Achiote Shredded Pork Tacos is a beautifully savory dish where a pork shoulder is flavored with achiote paste and lime juice and slow cooked. Achiote turns this everyday pork roast into a fiesta.
And if you love Southwestern braised pork recipes, you won’t want to miss this one for New Mexico’s most celebrated dish of Carne Adovada. Tender pork roast cooked in a luscious red chile sauce.
I’m a huge Rick Bayless fan and a big fan of real Mexican Food. By real Mexican food I mean authentic dishes from south of the border as opposed to our Americanized versions of dishes we call “Mexican Food” or Tex Mex.
I was browsing through his cookbooks last Saturday and this shredded pork tacos recipe jumped right off the page and right onto my dinner table. And I’m here to day, this pork is simply delicious.
It’s a Yucatan pork taco recipe with bright and sultry flavor.
Rick tells us in the introduction to this recipe that this type pork recipe would normally be served at a large celebration using a slow pit roasted whole pig.
Since most of us don’t have pits in our back yards, Rick assures us a slow cooker or dutch oven and a bone-in pork roast will deliver much of the same flavors.
It’s just up to us to provide the celebration.
What is Achiote Paste?
The major flavor to this dish is Achiote. Achiote paste is a spice used in cuisine in Mexico and South America. The paste is clay red in color and clay-like in texture. It does turn your fingers red when you crumble the paste.
It’s made of crushed achiote seed, vinegar, salt, garlic and spices and is typically formed into a small block. The achiote paste is then diluted and added to stews or used as a rub for meats. It adds a salty and bittersweet tangy flavor. It is a traditional ingredient used to make Ricado, a rub for suckling pig and other meats.
You can also purchase Achiote Powder, which is a pure dry powder product, without the added ingredients. It’s commonly used for rubs.
Step by Step Instructions
- Step 1: Dilute the achiote by smashing it with a fork with fresh lime juice.
- Step 2: If you can find them, line a Dutch oven with banana leaves. Make sure you place the banana leaves so that you can fold them over to surround your pork roast. No banana leaves? Just place the pork roast in a Dutch oven.
- Step 3: Pour the diluted achiote paste over the roast, top with rings of sliced onions and pour a little bit of water on the sides of the roast. Fold the banana leaves over to surround the meat and onions.
- Step 4: Put the lid on and slow roast the pork for 3 hours, in the oven at 300 degrees. Cook longer if needed for the meat to be fall apart tender.
- Step 5: Once the meat is cool enough to handle, place it on a large sheet pan and use two forks to shred.
How To Serve Achiote Shredded Pork Tacos
Serve these pork tacos on soft white corn tortillas. Warm the tortillas, lay some of the tender pork on top. If you’d like to drizzle with salsa, This Homemade Roasted Tomatillo Salsa is a great choice. A wedge of avocado is always nice.
You can also use white flour tortillas, either street taco size or regular small burrito size works well here.
A simple dollop of Mexican Crema is delicious. Make these shredded pork tacos your own, roll them up and enjoy.
Serve these shredded pork tacos with Roasted Fresh Chili Salsa, some good quality warm corn tortillas and a fresh green salad and you’ve got a beautiful and delicious meal.
Recipe for Achiote Pork Tacos
I hope you give this recipe for Shredded Pork Tacos a try. A Mexican version of BBQ shredded pork tacos, you’ll want to serve this over and over. The flavor and the ease is very enticing.
I don’t always have banana leaves on hand for this recipe and have made it many times with out using them to wrap.
Related Recipes
And more pork taco recipes? Take a look at this one for Tacos al Pastor. And don’t forget to browse my Mexican Food Recipes category. You’ll find lots of fun recipes to spice up those meal plans.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
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Achiote Shredded Pork Tacos
Ingredients
- 2 ounces achiote paste
- 1 teaspoon New Mexico Chimayo Chile Powder or ancho chile powder
- ¾ Cup lime juice
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
- Banana leaves
- 3 pound bone-in pork shoulder roast
- 1 large onion white or yellow, sliced about ¼ inch thick
- 1 large red onion thinly sliced
- ½ Cup roasted fresh chile salsa
Instructions
- Place the achiote seasoning in a small bowl. Pour in ½ C. of the lime juice and 2 teaspoons salt. Add the Chimayo or Ancho Chile powder. Use a fork to work the mixture into a smooth thickish marinade.
- Line your slow cooker with banana leaves. Lay in the pork and pour the marinade over and around the meat.
- Scatter the white onion over the meat.
- Pour ½ C. water around the meat and sprinkle the top of the meat with the remaining salt.
- Fold banana leaves to roughly cover everything.
- Cover and slow-cook on high for 6 hours, until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. If you roast this in the oven, 300 degrees for 3 hours.
