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This pork with Red Chili Sauce is my favorite filling for tamales, burritos, tacos and more. It's made with a pork roast, spices, and a homemade red chili sauce.
While living in Mexico with my husband as a young married couple, I had that opportunity to learn to make some authentic Mexican dishes including Mexican rice, Pork Chile Verde, and homemade tamales! I have a seriously love for GOOD Mexican food!
My experiences with the people, food, and culture of Puebla, Mexico instilled in me a deep love of all things Mexican and you'll notice that the Mexican cuisine on my site gets more love and attention than all of the other types of cuisine!
Don't miss my full tutorial and step by step tips for how to use this pork and make homemade tamales!
For the Pork:
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Add pork, onion, bay leaf, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper to slow cooker. Cover the pork with water and cook on LOW for 8 hours or overnight.
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Drain the pork broth into a container and shred the cooked pork.
For the Mexican red chili sauce:
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Use rubber gloves to remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles while rinsing them under cold water. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups of reserved broth. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat.
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Transfer the chiles and broth to a blender. Add oregano, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic and blend until smooth. Set aside.
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In the same saucepan you used to cook the chiles, add oil and cook over medium heat. Add flour and salt and stir for 1 minute. Strain the chili sauce from the blender and add it to the saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
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Add red chili sauce to the meat, and stir to combine.
Serve with:
- Homemade Tamales
- Inside a burrito
- As a taco
- On a salad
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Shredded Pork with Red Chili Sauce
Ingredients
For the pork:
- 1 1/2 pounds pork loin, shoulder or butt
- 1 large onion, , chopped
- 1 bay leaves
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Red Chili Sauce:
- 4 dried california chile pods
- 2 cups reserved pork broth
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tablespoon oil, (vegetable or canola oil)
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the pork:
- Add pork, onion, bay leaf, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper to slow cooker. Cover the pork with water and cook on LOW for 8 hours or overnight.
- Drain the pork, reserving the broth. Shred the meat.
For the Red Chili Sauce:
- Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chiles while rinsing them under cold water. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups of broth from the cooked pork. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Transfer the chiles and broth to a blender. Add oregano, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- In the same saucepan you used to cook the chiles, add oil and cook over medium heat. Add flour and salt and stir for 1 minute.
- Strain the chili sauce from the blender and add it to the saucepan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, then add the sauce to the shredded pork.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
The pork turned out delicious. An excellent filling for tamales.
Hi, just wanted to double check with the chili powder used here this is a US chili powder which is more of a blend of spices correct? I’m in Australia where chili powder is purely just chili powder so will need to make the adjustment or the taste will be quite different. Looking forward to making your tamale recipe as my husband has been missing them and they are not easy to find here.
very good
This recipe is fantastic. I’m doing my second batch rn. Obviously I missed this step on my first go around. Why strain the chili sauce?
Where is the tutorial? I can’t find it.
You can find that video here: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/mexican-tamales/#adthrive-contextual-container ENJOY!
Is the red chili sauce supposed to have bitterness? I don’t know if this is correct or if I did something wrong.
Well after feeling the same way. I’d have to say the author forgot to include that you are supposed to remove the solids after simmering the Chile’s. I read the back of the masa Harina bag and found this out the hard way. It had formed a bitter past not a sauce. Had to improvise with the aftermath. 😉
After you blend the sauce, you need to strain it (I use a fine mesh strainer), before adding it to the saucepan (step 4).
She definitely does mention to strain the blended chiles in the instructions.
Do you have an version for Instapot?
Sure, in step one, cook the post with 2 cups of liquid (water or broth)on Manual/High pressure for 70 minutes. When timer beeps, allow the pot to naturally release pressure, about 15 minutes longer.
Made tamales for first time for New Years. Turned out pretty good. I need a good steaming pot or round metal rack. Everyone loved the red chili sauce with the tamales.
I made this for tamales for Christmas
It was the first time making tamales and it was delicious. Thank you
Thank you for sharing your fabulous recipes with the rest of us. So appreciated!!!
Do you think I can substitute chicken in this recipe? I’m trying
I think it will be delicious!