Pineapple Pork Tacos with Homemade Marinade (“Al Pastor”)

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Get ready for a tasty twist on the classic al pastor taco – Pineapple Pork Tacos cooked on a griddle with a homemade pineapple pepper marinade! Sure to be your new favorite griddle tacos!

If you’ve ever had really good, authentic street tacos, then you know that they’re typically very simply dressed with raw onion, sliced radish, and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro. And like most street tacos, the magic of these pineapple pork tacos is in the homemade marinade.

These pineapple pork tacos are made with a delicious marinade of Mexican flavors and sweet pineapple juice, similar to the beloved Mexican street food, “al pastor”.

Now, I know that you can’t make authentic al pastor on the griddle, because the pork is traditionally cooked on a spit and shaved off in thin slices. But with a homemade marinade of pineapple juice, Mexican peppers, and spices, we can get darn close!

*By the way, if you’re looking for other Mexican recipes for the griddle, then be sure to check out these smoked pork carnitas and my favorite steak fajitas recipe!

Here’s how to make flavor-packed pineapple pork tacos on the Blackstone or other flat top grill to satisfy your street taco cravings:

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Ingredients for Pineapple Pork Tacos

For the Tacos:

Most of the ingredients for these pineapple pork tacos are included in the marinade, so once you’ve got the marinade done, you only need a few simple ingredients.

• pork butt – If you can’t find a boneless pork shoulder (Boston Butt), then you can use the bone-in cut and just remove the bone as you’re prepping the meat.
• pineapple – I recommend using fresh pineapple over canned, because it will char nicely on the griddle.
• corn tortillas
• toppings for pork tacos – I used diced white onion, sliced radish, and chopped cilantro.

For the “Al Pastor” Style Marinade:

This pineapple pepper Mexican-style marinade is similar to authentic al pastor, a beloved Mexican street food dish. Some of the ingredients may be difficult to find, but I’ll give you some pointers:

• pineapple juice
• orange juice
• chicken stock
• apple cider vinegar
• spices – You should already have these common Mexican spices in your spice cabinet: cumin, corriander, oregano, all spice, salt, black pepper.
• bay leaves
• onion
• garlic – You can use jarred minced garlic, but smashed garlic cloves are preferred.
• canned chipotles in adobo – You only need 2 peppers out of the can, so you can freeze the remainder in a small Ziploc bag to save for future Mexican recipes.
• achiote paste or powder – If you have a Mexican market nearby, check there for this specialty ingredient. If not, you can find it on Amazon here (this is the type that I used).
• guajillo chiles – My local grocery store had these in the Hispanic foods aisle. They come dried in a zip-top bag, so you can keep the leftovers for other recipes.
• dried ancho peppers – I found these on Amazon as well.

How to Make Pineapple Pork Tacos on the Griddle (or in a skillet)

Good food sometimes takes a little extra time and love. But the results are worth it! These al pastor-style pork tacos were some of the best tacos to come off our griddle. Here’s how to make them:

Making the Pineapple Pork Marinade

This pineapple and pepper Mexican pork marinade does require a bit of effort, but once your ingredients are measured out, the process is fairly easy. And the flavor of the homemade pineapple marinade is something that you just can’t get in a store-bought sauce.

To start, sauté the sliced onions in the bottom of a saucepan with a bit of oil. Once the onions have a nice char (that’s flavor!), add in the smashed garlic cloves to warm and release that flavorful garlic oil. After a few minutes, add the rest of the marinade ingredients to the saucepan like this:

Allow the mixture to simmer on low for about 10 minutes so that all of the flavors can marry together. Then, remove the pan from the heat and allow the liquid to cool down so that you can blend the ingredients into a sauce.

When the pineapple pepper mixture is cool, add to a blender cup and blend on medium speed until you have a smooth, thick sauce.

Marinating the Pork

While the pineapple juice and peppers are simmering on the stovetop, prep the boneless pork butt for your griddle tacos. Simply cut the pork into slices that are about 1/4″ – 1/3″ thick, and then dice into cubes like this:

As you’re cutting the pork, remove any excess fatty parts or bones because you won’t want to bite into those while you’re eating the tacos. If you make your own sausage or broth, you can even freeze the trimmings in a Ziploc bag to save for later.

When the pork is cut and the marinade is blended, it’s time to marinate the meat. Just position a strainer over the bowl of diced pork, and pour the blended marinade in to strain out any chunks of peppers or bay leaves.

Use a spatula to scrape and press the mixture through the strainer if needed. Then, mix the pork in the marinade so that all pieces are coated, and refrigerate covered for about 4 hours.

Cooking the Pineapple Pork Tacos on the Griddle

After the pork has marinated in the fridge, it’s time to cook your delicious griddle al pastor!

For this Mexican pork recipe, you’ll want your griddle fairly hot to get a nice char on the individual pieces of pork. My idea was to try and develop a char on the pork to mimic the char that you get on the outside of al pastor from it roasting on the spit. To do so, your flat top grill temperature should be about 450-475 degrees F.

Once the griddle is preheated, add the pork pieces to the griddle with a “spider” (restaurant speak for the wire strainer utensil down below). You don’t want a lot of excess marinade on the griddle, because then your pork will steam more so than char. So the wire strainer helps to drain the pork a bit before you add it to the griddle.

As you’re adding the marinated pork to the flat top grill surface, be sure to spread it out a bit so that each piece can develop a nice char, aka each piece needs its own “landing zone” – if you’ve watched any of my YouTube videos, then you know that I preach this when it comes to griddle cooking. Then, let the pork cook untouched for about 5-6 minutes.

After that time, your pork should have a nice crust on the bottom side and you can sauté it together and move it to the side of your griddle to make room to cook the cut pineapple. The sugars from the juices in the marinade will continue to caramelize and the sauce will thicken and coat the pork to look something like this:

Once the pineapple is nicely golden and a bit caramelized, transfer it to a bowl. Then, when the pork is done cooking, it’s time to build your pork pineapple tacos!

For my pork street tacos, I chose to keep my warm pineapple separate from the cooked pork for an extra pop of color. You can also add the pineapple pieces to the cooked pork, but then the fruit will turn the same rich brown color.

I topped my pork street tacos with some raw diced onion, chopped cilantro, and thinly sliced radish. A squeeze of lime and a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce would also be fantastic toppings for your tacos.

And here’s the finished dish… beautifully vibrant in color with a sweet and slightly spicy flavor!

Want another delicious griddle street tacos recipe? Check out these Easy Fish Tacos on the Griddle (and the BEST Mango Pico de Gallo!). Or for another fantastic (and easier to make) Mexican marinade, visit my post on the best steak fajitas… these fajitas also have a homemade marinade with pineapple juice, and it is fantastic!