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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Recipe
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
HAVE YOU TRIED THIS RECIPE?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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The pork turned out delicious. An excellent filling for tamales.
I know you’ve answered this but I am nervous. I thought the meat would generate its own liquid. In spite of this, still cover liquid until submerged??
Your recipes are my most goto
Thank you for helping make dinners enjoyable.we live 36 miles from the closest town . Dinner served home every night we are fortunate to have good nutritional meals
Your admirer Elizabeth
I have made all 3 of these Tamales recipes. The recipes are easy to follow and are very tasty to an American palate and can be spiced up or down to suit. I did change 1 thing the second time I made it I used a Pork Picnic Shoulder Roast. I also doubled the Red Chili Sauce. I like my meat with a bit more liquid to pour over and it also makes a great gravy for potatoes.
Will this be extremely spicy (as in can’t taste anything else but the burn)?
I like some spice but I don’t like to just have a burning mouth and not be able to enjoy the other flavors of the meal. ☺️
Depends on which chilis you use. Use Pasilla peppers and maybe a few guajillo peppers. Those are mild-to-medium heat.
Wonderful recipe! I did not even know I could make tamales this good …thanks for making us all look good with great recipes!
Tried and true!! We use this recipe for homemade tamales and taco bar!
Ty!
This was delicious, thank-you you for sharing Lauren.
I have never been a fan of Red Chili Sauce with California Peppers. It always has that strange bitter flavor and I can taste the skins.
Your suggestion to strain prompted me to use a high-quality cheesecloth. The result was amazing. A much more finished and delicate sauce. First time I have actually enjoyed this type of sauce.
It surprised me how much pulp/fiber was removed after a long processing in my Vitamix blender on high.
I can now go back to red enchilada sauce😀
Thank you!
How much water does “cover it in water” mean? You have to either give me a specific amount that I can actual measure out or be way more specific because I don’t know if you mean 1 cup of water or 5 cups.
Cover with enough water so the meat is covered
Great recipe, 2nd time making this.only my red chili sauce was more orange brown then red and spicier than the first time I made it. First time was a dark red. Im wondering if i changed something. The 1st time the chili pods where a dark red almost black, 2nd time were lighter red, I am wondering if that was the difference. Wondering if you could tell me what I may have done to cause that. Still taste great, but a little spicy. Recipe brings back memories of when I was 8, and my mom, aunts and cousins making an assembly line to get them in the big steamers and ready to eat.
Great recipe!