This easy Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Tostada recipe is a keeper. A copy cat recipe from Cafe Rio is great for tacos, burritos and even a salad. Made with Coke.
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Barbacoa
Cafe Rio opened up in the Streets at Southglenn last year and we’ve yet to pay them a visit. I don’t know much about this Mexican fast food chain, but I do know about their sweet pork barbacoa because everyone makes such a fuss over it. Cafe Rio serves it in and on burritos, enchiladas, tacos, tostadas and salads and we really must stop in to give it a try.
When I found this copy cat recipe for Cafe Rio Sweet Pork I knew it would on our table pronto. Even though I’ve never paid Cafe Rio a visit, I do know that I adore the Costa Vida Sweet Pork recipe, which from what I understand is made with Dr. Pepper instead of Coke.
I went into this recipe strictly for the sweet pork experience. Much to my surprise I ended up finding a wonderful salad dressing, Heather’s Creamy Tomatilla Dressing. It’s really incredible with flavor and a keeper for other Mexican themed salads.
For Heather’s post, she had just received a mold to make corn tortillas salad bowl molds. She made a Mexican salad by placing a layer of refried beans, a healthy portion of the sweet pork, lettuce greens and then drizzled the whole thing with this tasty dressing.
I didn’t have taco shell molds, so I made tostadas.
So I made my own homemade tostada shells. So easy, and baked not fried, so that means healthier.
But don’t just sit there and look at it, bite into it quickly before all of those wonderful juices from the pork and the dressing break down that shell and it falls apart in your hand.
There was plenty of liquid from the braised meat, so I used it to dip soft corn tortillas, rolled them up with some of the sweet shredded pork, added lots of shredded cheese and baked them into Sweet Pork Enchilada heaven. Don’t forget a drizzle of that creamy Tomatilla Dressing for a great Mexican Dish.
This easy cafe rio sweet pork recipe is a keeper.
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipe
I hope you give this copycat Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a pork roast recipe using Coke, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Mexican Pork Recipes
- Beer Braised Pulled Pork Enchiladas A single bottle of beer turns these Beer Braised Pulled Pork Enchiladas Verde into a magical Mexican meal. The slow cooker insures a steamy blend of flavors.
- Tomato Citrus Spiced Pulled Pork Tacos, Pork roast is slow roasted, shredded and then tossed in a flavorful the citrus spiked sauce. So good, all you need is a dollop of sour cream and a slice of avocado to make a great taco.Â
- Achiote Shredded Pork Tacos, Achiote turns this everyday pork roast into a fiesta. Try this Rick Bayless Slow Roasted Pulled Pork Tacos Recipe, it’s feeds a crowd, so great for your next party.
And if you’re looking for more Mexican food recipes, don’t miss my Mexican Food Category, you’ll find tons of great ideas. Including the most popular on my site for Hatch Green Chili, Colorado Style.
Sweet Pork Tostada
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork roast
- 1 can cola NOT diet
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup diced roasted and peeled Hatch Green Chile
- 1 10 ounce can enchilada sauce
- 1 15 1/2 ounce can refried beans heated
- 1 head romaine lettuce chopped
- Tomatoes fresh and chopped
- 1 avocado sliced or diced
Instructions
- Put the pork in a reclosable bag to marinate, pour in half of the can of cola and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Marinate for 2 hours.
- Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of cola, water, Hatch chile, enchilada sauce and garlic salt in crock pot on low for about 7-8 hours.
- Remove pork from crockpot and let cool until you can shred the meat.
- To build your tostadas, smear the refried beans onto tostada shells. Top with a generous portion of the shredded sweet pork, add lettuce, tomatoes and avocado. Drizzle with Tomatillo dressing.
Nutrition
For the dressing:
Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 packet of ranch dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3 tomatillos husked and diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- juice from 1 lime
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended.
Nutrition
Rio Cafe Sweet Pork Tostada with Creamy Tomatillo Dressing…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.
Love this! What a beautiful dish and great pics!
Thanks Vickie.
I love any kind of Mexican food, and tostadas are particularly fun. I love how easy this pork and dressing are! Gorgeous photos too. I love that you got two dishes out of your tasty pork!
That was a big recipe and with the two of us, there was plenty of leftovers for trying new things. Thanks for stopping by Andi
Lea Ann, your photos have me drooling! This meal sounds amazing! I am pinning this one. Thanks for sharing and choosing this exact recipe! I love your adaptations. 🙂
Thanks Saundra. And for stopping by and the comment. Heading over to your place now.
I love their sweet pork. This one is going in the to try folder…
I need to get over and give it a try.
I really like that tomatillo dressing idea, I do one with ranch like that. In a pinch I think I could also use jarred salsa verde in the ranch, don’t you think?
Love these options you gave. It reminds me of a food truck menu item, that rocks.
You certainly did that recipe proud. It looks superb and I’d stand outside in the cold for a plate like that.
…or I could make it myself. I will!
I think pork is my favorite meat. I really don’t eat it that often. So when I see pictures like this with such a wonderful recipe, I am hooked. I have to agree with the comment in the main post, the dressing looks outstanding. Homemade dressing is so hands down better anyway. I would love tasting that dressing juxtaposition with the pork. Interesting combo.
What a great looking dish! I love anything Mexican, and this looks like a winner. So easy to make, too. Good stuff — thanks.
Thanks John.
I don’t eat pork but these look awesome regardless! I can always sub chicken. Southglenn has had such an upgrade. I remember when I lived here in the 90’s it was a sorry looking area with that dreary mall. We don’t get there very often but happened to be in that area last week. There is great shawarma place called Shawarma Grill owned by a Lebanese family. The shawarmas are pretty dang good and the brothers are wonderful. We like to stop by when we’re in the area.
Yes, chicken would work great in this. And I too remember those run down days of Southglenn. I love the mall now. I’ve seen Shawarma Grill and wondered about it. We’ll pay it a visit soon. Thanks for the recommendation.
This looks delicious! After I copy the recipes I’m heading over to Heather’s site to have a look around.
Thanks Susan.
It looks really tasty. I love doing pork in the slow cooker and using cola is one of the things on my to-do list.
Ummm… yeah. I’m almost drooling here. Those look and sound absolutely freakin’ amazing. GREAT choice.
This reminds me I should cook more with pork. The dish looks so comforting and goos!