To view my ENTIRE Cafe Rio / Costa Vida Salad copycat recipe, click HERE.Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)
- 3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- dash garlic salt
- 1/4 c. water
- 1 can diced green chilies
- 3/4 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)
- 1 c. brown sugar
Instructions
- Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.
- Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
- In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.
- Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!
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I just found your blog and I’m so excited! My sister and brother in law always rave about Cafe Rio but I’ve never been to one, so I can’t wait to try out your recipe! I have a cooking blog too, it’s http://www.thefrostedcupcake.blogspot.com, is it okay if I put your link on my blog?
I just found your blog too and I have linked it to mine. Hope this is okay too. Great recipes. Can’t wait to try them.
Erica, I’m not sure what I did wrong but…it just didn’t taste quite right. I tried it a couple of weeks ago. Dont get me wrong it was still good and we still did the whole salad but, something wasn’t write. Maybe it was to dry…but there was liquid surrounding it the whole time. And it certainly didn’t look like yours. Maybe I needed to shred it better….or maybe I cooked it to long and it didn’t shred so easily.
Any ideas? I would love to make it again.
Hmmm, I have no idea what to tell you. I actually did my pork on low for about 10 hours the last time I made it. Then when I drained it and added the other ingredients, I let it simmer on low another 3 hours. Maybe that will make a difference. I like to shred it up a lot when I add those other ingredients so the flavor is really absorbed by the pork. Maybe that will help! Sorry it didn’t turn out! Oh… another thing, I use the boneless pork RIB meat (I will add that to the posting so it is more clear on what kind of pork to use). Is that what you used?
I used a boneless Pork roast from costco….Thanks for the advice. I think I will make it again tomorrow night.
For the Enchilada Sauce– is that red or green sauce?
For the Enchilada Sauce– is that red or green sauce?
Wow, my wife tried this out last night and it was amazing. It was exactly right. I nearly shed tears of joy. Thanks!
I made the pork, salad dressing, and beans today for our Memorial Day picnic. It was fantastic and everyone loved it! Thank you for the recipe.
I have 1 question, is it really necessary to drain the marinade before you put it in the crockpot and start over with a new coke?
What size can of chopped green chilies and enchilada sauce did you use? I just bought all the ingredients for the entire recipe today, and don't want to destroy it
just the small can of chilies and the 12-16oz. can of enchilada sauce
Good luck!
I'm about ready to try this recipe tonight – I've never been able to get the exact Cafe Rio taste so I hope this is it. I do want to mention that after extensive research and discussions with butchers – the boston or pork butt is the best cut to use. Note – it's name has to do with the shape rather than the location – it's not really the "butt". I've never used the rib meat – hopefully it's as tender. According to the butcher it's not but who knows. The only thing I DO know is NEVER use a pork roast – especially the Costco pork roast. The reason is that a pork roast has NO fat and is the most lean cut and will never become tender and shred. The costco pork roast is really high quality so it has even less fat. I made this mistake recently when a grocery store advertised a boston butt for a great price and I was making a hawaiian Kaluha pork for a luau. The cut looked a bit different than I was used to but I cooked it anyway. When it had cooked for 8 hours it was rubbery and non shreddable so I called the store only to discover it had been mismarked and I had actually used a pork roast. What a nightmare!
I’ve never used pork butt before but I have some in my freezer right now. Should I trim any of the fat? Or just use the whole cut in the crock pot? It sounds like a delicious alternative to the traditional rib meat and I would like to give it a try!
Thanks for the great tips! We will use pork butt next time! Good luck! I hope you like it!
So I just finished making the pork and well, it's pretty close. It's been 1 year today since my last Cafe Rio and we thought we would remember it by trying this recipe. Thanks for posting it, yummy.
we have used nothing but the costco pork and it has shredded and worked great every time… you should give it a try..
Would there be enough room in a large crockpot to double this recipe? My husband's family is coming in to town and we need to feed his family of 8 plus us!
Yes, it should easily fit in a large crock pot. We used a large one last time and it didn't quite fill up halfway.
I am in the middle of cooking the pork right now. . .as I type. I'm worried that there isn't enough liquid in the pot. Should it cover the pork completely? I got 6lbs of meat for our family party tonight.
Thanks!
It doesn't need to cover the pork completely. It should be fine, you don't want it too thin. If you are still worried about it– add more brown sugar and coke.
Let me know how it turns out!
I made this for the Superbowl yesterday and it turned out SO GOOD! Thanks!
I'm so excited to make this Sweet Pork! I am actually wanting to make the Sweet Pork Burrito… Any suggestions??? It has been a long time since I've had Cafe Rio, so I'm not sure what all goes in or on them. I hope you can help… Thanks!
Hey Holler Hinckleys:
I think in the burrito, they put the lime rice and beans and they top it with your choice of sauce when they do it enchilada style. You either want to make your own tortilla shells or try to find the biggest ones you can at your local store. Good luck! Let me know how they turn out!
I just found this recipe and am excited to try it! I do have a few questions, though, if you don't mind.
