Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipe (Crockpot) - Creations by Kara (2024)

If you’re a fan of Cafe Rio’s sweet pork, now you don’t have to leave your house to enjoy it. With this copycat recipe, you can recreate the delicious flavors of the restaurant’s signature dish in your own kitchen.

It just takes a few minutes of prep, and your slow cooker does all the work. You can serve the pork in tacos, burritos, or on top of a salad for a delicious and satisfying meal that everyone will go crazy for!

5 INGREDIENT CAFE RIO SWEET PORK RECIPE

Back in March of 2009 is when I first shared this recipe for sweet pork. Since then, I’ve tried several recipes that are more complicated or have more ingredients, but we haven’t liked any of them better than this one.

I’ve served it often at church dinners, and last summer I actually made it for a youth group of over 500 people. Everyone raves over it!

Here’s all the ingredients you need:

• Pork – I have used pork roast, pork shoulder, and even boneless pork ribs. All of them work wonderfully!
• Garlic Salt – This enhances the flavor of all the ingredients.
• Black Pepper – I use 1/2 teaspoon, but you can add more if you like.
• Brown Sugar – Adds that wonderful sweet flavor we all love!
• Salsa – If I have homemade bottled salsa on hand, it’s the best. But store bought salsa works well too, just use your favorite brand. You can use mild or spicy, depending on how hot you want it.

HOW TO MAKE CAFE RIO SWEET PORK

1. SEASON – Trim any visible fat off the pork. Sprinkle the entire surface with garlic salt and pepper.
2. COMBINE – Place the pork in your crock pot. Add the brown sugar, and pour the salsa over the top.
   
   (I had black beans in my crockpot, so for these photos I’m using the slow cooker function on my Instant Pot- didn’t want to confuse anyone!)
3. SLOW COOK – Cook on LOW for about 7 hours, or on HIGH for about 4 hours. I like to use the low setting, it makes for more tender pork.
4. SHRED – Remove the pork to a baking dish. Use two forks to pull apart and shred the meat completely. Skim any fat off of the sauce, and return the shredded pork to the pot. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until hot.
5. SERVE – You can use the pork as a filling for burritos or tacos, or to make a sweet pork salad. Make sure you have all the taco fixings!

Topping suggestions:

We like to serve this pork buffet style with freshly cooked flour tortillas, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, black beans, shredded cheese, cilantro lime rice, guacamole, chips or tortilla strips, and Cafe Rio dressing.

You could also serve corn tortillas, sour cream, salsa, diced tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, lime, or cotija cheese.

I love the Cafe Rio salad, so that is always how I prepare mine. But the rest of my family likes to use the meat in burritos. No matter how you serve it, it is going to be a hit!

More Mexican Recipes:

• Chicken Flautas Recipe
• Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
• Doritos Taco Salad Recipe
• Mexican Rice Casserole
• Taco Pasta Recipe
• Chicken Fajita Rice

RECIPE FOR CAFE RIO SWEET PORK

I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t love this recipe for costa vida sweet pork. It is full of delicious sweet flavor, and people can’t seem to resist it! I hope you’ll give it a try and let me know how you like it.