No it’s not Mojo, like Austin Powers, it’s pronounces Moho – The J is silent :-). Talk about a recipe that requires love and time, this Mojo Pork Tacos Recipe with Mexican Rice is super easy to make, but does require some patience. I started to recognize I could make these after all of the leftover random stuff I had lying around my house from grocery shopping and other recipes I was doing with clients. The only thing that I actually had to buy from the store was a pork butt, other than that I literally had everything: Oranges, orange juice, garlic, onions, oregano, cumin, crushed canned tomatoes, rice, black beans, peppers and some leftover cotija cheese, so this recipe certainly helped me in Eating Through the Kitchen Cabinets!
The parts that take so long about this recipe are the Mojo sitting overnight so flavors can infuse, and the cooking of the pork. It literally braises for 10 hours plus, just to get that juicy tender pulled consistency I’m looking for. It is very similar to a carnitas, but obviously I’m using mojo. Once the pork is rubbed down and seared, it’s as simple as pouring the mojo into the pot along with the pork and braising it for hours on end. If you aren’t comfortable with braising, then simply place the seared pork butt into a slow cooker with the mojo and cook on low heat for 12 hours. In addition, you will see that there are a lot of different parts to this completed recipe, so feel free to use things at your own discretion. For instance maybe you only want to use the rice and pork, or perhaps just the beans and peppers, feel free to pick and choose what you want to make the recipe that best suits you. If you have sofrito in the freezer then that will save you even more time. Enjoy!
Garnished with a little fresh cilantro 🙂 Big picture below for pinning!
Mojo Pork Tacos Recipe with Mexican Rice
Ingredients
For the Mojo and Pork:
- 4 fresh squeezed oranges
- 1 cup of orange juice
- 1 small sweet onion roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of dry oregano
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 3 pound pork butt
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
For the Mexican Rice:
- 1 cup of long grain brown rice
- 1/2 small diced yellow onion
- 1 finely minced garlic clove
- 1 cup of chicken stock
- 16 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of canola oil
For the Tacos:
- 16 ounce can of cooked refried black beans
- 1 sliced green bell pepper
- 1 sliced yellow onion
- 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
- crumbled cotija cheese
- fresh cilantro leaves
- soft corn tortillas
Instructions
- Mojo: Combine the juice from the fresh oranges, orange juice, onion, garlic, cumin and oregano and a blender and pureed until smooth. Set over night.
- Pork: Season the pork on all sides with salt and pepper or the optional spice blend.
- Heat a large pot on high heat with olive oil and sear the pork butt on sided until golden brown. Next, add in the mojo, and put a lid on the pot and braise in the oven on 225° - 250° for 10 hours or place the pork and mojo into a slow cooker and cook on low heat for 8-10 hours.
- Once it is done cooking, drain the liquid and shred with forks. You will know it's done when it easily pulls apart.
- Rice: In a pot add the chicken stock, tomatoes, cumin and oregano and bring to a boil.
- In a separate saute pan on high heat with canola oil add in the onions, garlic, and caramelize. Once brown add in the rice and toast for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Next, add the tomato-chicken stock mixture and and put a lid on the rice and cook for 30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cook. Season the rice with salt and pepper and fork it. Keep warm.
- Next in a large saute pan on high heat with olive oil, saute and caramelize the bell pepper and onion.
- To Plate: Place a little bit of Mexican rice, cooked refried black beans, roasted peppers and onions, shredded mojo pork inside of a soft corn tortilla and garnish with cotija cheese and cilantro leaves
Trish says
What could you use instead of cotija cheese? It’s not a cheese we see around here. Thanks for the recipe. I gave it 5 stars because it looks delicious and I’ll give it a try.
Chef Billy Parisi says
queso fresco, chihuahua
Ellie says
I have a couple of pork tenderloins in the freezer. Would this recipe be ok for them?
Chef Billy Parisi says
It could work, but you will be missing out on a lot of flavors due to lake of fat in pork tenderloins.
Nathan C says
Hi! For the 10 hours braise would it be ok to do that on a smoker or would you advise against it?
Chef Billy Parisi says
you could
Canuck Chef says
Recipe looks amazing and my pork butt is currently marinating. Appears to be a Cuban style braised pork which I love. Quick comment: The recipe calls for 3 pounds of pork butt and serves 2. Those would have to be 2 REALLY big eaters. I’m assuming it will more than adequately serve 8.
Danielle says
Can’t wait to try this! Perhaps I am missing it, but I don’t see a recipe for the optional spice blend for the pork butt. I would love to see what is in that. We love spice and I would prefer more seasoning besides salt and pepper on the pork butt. Thank you!
Chef Billy Parisi says
You really don’t need it because the mojo marinade will give you everything. I think I put that in there as a mishap.
Alia says
Am I supposed to marinade the pork overnight, or just let the marinade set up overnight? Thanks! Looks great. This recipe was recommended to me by a friend. Making it Sunday!
Chef Billy Parisi says
Marinated over night!
Alia says
Just wanted to follow up and let you know I made this tonight and it was fantastic! Will definitely go into the recipe book and make again. I didn’t end up marinating the pork overnight, as I misunderstood the instructions. I had a couple questions for you though that I hope you can answer. I only ended up cooking the pork for 8 1/2 hours. When I took it out to check on it, my dutch oven was BLACK. All the sauce was black and burned. Any idea what I did wrong?? Or is this normal? I have a gas oven, idk if that matters. The pork still was delicious, but had to peel it out of the black sauce and there was no sauce for it. Also, my rice stayed crunchy and uncooked. I am infamous for not being able to cook rice without a rice cooker. Do you think this would work okay in a rice cooker?? Same amount of liquid?? Thanks for a great recipe!
Chef Billy Parisi says
Hi Alia, glad it was delicious considering how it may have looked. Marinating will definitely help since the pork will absorb a lot of the liquid and help keep it moist. Every oven and slow cooker cooks different so it’s hard to say. My slow cooker cooks a little on the cooler side so things take longer. I would adjust the heat in the oven to maybe be around 225-250 and a slow cooker to low heat for 8-10 hours. You can absolutely cooked the rice in a rice cooker. Let me know how else I can help?!
Judy Schell says
If you use a La Creuset the lid doesn’t have a great seal and allows the liquid to reduce, sometimes more than you desire. If that’s the case, an extra payer of aluminum foil before placing lid on will help. They make a silicone lid that is great.
Meghan @ Cake 'n Knife says
Tacos are my favorite!! I can’t wait to try these – never made a mojo recipe, but I definitely will now!
Melissa Taylor says
YUM – can’t wait to try this!
David says
In step #1
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Do you blend up the orange peel and all from the squeezed oranges?
Chef Billy Parisi says
just the juice from the oranges