Do you use light or dark brown sugar?
Do you use red or green enchilada sauce?
Thanks for posting your hard work for us to enjoy!
light sugar (if you like a richer flavor use dark though)
and RED enchilada sauce.
Hope you like it!!
Erica
I was wondering if I could make the pork, beans, and dressing a few days before I need them and they will store okay and still taste good?
Hillary-
I usually do make the ranch and rice the day before. I make the beans the same day just because I don't like them mushy.
I was wondering how many salads you usually get out of this recipe. I'm making dinner for 12 and am wondering if I need to double it or how much I need to make! Thank You!
You probably want to double the recipe. Last time we made it, it fed 6 comfortably. I am sure by doubling it, you will be able to feed 12 easily.
I recently made this! So good! Check out my blog to see the changes I made!
http://lindstewfoodies.blogspot.com/2010/05/shredded-sweet-pork.html
Erica, would it matter much if I used Green Enchilada sauce instead of red?
@ Nate– I have never tried it with green. I don't know how it would affect it. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!
Hi Erica, love your recipes… I haven't ever seen sliced green chilies so is it actually a can of diced green chilies that you use? I did find a can of whole green chilies that I can slice if need be. Just want it to be perfect. Thanks!
@ San— hahaha oops! You are totally right. It is DICED green chilies.
So I moved away about 8 months ago to sc and there is a missionary in my ward. Every Sunday we talk about how good Cafe Rio "was". I told him we could escape and drive 11 hours up to DC and come right back after eating at the new Cafe Rio in MD. However, I don't think that will work. So, I found this on line and was wondering if you ever figured out the Pinto Bean recipie? I like black beans but they don't like me and so I had converted to the Pintos the last couple of years. Let me know and thanks for the post!!
Ya know, I have only had the pinto beans once. I wonder if you added cilantro and green chilies to the beans that maybe they would taste similar? And if you are making them from scratch, use chicken broth?
I've had this recipe bookmarked for a while, but haven't ever gotten around to making it, until today. I looked for caffeine free coke, but the store was out. I tried root beer instead, and yeah, it didn't work so well. It tasted fine, but the meat definitely had a root beer taste! So just a warning for anyone else out there, don't use root beer!
Could you use Coke Zero instead of regular Coke?
@ Stefanie– I have never used Coke Zero with it.. if you try it let me know how it turns out!
I just found your blog and I love it already. I am making the cafe rio pork right now. I am so excited. I'm going to make the dressing and rice now too!
I just found your blog and I love it already. I am making the cafe rio pork right now and I am also going to make the dressing and rice!
This recipe is fabulous! Thanks for sharing. I even tried it with chicken to see how it would turn out, and it was delicious!!
Thanks for sharing this. We love it. We combine the first and second steps together, I cook it in the marinade, brown sugar and garlic. and then I just mix the enchilada sauce and chilis into that sauce. Why toss perfectly good sugar and Coke? It may not taste the exact same but my hubs still raves about it and it's easier. I use caffine free Coke too.
I've used green enchilada sauce too I just added some tomato paste to get the flavor and color, still tasted great!
Can you use caffeine free coke? Wondering if it will change the taster.
Do you have to use Coke or can you use Dr Pepper? It is pretty sweet; maybe less brown sugar, if so, at least for the marinade. I wanted to start today and cannot get to the store for Coke.
@kimmyh – I have only used Coke because I know that is what Cafe Rio uses. I have heard of others using Dr. Pepper though and it turning out fine. I don't think it will make that huge of a difference.
When you say pork rib meat… what is the actual cut of meat called that you buy? Pork shoulder? Pork Butt? I'm assuming you don't buy spare or baby back ribs and shred that meat… do you?
@ Dani— yeah I actually buy the boneless pork ribs but others have used pork butt with great results!
I love Cafe Rios Sweet Pork!! Thanks for posting this recipe! I am totally trying this out… perhaps for SuperBowl!
Mmm! Made this, and LOVED it! If I double it, will it need to cook longer on low? Or just around 8-10 hours on low?
Mmm! Made this, and LOVED it! If I double it, will it need to cook longer on low? Or just around 8-10 hours on low?
@Mike and Heidi–
If you double if you just might need a bigger crock pot.. the time should stay the same! Glad you liked it! This recipe is DEFINITELY one of my favorites!
Fantastic recipe! Have been playing around with various versions for a few years now and definitely like yours the best! I used a shoulder roast and it turned out fantastically. For a bit of a deeper spicy-ness I used chipotle peppers instead of green peppers and loved it. Thanks!
Any way to make this without the COKE? Can I get the flavor using anything else?
@Our Family —
Coke is personally all I have used but others have used Dr. Pepper and it has turned out great.
Just went to the store today to buy the cans of Coke and they looked a bit smaller than last I’ve seen them. Sure enough it’s in a 7.5 oz instead of all the other cans of pop that are in a 12 oz can. So that being said, do I use 36 oz or 22.5 oz?
Do 36 oz. This recipe was created when 12 oz. cans were the standard.