a full pack of fajita seasoning and used Rotel tomatoes with green chilies....let it cook for 8hours on low.... We had burritos and then we also used it on quesadillas with some pepper-jack cheese....EVERYONE loved this.....
I've tried a few different recipes for sweet pork and I have not been happy but this one was delicious!!! It met my expectations perfectly! I highly recommend it.
I cut the brown sugar in half and sometimes I use a mango salsa. This is the only meal my husband requests.
We loved this recipe so much, my kids and husband alike!!!!! I did reduce the sugar a bit because of sugar concerns with my husband but we ate it for dinner then used it for filling in quesadillas the next day too. Awesome!!!!!!!
I finally got around to making this and it was delicious! Very sweet (like the name says) and tender. It's not a very authentic-tasting burrito, but you should have known that when you saw cola and brown sugar in the recipe. I only used one cup of brown sugar and it turned out fine. We retained some of the juice from the crockpot to use as a sauce. We ate these with and without colby cheese and it was good both ways.
Did this with Elk, came out FABULOUS !!!! Only used 1 1/4 of sugar, and cooked meat for about an hour less. BEST enchiladas EVER !!!
This is by far my favorite recipe for "taco" night. I have tried it with pork, chicken and even beef. It works best with pork but the other two are nice alternatives too just to switch it up. I tend to add a can of rotel instead of the salsa and I have used diet colas and even dr. pepper. All taste good.
Second time making this great recipe. Husband recently got a new electric smoker. For this recipe, we smoked the meat first then pulled it apart, put it in the crock pot, pretty much following the recipe. Amazing stuff.
SOO good!! Like many others I only used 1 cup of brown sugar and was glad I did, it was still very sweet but balanced nicely with the taco/fajita seasoning! We didn't have any salsa on hand so i used a can of "chili ready" tomatos instead and it was DELICIOUS! Definitely a new staple in our house! My husband wants to try it as pulled pork sandwiches next time w/sweet BBQ sauce on it! YUMM!
OMG! Best pork I ever had! Best burrito I ever had! My son and I LOVE it! Thank you so much!
Sweet heavens this was excellent. Like others I used a bit less Coca-Cola and sugar and I made my own seasoning mixes from allrecipe.com recipes. Took all day to make but everyone loved it.
This is delicious and very popular! The only change I made was to use only 1 c of the brown sugar. It still had the sweet pork flavor without being too sweet.
Best pulled pork recipe ever. I cut down on the brown sugar only putting 3/4 C. My husband loved it. This is a new favorite. Thanks for sharing it.
I cut the sugar down to 1 cup. It's not exactly like Costa Vida but close enough! Loved it! After cooking, I put it in my Kitchen aid to shred it. Worked great!
LOved it next time will use less sugar but was so good lil spice was great. My family loves to fry soft shells to a crispy gordita type shell and it made it even better. pretty much just a pan cover bottom in oil heat and lay shell in couple seconds then flip and removed and fold over a rolling pin to get taco shape. YUMMY!!!!! also just put cabbage on top
Tried this for the first time last week. My husband and I loved it. It was a bit much on the sweetness so next time I'll back off on the brown sugar. I chose to make the salsa separate to add on top of the meat when serving. Great recipe.
We made this for dinner, and loved it. This is a great easy recipe. Everyone loved it including my kids
Excellent! My husband and I both loved this. Used only 1 cup of brown sugar per suggestions from the reviews when I made it for the 2nd time and it was still sweet and delicious.
Made this without the brown sugar, also put it all into the crockpot right away and did 16hrs on low. Turned out so perfectly flavored!
Really good. Used chipotle taco mix and my homemade salsa. I really like this, but its super rich and sweet. Even if you drain it, the pork stays soaked in its own fat and the coke and brown sugar makes it almost too rich. Just reduce as you think you need
Like many others the only change I made was to reduce the brown sugar by 1 cup. We made soft taco's, adding colby-jack and diced tomatoes. My kids absolutely LOVE this dish and I love that it is a simple alternative to pack into a lunch box for my sandwich adverse daughter. Thank you Dean, my kids now love "Mom's Tacos" better than Dad's .
This pork kicks butt! I use a habanero salsa and the sweet hot flavor is incredible, much better than cafe rio sweet pork.
OK, so can I say, best recipe I have found here for years! I did cut back the brown sugar (but just because I didn't have enough) and I did not have a taco seasoning so I just used pepper, chili powder and cumin. I didn't have a roast so I used pork chops and less time in the crock pot. I fed it to my picky husband and son the first day on flour tortillas with cheese and they LOVED it! Next day I took it to work and had it as a salad with lettuce, rice, tomato, onion, cilantro, avocado, cheddar cheese and a dressing and fresh lime juice. The comments from them were, "Better than Café Rio", "Best lunch ever", and "can I have more?". Thanks for the Recipe, I will be making this often! Next I will try it on a bun!!
This turned out to be just the right flavoring for taco night at my house. We paired with a sweet and spicy cabbage and jalepeno pepper relish.
