🌮 Cochinita pibil

Name: Cochinita pibil
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Mexico · Yucatán
Ingredients: 1.5 kg pork shoulder, in large chunks; 100 g achiote paste; 250 ml bitter orange juice (or orange juice with 2 tbsp vinegar); 4 garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano, salt; Banana leaves to wrap; 2 red onions, thinly sliced, in vinegar with salt (pickled onion); 1–2 habanero chillies, finely chopped

Origin: Mexico · Yucatán

462kcal

per serving · 250 g

185kcal

per 100 g

50 gProtein20 g / 100 g

25 gFat10 g / 100 g

8 gCarbs3 g / 100 g

Cochinita pibil is pork marinated in bright-red achiote paste and bitter orange juice, wrapped in banana leaves and slow-cooked until it falls apart. The meat is tangy, earthy and gently spiced, with heat coming from habanero salsa on the side. It is served shredded in tortillas or tortas and always topped with pink pickled red onion.

Diets

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Keto-friendly3 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein20 g protein per 100 g — 43% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: pork

Not veganbecause of: pork

Contains porkbecause of: pork

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.

What it is made of

porkachioteorangehabanero pepperbanana leafpickled onion

Recipe

6 servings240 min

Ingredients

1.5 kg pork shoulder, in large chunks
100 g achiote paste
250 ml bitter orange juice (or orange juice with 2 tbsp vinegar)
4 garlic cloves, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano, salt
Banana leaves to wrap
2 red onions, thinly sliced, in vinegar with salt (pickled onion)
1–2 habanero chillies, finely chopped

Method

Blend the achiote, orange juice, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt into a smooth marinade.
Coat the pork and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Line a baking dish with banana leaves, add the pork and marinade and fold the leaves over to seal; cover with foil.
Bake at 160 °C for 3–3½ hours until the meat shreds easily.
Shred the pork in its juices and serve with the pickled onion and habanero.

How to make it lighter

Use pork loin or trim the shoulder of visible fat — the achiote marinade keeps the meat moist.
Skim the fat from the cooking juices before mixing them back in.
Serve it over lettuce or with beans and salad instead of a stack of tortillas.

History

The dish comes from the Yucatán Peninsula, and its name joins cochinita, “little pig”, with the Maya word pib, an earth oven in which the meat was traditionally buried and cooked. Today it is a classic of Yucatecan cooking, sold at markets and taquerías especially as a weekend breakfast.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →