Made it for for 12, it was delish! Homemade guacamole and homemade pick de Gallo, used corn tortillas for more flavor. I would use crushed pineapple next time.
Perfect recipe for the home cook to make al pastor! The flavor profile was spot on to us and took us back to Mexico, where our obsession with al pastor began. I made the recipe as written with minor substitutes and cook time adjustment due to the amount of meat I had. The only substitutes I made were using canned Chipotle sauce as the Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce were out of stock (used 3 tbsp sauce and probably should have added another 1-2 tbsp), and corn tortillas as that's our preference. I had about 4.5lb pork butt and cooked for 45 min with 15-20 min natural pressure release. Since I made this the night before, I saved the juices in the pot in another container to reheat the meat in the oven so it wouldn't dry out. This recipe is the only one I will make going forward for al pastor. Thank you for the recipe!
I am a big big fan of the Al Pastor at my local Mexican restaurant. Have been a little intimidated by the traditional spit roasting, so looked up a recipe that was a little more accessible.
This is so so good. Does not taste like what my restaurant serves, but I will definitely make it again.
I forgot fresh garlic and didn’t have minced, so I used a liberal tablespoon. Also was liberal with the cumin.
I used two pounds of meat and cut into smaller chunks, so I only pressure cooked for 30 minutes. I used fresh pineapple, and after shredding meat and adding pineapple, I sprayed with cooking oil to help with browning under the broiler. I definitely went more than 5 minutes, but I stirred it a few times. My favorite parts of the meat are always the super crispy parts.
Downfall: just a smidge too spicy. My kids will not eat it. Next time I will only add one chipotle. I served it with caramelized onions, fresh cilantro, Monterrey Jack cheese, and lime wedges.
Also: So as to not waste the extra pineapple juice and chipotle peppers leftover, I made a second batch of marinade and froze it. I actually added a bit more chipotle peppers to that batch.... so most definitely will either use more meat or plan on feeding the kids something else.
Complicated but well worth the effort! al Pastor tastes amazing!
My husband declared this better than our favorite Mexican restaurants version. This will definitely be a keeper.
I don't recommend trying this with any other cut of pork besides what is listed. I tried it with pork loin because my grocery store only sold pork butt in huge quantities, and I wanted something a bit less fatty. I figured it wouldn't change much -- I was wrong. I followed the instructions exactly and didn't adjust the cooking time. The pork was cooked fine but the sauce turned out very weird and separated, so I didn't want to pour it over the meat. As a result the pork was quite dry. I know this is my fault for not following the recipe, but I'm still giving it 3 stars because the flavor simply is not like true tacos as pastor. It's far too sweet.
This recipe, which I followed exactly, made a fine and tasty meal, but I have to say it tasted nothing like authentic Mexican pastor meat. I had high hopes given some ingredients I had never used before (sazon and chipotle peppers in adobo) but sadly, that elusive pastor flavor just wasn't there. Plus, it was a heckuva lot of work! To me it was much closer to a pulled pork sandwich in flavor than a Mexican pastor taco. Kudos, however, for the high pressure method which did indeed create perfectly fall apart meat. Note: I marinated for about 9 hours -- no doubt it might have been better to marinate even longer but I still don't think the flavor would be there. Search continues for at-home pastor...