I thought this recipe was wonderful! I went by the recipe except I used pork tenderloin because that is what I had on hand - but I think just about any pork would work. I will definately keep this one on hand. Thanks Dean for fabulous recipe!!
I cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup and this is still plenty sweet. Pretty tasty but I'm glad I didn't add 2 cups. (Of course, it IS called "sweet pork") I made burritos tonight and am freezing the left overs for something else on some other day. I used some of the leftovers last night. I topped tater tots with this pork, some pepper jack cheese, bell peppers and onions. It worked pretty well.
AMAZING. Always gets rave reviews... very easy and tasty. even my toddler loved it.
Fantastic! Made it with the 1 cup sugar and it was perfect! Great for those of us far away from Cafe Rio and Costa Vida and their fabulous sweet pork burritos.
Good flavor but not great prep directions. I tried this the way the directions said and just ended up with a tough pork roast that was bland. The second time I did this I first seared the roast (like I normally do) and added all the ingredients right away plus I used the LOW setting on my slow cooker for 8 hours. Much better results.
Definitely will make again and I cheated on the salsa and green peppers I used crushed chili peppers and used poco picante salsa mix However it turned out awesome
This recipe is just like Costa Vida's sweet pork! The only change I made was no water. Throw all ingredients minus the water in at the beginning on higher for 5-6 hours! Shred and enjoy! I never have green chili so never add it. But the salsa makes up for it fine! ??
I have made this recipe a few times over the years and my family loves it. It’s such a nice change up to throw into the dinner rotation when I get bored. Only change I make is I reduce the brown sugar to one cup and omit the green chiles as we don’t care for them. I serve this on warm flour tortillas with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream with yellow saffron rice on the side. I have also topped with sweet pickled marinated vegetables to give it some texture and crunch and I like that.
I made this yesterday. Wound up substituting Dr. Pepper for the cola - it was still wonderful. Our son was the first to sample it and he said "nom nom nom nom..." Which is teenage boy speak for this is WONDERFUL!
Fantastic! Made it with the 1 cup sugar and it was perfect! Great for those of us far away from Cafe Rio and Costa Vida and their fabulous sweet pork burritos.
This was amazing! I did use half the sugar and skipped the chilies as it had enough spice for us already. I always puree salsa in recipes like this (personal preference) and that helped blend everything together. I blended some of the juices from the meat into re-fried beans which also went into the burritos, that I then froze and have been enjoying ever since.
Loved this!!! So easy! Put cilantro, bell peppers, onions and sour cream in my tortilla and thought it taste AWESOME!!!
I made this for a huge family get together full of very diverse palettes. It was a success among even some of the more picky eaters! That’s really saying saying something with how picky some of these people are. I actually use my instability for this recipe doing the first step on the slow cooker setting. After draining and adding the other ingredients I put in on the pressure or meat cooking setting on high for about 45 minutes. It really cuts down on the time when I have a limited time frame. The texture is still fantastic and shreds very beautifully. I have also decreased or omitted the green peppers occasionally for family members that can’t take spicy and that that seems to help. I personally like it with no changes because it really is a great recipe.
I cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup and this is still plenty sweet. Pretty tasty but I'm glad I didn't add 2 cups. (Of course, it IS called "sweet pork") I made burritos tonight and am freezing the left overs for something else on some other day. I used some of the leftovers last night. I topped tater tots with this pork, some pepper jack cheese, bell peppers and onions. It worked pretty well.
This was amazing... the words that first describe this dish are, as per my favorite celeb chef: "out of bounds", "off the hook", "look at that!" It was that good from the first smell and taste. I used Arizona Cherry Lime for the cola and cut brown sugar to 1-1/3 Cup. I think i'll be stocking up on the Arizona drink to make this! Also, thinking to only use 1 C sugar. I used a restaurant style salsa, which helped skip the blender part. I plan to look at other sodas to use , and to try this for shredded chicken! Can't Wait!!!
Absolutely delicious! My entire family loved it, including my picky three year old! We had sandwiches, sliders, and salads with it.
Thank you Dean for this amazing recipe. The only changes I made were to use 1 cup of brown sugar like other reviewers suggested, I didn't purée the salsa, and I used cherry coke. I served with Mexican rice, corn, tomato, cheese and sour cream.
This was amazing!!! I'm addicted to Cafe Rio's Barbocoa and this tastes exactly like it! The only change I made was to reduce the sugar to 1 1/2 cups and cook it on low instead of high the last 3 hours. Thanks so much for the recipe!
This is one of the best recipes I've ever tried. I've gotten great compliments on it. I did not think it was too sweet. The only thing I have sometimes done differently is cook the pork in cola from the beginning. Either way, it's delicious!
OMGeeee We just made this today and it is AMAZING!!! A great busy day meal that doesn’t require a lot of prep. Everybody in my family ate it differently, my husband made burritos, momma made sandwiches and my daughter and I ate it straight out of a bowl. Very versatile. It was sweet to me, but I’m not a fan of sweets. This is definitely going to be one of our go to meals.
