Adobada Tacos Recipe: How to Make Pork Tacos
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Dec 21, 2024 • 2 min read
Adobada is a popular Mexican dish featuring pork marinated in adobo sauce. Tacos de adobada are simple to make at home on the stovetop.
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What Are Adobada Tacos?
Adobada tacos are pan-cooked tacos featuring marinated pork. “Adobada” or “adovada” translates to “marinated” in Spanish. Adobada tacos typically feature pork loin, pork shoulder, or pork butt. The meat is marinated in an adobo sauce featuring chiles, orange juice, coriander seeds, oregano, cumin, garlic, and other spices. Adobada tacos taste smoky, aromatic, and a little sweet due to the orange juice. The type and amount of chiles in the sauce marinade affect the heat level of the tacos.
Adobada Tacos vs. Tacos al Pastor: What’s the Difference?
While both al pastor and adobada are made from pork and both are popular in Mexican cuisine, the preparation of each meat is different.
- Marinade: Tacos al pastor are marinated in adobo sauce with fresh or dried chiles like guajillo chiles, achiote paste, pineapple, ground cumin, and herbs and spices. The marinade for adobada does not contain achiote paste or pineapple.
- Preparation: Adobada tacos are cooked in a pan or over a griddle, and tacos al pastor are traditionally cooked directly over a fire on a vertical trompo or rotisserie.
Adobada Recipe
makes
10-20 tacosprep time
40 mintotal time
55 mincook time
15 minIngredients
For the chile sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
- 3 dried guajillo chiles
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 5 dried arbol chiles
- 1 dried chipotle chile
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 small white onion, peeled and quartered
- 2 cups boiling water
- ¼ cup white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
For the pork:
- 3 pounds pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons canola oil or olive oil
For serving:
- 10–20 small corn tortillas, warmed
- 1 cup finely diced white onion
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
Note: The total time does not include 4 hours of inactive time.
- 1
Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the chiles, garlic, and onions, turning occasionally, until charred. Once cool enough to handle, remove the stems from the chiles.
- 2
Transfer the chiles to a blender and add the boiling water. Set aside to soften chiles, 10 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, vinegar, orange juice, salt, cumin, black pepper, and coriander; blend until smooth.
- 3
In a large bowl, stir together the pork, oregano, bay leaves, salt, and half of the chile sauce. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 2–4 hours. Add lime juice to the remaining chile sauce.
- 4
Heat canola oil in the same cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the marinated pork and cook in batches, stirring occasionally, until charred and crispy in spots and cooked through, about 6 minutes.
- 5
Spoon the adobada pork into warm tortillas and garnish with chopped onion, cilantro, and lime wedges.
- 6
Serve the adobada pork tacos with chile sauce for spooning over the top and dipping.
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