Traditional

Cochinita Pibil

Name: Cochinita Pibil
Prep time: 1 h 45 min
Cook time: 3 h 15 min
Total time: 5 h
Yield: 14 tacos
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3.5 oz Achiote paste; 1 cup Sour orange juice (or half orange, half lime); 6 Garlic cloves; 1 tsp Mexican oregano; 1/2 tsp each Ground cumin & allspice; 1 tbsp Kosher salt; 4 lb Bone-in pork shoulder, cut in big chunks; 2 large Banana leaves; 3 tbsp Pork lard, melted; 2 Red onions, thinly sliced; 1 Habanero, thinly sliced; 1/2 cup Sour orange or lime juice; to taste Salt; 14 Corn tortillas

Yucatecan pit-style pork slathered in recado rojo — achiote, sour orange, and warm spice — then wrapped in banana leaves and roasted until it collapses into its own brick-red juices. Habanero-pickled onions cut the richness on every taco.

Time: 5 hr
Heat
Yield: 14 tacos
Region: Yucatán

Ingredients

Recado rojo

Pork

Pickled onions & to build

Per-100g nutrition (6 ingredients verified)

Ingredient	kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Achiote paste	0	0 g	0 g	90.9 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
Salt	0	0 g	0 g	1330 g
Corn tortillas	188	3.1 g	1.6 g	40.6 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

Blend the achiote paste with sour orange juice, garlic, oregano, cumin, allspice, and salt into a loose, brick-red marinade.
Coat the pork chunks in the recado and marinate, covered, in the fridge for at least four hours — overnight is better.
Pass the banana leaves briefly over a flame until glossy and pliable, then line a Dutch oven or roasting pan, leaving long overhang.
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Pile in the pork with every drop of marinade and the melted lard, fold the leaves over into a tight parcel, cover, and roast at 300°F for about 4 hours, until the meat shreds at a touch.
While it roasts, toss the red onion and habanero with sour orange juice and salt, and let them pickle to a bright pink.
Rest the parcel, still wrapped, so the juices settle back into the meat.
Unwrap and shred the cochinita directly into its juices, tasting for salt.
Warm the tortillas, pile on the dripping pork, and crown each taco with the habanero-pickled onions.