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Copycat Recipes | September 20, 2011

Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad

Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad

Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad is one of the most popular items on Cafe Rio’s menu! Now you can make Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad at home for a crowd at a fraction of the price of eating out.

Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad

If you live in the great state of Utah, or have visited here in the past ten years, you know about  Cafe Rio. Mexican food with a Southwest flair.

This recipe is a great option for feeding a crowd, because there’s something for everyone. Don’t like meat? Have a meatless salad. Don’t like meat or salads? Have a tortilla with cheese, rice, dressing, pico and beans. Everyone builds their own. It’s worked for me when cooking for a crowd of 30-300.

Here are our favorite recipes for Cafe Rio style: rice, beans, dressing and the fan favorite/flagship item Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork!  All of the links are listed below for easy reference.

To Build a Cafe Rio style Sweet Pork salad:

Other items you will need/want to make a Cafe Rio style salad:
Romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
Cheese, Mexican blend and/or Cotija(Mexican cheese) for sprinkling on top, if desired
Flour Tortillas, we like the type found in Costco in the refrigerated section, grill for a few minutes on each side at home, or you may use grilled corn or regular grocery store flour tortillas, warmed
corn tortillas and vegetable oil– cut the corn tortillas into strips, fry over medium high heat, drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt
Sour cream for topping salad
Fresh cilantro to top salad
lime slices, to top each salad
8 or 9″ disposable foil tins found in baking section of grocery or the dollar store, or plates work too
Assembly:
Place all items on serving table in this order:
Tins or plates, tortillas, beans, rice, meat, lettuce, cheese, pico, guacamole, dressing, sour cream, tortilla strips, cilantro and lime slices.

Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad
5 from 6 votes
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Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad

Ingredients

  • For roasting meat:
  • 13.5 lb Pork Shoulder* yield approx 6 1/2 lbs cooked, fat removed, shredded pork
  • 2 teaspoon onion salt
  • fresh ground pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped fine or crushed
  • 1 can or approx 12 oz Coke or Dr. Pepper not Diet (see reader comment below by Bonnie)
  • For sauce after roasting:
  • 3- 4 oz cans diced mild to medium green chilies
  • 1-28 oz can red enchilada sauce
  • 2 cups light brown sugar
  • 2 cans or 24 oz Coke or Dr. Pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack in bottom third of oven.
  2. If making a full recipe and using a piece of meat larger than 6 lbs, cut the meat into at least two or more pieces to insure meat will be cooked through.
  3. Season the pork with onion salt and ground pepper on all sides. Rub the top of the pork with crushed garlic cloves.
  4. Place the pork in a large heavy roasting pan or crock pot. Pour Coke around the sides of roast.
  5. Cover tightly with foil, so no steam escapes. Roast at 350 for 2 1/2 hours. Do not open oven. Turn oven to 200 roast for 2 more hours. Alternately, Place the pork into two large crock pots. Follow directions, except cook on low for about 10-12 hours.
  6. After roasting, remove meat. Let cool for about 15 minutes, or cool enough to handle. Pull meat apart with hands, removing any visible fat remaining on meat. Discard fat and drain remaining liquid from pan.
  7. Place meat back into roasting pan, shred with forks.
  8. Prepare sauce by placing green chilies, enchilada sauce and brown sugar into a blender. Blend until smooth. Add the Coke, stir with spoon. Pour the sauce over the meat, and heat the meat again before serving. Do not stir too much, this makes the meat a mushy mess. Visualize the icky barbecued meat in the frozen section at the grocery.I prefer to pour sauce on top and leave the meat alone 🙂 Using tongs helps tremendously.
  9. Yield: about 35 servings.

