Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrito & Salad Copycat Recipe (2024)

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrito Recipe

The Cafe Rio sweet pork recipe is a complete mystery, it’s filled with secret spices and everything. However, this copycat recipe tastes almost identical to it! So juicy and flavorful, and just as addicting.

So, if you love Cafe Rio pork so much that you wish you could make it at home, here’s your chance. We’re going to show you how to make a Cafe Rio style sweet pork burrito and a sweet pork salad, and we bet you’ll love both.

Preparing the Pork:

This Rio Cafe sweet pork is easy to prepare. Simply place your pork in the crock-pot or slow cooker, add Dr. Pepper, brown sugar, salsa, garlic powder, ground mustard, salt, and pepper.

Note: You may use enchilada sauce in place of the salsa if desired. And the color of the sweet pork may vary depending on the salsa or sauce that you use.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred the sweet pork about an hour before the cooking time is done.

Preparing the Rice:

1. 4 cups of water on medium-high heat.
2. Add butter and bouillon.
3. Then stir in the garlic, green chilies, cilantro, salt, onion, and rice.
4. Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low, then simmer for about 20 minutes.

Since we usually have plenty of extra rice, we serve some of it on the side as well.

Rolling Your Cafe Rio Burritos:

Once your meat and rice are hot and ready to serve, it’s time to start assembling your burritos.

1. On a tortilla, layer rice, pork, beans, and shredded cheese.
2. Roll it up, tucking the ends inside and your roll.
3. Cover with enchilada sauce and top with shredded cheese.
4. If desired, place burritos seam-down in a baking dish and bake in the oven at 350° until heated through and cheese is melted.

Note: Sometimes I like to put all the ingredients out and have my guests assemble their own burritos and we skip the baking with enchilada sauce.

Preparing the Dressing

In your blender, add milk, mayonnaise, dry dressing mix, prepared Ranch dressing, tomatillos (if using), cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and hot sauce. Blend until smooth.

Note: If you do not have a blender you can mix by hand, but make sure your cilantro and tomatillos are very finely chopped.

Sweet Pork Salad:

I personally love making a salad with my Cafe Rio sweet pork.

Start with a warmed tortilla, then layer rice, beans, salad, pork, shredded cheese, and cilantro Ranch dressing. Top with diced tomato, sour cream, guacamole, and other toppings, if desired. It’s really tasty!

Note: Both flour and corn tortillas are good. If you choose corn, I like to slightly soften the tortillas by briefly cooking on each side in hot vegetable oil before rolling.

How to Freeze this Cafe Rio Pork Recipe

You can easily freeze this Cafe Rio pork for later. It is a fantastic freezer meal!

To Prepare Meat for Freezing:

1. Follow the directions for cooking the sweet pork in the slow cooker.
2. Once shredded and finished cooking, let cool.
3. Portion into a resealable freezer bag. If needed, place in the refrigerator to finish cooling. Then freeze.

To Prepare After Freezing:

1. Thaw in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then reheat the sweet pork.
2. Prepare the rice and dressing as instructed in the recipe.
3. Enjoy Your Homemade Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrito!
4. Since this is a copycat recipe, we’d love to get your opinions: Do you think this sweet pork tastes just like the Cafe Rio sweet pork or even better?

Enjoy Your Homemade Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrito!

Since this is a copycat recipe, we’d love to get your opinions: Do you think this sweet pork tastes just like the Cafe Rio sweet pork or even better?

Also, which do you prefer, a sweet pork salad or burrito? Let me know!

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