Mexican · Dinner

Tacos al pastor platter

Name: Tacos al pastor platter
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 7 h 55 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, partially frozen and sliced 1/8 inch thick; 8 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded; 2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded; 3 garlic cloves; 2 ounces achiote paste; 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar; 1/2 cup fresh orange juice; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 small white onion, halved; 1 small ripe pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slabs; 24 small corn tortillas, warmed; 1 cup finely diced white onion; 1 cup chopped cilantro; 4 limes, cut into wedges; 1 cup salsa taquera

A shareable platter of thin adobo-marinated pork with charred edges, warm corn tortillas, roasted pineapple, onion, cilantro, lime, and salsa.

About 7 hr 55 minTotal

About 1 hr 55 minActive

$$Cost

AdvancedDifficulty

Makes 8 servings

Equipment

Use matched long metal skewers; flat shafts keep the stacked food from spinning.
Best reusable skewer set
OXO Good Grips 6-Piece Grilling Skewer Set · 11308000
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Use matched long metal skewers; flat shafts keep the stacked food from spinning.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched the recipe's paired-skewer structure, then verified the flat stainless design, 13.5-inch length, six-piece count, model 11308000, current manufacturer identity, handling risk, and exact Amazon destination. Kwilt has not cooked al pastor with this set.
OXO Good Grips 6-Piece Grilling Skewer Set · 11308000: The flat 13.5-inch shafts hold the stacked pork and pineapple securely, while six skewers provide the paired supports the recipe calls for without forcing the cook to improvise with short wooden sticks. Trade-off: The metal becomes dangerously hot and the long skewers need drawer or hanging space; use tongs and heat protection throughout cooking and resting.
Another workable path: Use other long, flat stainless skewers in matched pairs; round skewers can work, but the stacked food is more likely to rotate while it browns.
Sources
OXO six-piece grilling-skewer specifications
Amazon exact product listing

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 8 servings

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, partially frozen and sliced 1/8 inch thick
8 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 garlic cloves
2 ounces achiote paste
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 small white onion, halved
1 small ripe pineapple, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slabs
24 small corn tortillas, warmed
1 cup finely diced white onion
1 cup chopped cilantro
4 limes, cut into wedges
1 cup salsa taquera

Instructions

Toast guajillo and ancho chiles briefly without blackening, cover with hot water 20 minutes, then drain. Blend with garlic, achiote, vinegar, orange juice, salt, oregano, cumin, cloves, and one onion half until smooth; strain.
Coat thin pork with adobo and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours. Heat oven to 450°F. Set the remaining onion half cut-side down in the center of a foil-lined pan and drive vertically into it.
Stack pork slices tightly and evenly on the skewers, rotating their orientation; trim overhangs and cap with one pineapple slab. Roast until the center reaches at least 145°F, 45 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan for even color.
Rest the stack 5 minutes. Broil pineapple slabs separately until charred. Shave the browned outer pork thinly, spread the shavings on the pan, and broil 2 to 4 watched minutes until crisp-edged; never serve undercooked inner slices.
Arrange pork and chopped charred pineapple on a platter with tortillas, diced onion, cilantro, lime, and salsa so diners can build small tacos immediately.

Mexico CityCentral Mexican taquería traditions

From the table

About this recipe

Tacos al pastor are a central Mexican taquería tradition shaped by Lebanese vertical-spit cooking: thin achiote-chile pork is stacked on a trompo, browned, and shaved to order. This paired-skewer oven stack is explicitly a household adaptation rather than a claim of trompo equivalence.

True al pastor is thin adobo pork cooked on a vertical trompo and shaved to order, a central Mexican technique shaped by Lebanese vertical-spit cooking. This compact oven stack is an explicit home adaptation, not a claim of trompo equivalence. Fresh pineapple is roasted separately rather than blended into the marinade, avoiding bromelain-softened pork. This Kwilt version follows the reviewed household adaptation: Build a compact vertical home stack to preserve the shave-and-char logic, disclose the trompo gap, and separate pineapple to protect pork texture.

Sources

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