Recipe Notes

-*Important: Make sure to buy Pork Shoulder or Pork (Boston) Butt. Pork Roast or Pork Loin does not have enough fat to produce a product that will shred properly. I like Pork Shoulder best for this recipe. A large Pork Shoulder can be found at Costco.
-This recipe may also be used as a taco filling, salad topping or for burritos.
-If preparing ahead, follow directions until meat has been shredded. Refrigerate or freeze meat at this point. When ready to serve, prepare sauce and pour over meat. Heat up in oven or on stove top at low heat.
-This recipe freezes well. When I have leftovers, I freeze the meat and drain off the sauce. When I want to use the frozen meat, I let it thaw in the fridge overnight; then place the meat in a pan on top of the stove. I make fresh sauce but only prepare 1/3 of the recipe above.
-If the sauce is too thick for your liking, you may add water, 1/4 cup at a time.

44 thoughts on “Cafe Rio-Style Sweet Pork Salad

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  1. Every time I see tjsi sentence above comment:Tell us how you feel thsi song comes in my mind :I feel good nanananna.Maybe after I read your great food recepies even I feel best nananan

  2. I was printing the recipe before I even finished reading it all! Sounds just wonderful and perfect for all those times I do need to feed a crowd. Only one question — if you choose to use a crockpot, do you cover the meat with foil?

  3. My favorite. I used a copycat recipe that swore Cafe Rio uses Dr. Pepper and I like it, thought I had it just right. Then one day I was at Cafe Rio and watched an employee fill a Huge 20 galloon vat full of Coke from the coke machine out front for the Pork. OOPS. I guess I need to switch my soda.

    1. Hi Style sisters, unfortunately, I didn't see your question until way after the fact. glad we were able to email and talk about this…yes, I always plan on more pork, less chicken. I am a fan of the chicken, but most people prefer this pork about 3:1. Thanks for reading!

    1. Hi Nicole. This recipe feeds about 35. So I would suggest doubling the recipe. The meat pre-cooked is about 13.5 pounds, after cooking the yield is about 6.5 lbs of meat per recipe. Doubling would produce about 70 servings total. Let us know how it turns out!
      Si

  4. I have not tried omitting the soda all together. I think the color of the soda, along with the sugar is what makes it work in the sauce. As an option, you may want to try root beer. You may have a little extra fizzing, as root beer tends to foam and fizz more than coke. Let us know if you try it!
    thanks,
    Si

    1. I haven't found Root Beer here in Mexico, so I opted to use a bottle of maple syrup and it works great! I cook the meat for 6+ hours and it comes out perfect. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I make this about every three months for 22 people and I rarely have leftovers! Thanks again!

  5. I worked at Costa Vida for 3 years and yours is the closest recipe I've come across to what I ate for those 3 years. 🙂

  6. I have the exact recipe and I wish I could just spill the beans but can't. But I can say you are very close but missing a couple things as well as there is one thing to remove. Sorry I can't say more but I don't want to get in any trouble.

    1. Anon, I amended the original recipe I found to suit my taste. Now I can't remember what I changed…It is great to get your feedback on how close we are to the original! Thanks for commenting. We'll keep this a secret 😉

  7. I tried this over the weekend.. It was Awesome. My picky hubby loved it and vowed to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until all the meat is gone. That is how much he loved it. I made it exactly and did not change a thing. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

  8. I am working on the pulled pork today and have a question. Is there a disadvantage to adding the sauce in the morning after shredding & letting it marinade until it's time to heat it for dinner?

    1. No I think it's fine to do that. I would take care to not over stir the meat so it does not get a mushy consistency after you add the sauce. Happy cooking!

    2. When I make this I put the meat in my crockpot, and add all the ingredients and let it cook for 6-8 hours. I shred it close to the end when it is thoroughly cooked and easy to shred. It's great!

  9. We're having this burrito style tonight but without the beans and rice, I tasted the meat earlier and the dressing, it's gonna be sooo good! Never had it before! But I put some in the freezer as well!! 🙂

  10. If I am making a smaller serving of meat (about 2lbs) how long should I roast it? It seems like it might be too long for such a small amount of pork…thoughts?
    thanks!

