Tacos Al Pastor

4.13 from 8 votes

This Mexican taco recipe is marinated overnight, slow smoked for 3 hours on a homemade spit and then fire-roasted with a flame thrower to make this delicious Tacos Al Pastor recipe right at home in your backyard kitchen.

Prep Time30

Cook Time3

Marinating Time12

Total Time15 30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: tacos

Servings:

Calories: 239kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

5 lb Boneless Pork Butt
¼ c Achiote paste
½ white onion chopped
½ white vinegar
¾ orange juice
4 garlic cloves minced
2 Tb chili powder
1 Tb cumin
1½ tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 Tb paprika
1 Tb salt
1 Tb pepper
1 fresh pineapple

Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients (except the pork) in a blender and blend until smooth.
Slice the pork butt into ¼-½ inch thin steaks.
Layer the pork slices and marinade in a zip-top bag. Seal carefully and massage to work the marinade between all the layers of pork. Place in the refrigerator to marinade overnight.
The next day, prepare a spit by stabbing a metal kabob skewer through the lower ⅓ of a trimmed pineapple. Stand it up in a cast iron pan.
Thread each slice of marinated pork onto the spit, trimming excess pork off the edges and transferring the scraps back onto the stack.
Once the stack is complete, finish it off with the top ⅓ of the trimmed pineapple to secure everything in place.
Place the cast-iron with pineapple/pork spit standing up in your smoker for 3 hours at about 275-300°.
Use a grill gun (or similar alternative) to add fire to the outside of the meat and create crispy edges. (If necessary, transfer the smoked pork tower to a safe location for the flame-throwing.)
Slice off the outer edges of the pork and prepare your tacos. The spit can be returned to your grill for more flame throwing as many times as necessary as you slice off the meat.

Video

Notes

We served our tacos al pastor on lightly toasted flour tortillas, with grilled pineapple salsa, fresh slices of avocado, queso fresca, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Nutrition