Traditional

Adobada

Name: Adobada
Prep time: 17 min
Cook time: 33 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 12 tacos
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 5 Guajillo chiles, seeded; 2 Chiles de árbol; 1 Roma tomato; 1/4 cup White vinegar; 4 Garlic cloves; 1 tsp Mexican oregano; 1/2 tsp each Cumin & cloves; 2 tsp Kosher salt; 2 lb Pork shoulder, thin-sliced; 12 Corn tortillas; 1 cup Guacamole taquero (avocado blended with tomatillo); 1 White onion, diced; 1 bunch Cilantro, chopped; 4 Radishes, sliced; 3 Limes, in wedges

Tijuana-style adobada — pork steeped in a vinegary guajillo adobo spiked with chile de árbol, then charred fast on a hot plancha. Served TJ-style with guacamole taquero, radish, and lime.

Time: 50 min
Heat
Yield: 12 tacos
Region: Tijuana

Ingredients

Adobo

To build

Per-100g nutrition (8 ingredients verified)

Ingredient	kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Roma tomato	118	0 g	0 g	29.4 g
White vinegar	0	0 g	0 g	0 g
Garlic cloves	100	0 g	0 g	20 g
Mexican oregano	0	0 g	0 g	0 g
Kosher salt	0	0 g	0 g	0 g
Corn tortillas	188	3.1 g	1.6 g	40.6 g
White onion, diced	29	1.2 g	0 g	7.1 g
Cilantro, chopped	23	2.1 g	0.5 g	3.7 g

Values are per 100 g of the listed ingredient. Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central (snapshot 2026-09-11). Ingredients without a verified match are omitted.

Method

Toast the guajillos and árbol chiles on a dry comal until fragrant, then soak in hot water until pliable.
Blend the soaked chiles with the tomato, vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin, cloves, and salt into a smooth, pourable adobo.
Coat the sliced pork thoroughly in the adobo and let it marinate — 20 minutes on the counter works, overnight in the fridge is better.
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Sear the pork on a very hot oiled plancha in batches, pressing flat, until charred at the edges, about 3 minutes per side.
Chop the adobada into bite-size pieces, scraping every crusty bit off the plancha into the pile.
Warm the tortillas, add a swipe of guacamole taquero, pile on the pork, and finish with onion, cilantro, radish, and lime.