    1. Jenna,

      Here is a link for a pork carnitas recipe using a smaller portion of meat. I suggest you use a bit larger roast, as the fat that will cook off is significant. If you use a 2 lb piece, probably about 1 1/2 hours at 350 will work, or you could cook it longer and slower at about 275-300 for three hours. The slower you cook the meat will affect the way it shreds. longer, slower at a low temperature will produce meat that shreds better. Happy cooking!
      https://abountifulkitchen.com/2010/05/mexican-pulled-pork-carnitas.html

  11. Hi Jill, I have not tried this sauce with chicken, but I'm sure it would work well. I would cook the chicken in a crockpot on low for about 3-4 hours. Or in an oven for about 2 hours at 300 covered tightly with foil. Check to see if it is done after 2 hours. Chicken breast meat dries out much quicker than the pork called for in this recipe.

  12. Thank you for these recipes! It is so helpful to see them sized for a group or party. Question: this recipe doesn’t call for marinading the meat, but other recipes do. Any reason for that? Thanks in advance : )

    1. Hi Jennie,
      I didn’t find the need to marinate the meat in this recipe. The slow cooking seemed sufficient for tenderness and flavor!
      thanks for reading ABK!
      xo
      Si

  13. Thank you! I love that you included portions for feeding a large group! About how much cheese and lettuce do you need for 50 people? I am trying to figure it out and there are so many differing answers.

    1. Andrea,
      I usually find that lettuce is an ingredient people take less of than more, and cheese is the opposite. Maybe 1/4-1/3 cup of lettuce per person, with most large heads of Romaine from grocery yielding about 16 cups chopped…so two large heads from the grocery (not Costco heads of Romaine) are more than enough for 50. For cheese, I would count on about 1/3 cup per person. Sue appropriate serving utensils to control the amount of buffet items distributed as well! Hope this helps.
      Si

  14. I made the instant pot one. I wish I would have seen this comment about Coke vs. DP. Excited to try again. The tomatillo ranch was spot on!

    1. Hi Jilly, I’m glad you’re trying it again! The Coke really makes a difference. Thanks for your comment,
      xo
      Si

  15. 5 stars
    Best copycat recipe for Cafe Rio Pork I’ve ever had, and I’ve had several. 🙂 Delicious!

    1. Thanks so much Emily! It’s always a favorite at Foster family gatherings 🙂
      Thanks for reading ABK,
      xo
      Si

  16. 5 stars
    Looks delicious! Wanting to make this recipe for a family reunion…I don’t have an instant pot which is why I am looking at the slow version. I compared both versions and found the recipes are slightly different. Would you suggest using the menudo spice instead of just the onion salt and pepper for this version or should I stick to the original recipe? Thanks!

  17. 5 stars
    Coming from someone who lives out of state and can’t get Cafe Rio local, THIS recipe has been a life saver! If you make any of ABKs recipes, this is SO worth it. It’s a regular at my house!

  18. 5 stars
    Delicious!! Our family loved this recipe we cut the recipe down in serving size but everything turned out amazing still!

  19. I prefer dr. Pepper with this recipe. It adds a hint of sweetness to it. This also makes great pulled pork sandwhiches.

  20. 5 stars
    Definitely a crowd favorite and I love the leftovers for salads, tostadas, quesadillas!

    1. Gretchen, I totally agree, this recipe makes great leftovers! Thanks for reading ABK!
      Xo
      Si

  21. 5 stars
    This recipe is so good and honestly better than Cafe Rio! It would probably be my death row request meal at this point. If you love Cafe Rio make this and you won’t regret it!

  22. Thank you so much for the sweet pork recipe for a crowd. It makes it so much easier to figure out how much meat to buy when you have already done it for us:) I’m in charge of our Relief Society birthday dinner and am making sweet pork salads. I was wondering how many of the bags of romaine lettuce from Costco (6 heads per bag) would you suggest for feeding 60?

    1. Hello Julia, I find that lettuce is an ingredient people take less of than more, and cheese is the opposite. Maybe 1/4-1/3 cup of lettuce per person, with most large heads of Romaine from the grocery yielding about 16 cups chopped…so two large heads from the grocery (not Costco heads of Romaine) are more than enough for 50. For cheese, I would count on about 1/3 cup per person. Use appropriate serving utensils to control the amount of buffet items distributed as well! Hope this helps.
      XO
      Si