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This Cafe Rio Sweet Pork recipe tastes JUST like the original. It has been a fan-favorite on our site since 2007. When you make it you will see why!
Fun Fact: The first Cafe Rio opened in St. George, Utah in 1997 and I was there the first week it opened. It was an INSTANT hit because of the delicious food and had lines out the door every day for years. The first day I went, remember asking them what the best thing on the menu was and they said “the sweet pork, by far”. So I got the sweet pork burrito with black beans and the green enchilada sauce (yes, I still remember my first order like it was yesterday) and I was hooked. I had never tasted anything like it in my life and I didn’t venture away from that exact order for at least 10 years. When I moved away from Utah and didn’t have a Cafe Rio nearby I knew I needed to create a copycat so I could survive. So I did.
I got the recipe by simply going to Cafe Rio and asking them what was in the sweet pork. The workers told me all the ingredients and I went home and figured out the amounts to get it just right. It didn’t take long before I had it down and shared it here on Favorite Family Recipes. I originally shared this recipe back in 2007, and it has been the most popular Cafe Rio copycat recipe on the internet since, and for good reason. It tastes just like the original! The pork is tender and juicy, with the perfect amount of sweetness. You are going to love it!
How to Make Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
- First, marinate the pork in a marinade made from Coke and brown sugar. It will need to marinate for at least 4 hours, but it’s best overnight.
- Next, drain off the marinade and add the put pork, some more Coke, water, and garlic salt in a slow cooker on high for about 3-4 hours or on low for 8 hours. The meat should shred easily but not be dry.
- Remove the pork and shred it using 2 forks. Discard the remaining liquids.
- In a food processor or blender, blend ½ a can of Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce, and 1 cup brown sugar. If the mixture looks too thick, add more Coke little by little. Taste the sauce to check the sweetness, adding more brown sugar if necessary. Put shredded pork and sauce in a slow cooker and cook on low for 2 hours. If you are in a hurry you can put it all in a deep walled skillet and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens.
The Secret to Tender Pork? Low and Slow
My favorite way to make this pork is cooking it in the Crock Pot. I can just throw it all in the pot and forget about it. The pork cooks all day in the slow cooker which makes the meat tender and easy to shred. It also makes the house smell SO good! I always make a big batch of this sweet pork so I can use it in multiple recipes throughout the week, I also find myself snacking on it straight out of the fridge. It’s that good!
Try it In the Instant Pot
Short on time? Prepare the sweet pork in the Instant Pot.
- Place the pork, ½ can of Coke, water, and garlic salt in the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 60 minutes for a pork roast, 40 minutes for pork ribs or pork chops. Natural release for 20 minutes. The pork should shred easily after cooking. If still tough, cook on high pressure for another 10-20 minutes.
- Discard liquid and shred pork.
- Combine the remaining ½ can of coke, chiles, enchilada sauce and brown sugar.
- Return pork and add the liquid mixture to the Instant Pot.
- Cook on the sauté setting and stir frequently until the sauce is thickened.
What Kind of Pork Is Best?
For this sweet pork recipe, it’s best to use boneless pork ribs, pork shoulder, pork roast, or pork butt. These cuts are well-marbled and tender, which makes them great for slow cooking and getting perfectly shreddable pork.
Ways to Use Sweet Pork
Sweet pork is my favorite meat at Cafe Rio. I love it! When prepared correctly, it practically melts in your mouth. With this recipe, you can now have the amazing taste of Cafe Rio Pork at home – all you need is a few simple ingredients and a crock pot. Once it’s shredded and ready to go, use it as a topping or filling in any of the following ways:
- Sweet Pork Salad
- Burritos
- Enchiladas
- Tacos
- Tostadas
- Quesadillas
More Copycat Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipes
Use this cafe rio pork recipe to re-create any of these cravable Cafe Rio menu items:
Reader Reviews
We have received many rave reviews on this sweet pork recipe. This pork is the real deal! We are thrilled that so many of you have enjoyed this recipe as much as we have.
