Whether you spell it chili or chile (you should really spell it chile), a meat and chile pepper stew is one of the greatest food combinations ever invented, especially for weeknights, and especially if it’s authentic. This New Mexican version is called carne adovada and it spells adovada a little different than the usual adobada but whatever the spelling, it tastes phenomenal: a dark, smoky, and complex taste gives way to soft, succulent, and satisfying pork shoulder.
Carne adovada is rarely served as a taco – it’s more often an enchilada topping or a burrito/sopaipilla stuffing – but otherwise this recipe comes pretty close to authentic and (I think) rivals some of the best carne adovada you’ll have in Santa Fe or Albuquerque. Realistically, this is one of the best, most authentic taco nights you could make.
Cooking Notes
The pork is definitely cooked through at the 30 minute mark, but if you let it go for 45 min to an hour, it’ll taste twice as good. Easily.
Roasting the dried chiles produces a better, smokier, and more authentic taste, but it requires your full attention because dried peppers burn really easily. An easier method if you’re not into paying super close attention is to bring water to a boil, then remove from heat and soak the peppers for 10-15 minutes.
If you don’t like spicy food, shake out the seeds from the dried pepper pods before you toss them in oil.
Ingredient Notes
I tried both New Mexico dried red chile pods and the much easier to find dried guajillo chiles. Both taste great; it comes down to what you can easily get your hands on, and how spicy you like it (guajillo chiles are basically not spicy). Most of the time, in New Mexico, the food isn’t very spicy, so don’t be afraid to go the mild route.
What do you need?
A blender and a baking tray.
Garnish
Garnish with chopped cilantro and onions, pineapple, and extra adovada sauce. Alternately, consider topping with our chile verde sauce for a truly New Mexico combination of red and green.
Oven Baked Weeknight Carne Adovada Pork Taco Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz whole dried chile pods New Mexican red chiles preferred
- 1/2 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1.5 lb pork shoulder sliced
- 1 cup sodium free chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to broil/500ºF. Wash your dried chiles in warm water, then remove the stems and toss in oil. Arrange in one layer on a foil covered baking sheet and roast chiles for 45 seconds. Alternately, just soak them in warm water for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop your onions and slice your pork and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Transfer the chiles to a blender along with 1 cup sodium free chicken stock, garlic, sugar, and oregano.
- In an oven proof baking pan or skillet, combine cubed pork, chile sauce, and onions. Allow to marinate for 15-30 minutes.
- Broil your pork for 10 minutes, flipping once at the 5 minute mark (stretch goal: broil for another 15-30 minutes)
- Enjoy with mexican/spanish rice and refried beans, or as tacos with lime, cilantro, and onion. Also consider roasting pineapples at the same time you roast your pork.
Made this tonight and it was very tasty. Hubs was dubious about the pineapple but now he’s a convert.
Made this last night. Thanks for sharing. I do have a question though, if you try to cook for 45 minutes to an hour, how do you keep it from burning?