- While the meat is cooking, combine the red onion with remaining ¼ cup lime juice in a small bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set aside to marinate, stirring from time to time..
- Use tongs to transfer the meat and onions to a cutting board. With forks, shred pork. Spoon off any rendered fat that's floating in the juices.
- Ladle the brothy sauce into a large saucepan or fry pan and boil it down to about half. Add the shredded meat to the sauce and toss well. Top with the lime-marinated red onions and serve with the salsa and warm corn tortillas.
Notes
Nutrition
Rick Bayless Achiote Pork Tacos …It’s What’s For Dinner
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
If there’s ever a perfect marriage it’s got to be “slow roasting” and “pork”> The use of banana leaves reminds me of “bush” cooking in the Caribbean.
happy cooking
chris…
Awesome job! Great looking roast and I like the info about the paste. I need to look for that in the ethnic market nearby.
Thanks Chris, and as always, thanks for stopping by
ooh the pork looks so tender! I’ve never cooked w/banana leaves before.
Anything Rick Bayless does is perfection. And this is simpler than most of his recipes. Sound delicious, Lea Ann.
This is much simpler than most of his recipes. I usually reserve getting out his cookbooks for weekends only. Thanks for stopping by Barbara.
Looks great!! I’ve never used achiote paste. I’ll have to look for it.
It’s an interesting flavor to play with. Very interesting.
This looks terrific! I have a bit of achiote paste that I purchased a while back but haven’t used yet. Now to find banana leaves…
Well good luck! Even in Denver it was a challenge. I suppose you could order some from somewhere. Thanks for stopping by!
Rick Bayless never disappoints!
I agree and thanks for stopping by Pam
Wonderful! I would love to learn about Mexican cooking. We don’t see much of it here in suburban Canada.
Rick Bayless is your man!
Thanks for stopping by Natashya
I bet the flavor is quite amazing in this dish, wow, it’s just a good layering of stuff ging on.
Thanks Cathy, you’ve got that right.
pork and banana leaves are a match made in culinary heaven – this sounds so good!
I’m loving these banana leaves. I think my next adventure will be with fish. Thanks for stopping by doggyB
Beautiful and looks delicious! I’m excited to taste achiote paste and look for good tortillas in California next week. Such great photos – made my mouth water!
I wouldn’t know how to cook with it if I didn’t have a recipe. I’m just learning about it too. If you find those thin flaky good tortillas, but a few packages, as they freeze well.
Remindful of a Cuban roast pork I’ve done… looked great!
Did you use Achiote? Cuban Pork Roast sounds right up my alley. I’ll have to google it.
I love Rick Bayless too…not only for his authentic recipes but because he seems like such a nice unassuming guy!
You and I are quite obviously both big fans of Savory Spice Shop; it’s an experience that’s addictive. My cooking has improved as a result too so have to mention to your fans that aren’t local to Denver, they have an online shop at http://www.savoryspiceshop.com. Shouldn’t we be considered sales reps by now?
You know I’m a Twitterholic…I’m gonna tweet this recipe to Rick and my tweeps…beautiful!
You really went all out on this beautiful and very authentic dish! I haven’t heard of achiote paste before and am going to look for it. This sounds like a dish my family would really enjoy!
It’s pretty darn easy too! Thanks Katherine
Wow, that looks really yummy! I might have to get over to Savory and pick me up some of that achiote paste. Where did you get the banana leaves this time?
I bought them frozen at H-Mart. I still have quite a few left in the freezer. Thanks Leah
This looks wonderful! I’ve been hankering for Mexican food lately, and can’t seem to get enough. This recipe is next on my list!
It’s really easy too. Thanks for stopping by Liz
Rick Bayless is the man. The pork looks wicked good, slow roasted pork rules.
Rick Bayless IS the man, I agree. Slow roasted pork is so sinfully good. Thanks for stopping by Bob.
I love being able to throw things into a slow cooker! I’m excited about the achiote paste, which I haven’t actually used before. I might also suggest adding some roasted tomatillos or poblano or ancho chiles to the salsa.
This sounds absolutely incredible and quite simple, as well. Thanks for giving me an idea for my next “pot party”. It might not be what most would think. Pot parties are dinners where my guest serves themselves from the pots the dinner is cooked in. And I think they will be quite surprised when then lift the top off the Crockpot Pork Achiote and find banana leaves. I’ll let you know how it goes…
It is very easy! Which is quite different for Rick Bayless recipes. They are usually an extravaganza and only weekend fixes. I hope you have a source for good tortillas. If not, the supermarket ones will be fine. A pot party sounds like a lot of fun! What a great idea. The title would most certainly get everyone’s attention. 🙂 As always thanks for stopping by George.
Looks like fun.
Thanks for stopping by LeAnn