“So I moved to Texas a little over a year ago and to my despair there isn’t a Cafe Rio for 500 miles. I love the pork Barbacoa burrito and have not been able to recreate it or find some thing close to it here in Texas until this recipe thank you for posting this. Every time I eat it, it’s like a warm homey feeling comes over me.” – Kamie
“I had my doubts because the ingredients seem so random, but we love this recipe and have done it with and without marinade several times. A++ both ways.” – Jessica
“THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY SPOT. ON. tastes amazing leftover too!!!!!” – Jared
“We love, love, love this recipe! We have made it for several years now and it surely is a treat! I love your blog and haven’t ever been disappointed! I make LOTS when I make it and freeze it…tastes just as good when thawed! Also the dressings freeze well too! Thanks for your time and talent!”– Misti
Read More: 33+ Easy Dinner Ideas
More Cafe Rio Recipes
A few more Cafe Rio / Costa Vida Recipes
- Salsa Fresca (Pico de Gallo)
- Homemade Flour Tortillas
- Homemade Tortilla Strips
- The BEST Guacamole EVER
- Cilantro-Lime Rice and Black Beans
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Copycat Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork (boneless ribs or pork roast will work great)
- 3 (12-ounce) cans Coca-Cola (not diet)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- dash garlic salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1 can diced green chilies
- 1 (10-ounce) red enchilada sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Put the pork in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag to marinate. Add about a can and a half of Coke and ¼ cup of brown sugar. Marinate for 4 hours or overnight.
- Drain the marinade and put pork, ½ can of Coke, water, and garlic salt in a slow cooker on high for about 3-4 hours or on low for 8 hours. (You want the meat to shred easily, but not be too dry.)
- Remove pork from the slow cooker and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.
- In a food processor or blender, blend ½ a can of Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce, and 1 cup brown sugar. If the mixture looks too thick, add more Coke little by little. Put shredded pork and sauce in a slow cooker and cook on low for 2 hours.
Notes
- Place the pork, ½ can of Coke, water, and garlic salt in the Instant Pot.
- Cook on high pressure for 60 minutes for a pork roast, 40 minutes for pork ribs or pork chops. Natural release for 20 minutes. The pork should shred easily after cooking. If still tough, cook on high pressure for another 10-20 minutes.
- Discard liquid and shred pork.
- Combine the remaining ½ can of coke, chiles, enchilada sauce and brown sugar.
- Return pork and add the liquid mixture to the Instant Pot.
- Cook on the sauté setting and stir frequently until the sauce is thickened.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until heated through.
- Leftovers can also be frozen in freezer Ziplock bags for up to 5 months.
Tastes just like the original! I will only use the recipes from this site now for anything Cafe Rio!!! AMAZING!!!
Thanks Mindy! So glad you like this Sweet Pork recipe!
I’ve never tried the Cafe Rio original, but was really excited to try this recipe. The name is not kidding. It is REALLY sweet. I guess I was expecting a little more spice (not sure why) and this was almost too sweet … I felt I could serve this at a child’s birthday party and all the kids would love it. I had to do something to add a little more depth so I added some ketchup … regular, and then a few shots of spicy (my mom swears by ketchup in her sweet pork and that felt safer than adding hot sauce which would’ve been unchartered territory). That helped a little but I was still a little worried serving it as a dinner but I paired it with the pico de gallo mentioned in the links somewhere and a little sour cream to cut back on the sweetness, and a lot of fresh cilantro and that balanced it out very nicely. My boyfriend had his in a flour tortilla bowl with rice, cheddar, pico, sour cream and pork, and he liked it a lot too. Grilled asparagus went well on the side. What went from being an “oh crap! I killed all that great pork with way to much sweetness” to a surprisingly good meal. Again, never tried the original version, so I can’t speak to that, but, we really ended up enjoying this. Thanks!
Whew! I’m glad it worked for the party! It is sweet. Balancing it out with ketchup was a great idea!
What size can of green chiles?
4 oz
Thank you!
First of all, I’ve made many of your recipes in the past & loved the ones I’ve made. I have never been one for sweets. I have had bar-b-que in the past, but very seldom, because most of it tasted overly sweet. Once in a great while, I would find some bar-b-que that was balanced just right between the sweet & the heat & would have a small serving. Due to my lack of interest in sweets, I’ve never been concerned regarding diabetes & because diabetes has never been in my family. Imagine my great shock, when 8 months to 1 yr. ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes 2. When looking at the picture in my mind I had already rated its deliciousness @ 5 stars! I actually thought about trying this delicious looking & sounding recipe, that is until I added up the grams of sugar in every ingredient in this recipe. While only using 1 can of coke in the marinade the others are in the sauce. I checked out every ingredient in this dish & a total of 673 grams of sugar are infused into just 2 pounds of meat & sauce for this entire recipe. This is the first bar-b-que recipe that I’ve yearned to make myself in more than 5 full years & yet I can’t! However, I’m also positive you have other scrumptious dishes within your recipes that I will still make & enjoy. Please do not refuse to publish this comment, all of us need to realize the dangers of consuming excess sugar. IF I watch carefully what I eat & manage to continue to get my weight down, I only have 80 lbs. to go, I can possibly rid myself of Diabetes 2. The reason I wrote this is the fact that I felt secure I would never have diabetes & yet I have it. Even Diabetes 2 can cause loss of vision & other serious health problems if not found, treated & corrected. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes I’ve made & enjoyed over the past year or so.
Margo Haynes
Hi Margo- we appreciate your concern and we are sorry to hear about the health problems you and your family are experiencing. For this recipe, you can absolutely cut down the amount of sugar. Plus, a lot of the sugar is discarded with the marinade. This is a copycat recipe have made it to taste just like the Cafe Rio sweet pork. It is quite sweet. If you would prefer a pork recipe with much less sugar, we have a delicious Kalua pork recipe that doesn’t have added sugar. Hope this helps!
Type 2 diabetes isnt caused by sugar consumption. Check out ‘mastering diabetes’. Anyway, I have diabetes too and shared these concerns. Thanks for the comment.
THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY SPOT. ON. tastes amazing leftover too!!!!!
Thank you so much Jared! So glad you liked it!
So. For the amount of coke, it calls for 36,72, or 108 ozs of coke but all 3 recipes say (3 cans). A 2 ltr coke is 67.6 oz of coke. There’s no way you would use almost 2- 2ltrs of coke for 6# of meat. What is the correct amount for each recipe???
This Sweet Pork recipe only uses 36 ounces of coke. I am not sure where you are getting the other measurements from.
That sounds amazing! Thanks for the tip and the 5-star rating!
Yeah this tasted nothing like the cafe rio pork at all. I followed it exactly, and was pretty disappointed. I’ve tried some other cafe rio recipes from this (the rice and beans) and those have been really good, so I’m pretty bummed this turned out really bland. Oh well, the other recipes have been awesome though.
Mine is about an hour away from completion by the look of it.
Ended up marinating it for two days because I didn’t have the time to get it into the crock pot between my doggo’s, fat cats and Remembrance Day/Veteran’s Day ceremonies yesterday for us Canucks.
After the entire time on low the sauce seems to have gotten thinner. I don’t know if this is a difference in ambient atmosphere pressure and the fat leftover from the pork all being drained or perhaps the green chilis and enchilada sauce are more watery-
Either way the sauce is more liquid than sauce to the point I have cracked the lid and turn up my slow cookers temperature to high to reduce it a little.
Flavours are on par! My picky boyfriend will love this, the only reason I have rated it only 4/5 stars is simple because after following the instructions to the letter I am left with a watery sauce.
I am excited to try this. How long do I cook a 5.5 lb roast? On high or low?
Cook it for the same amount of time as it calls for in the recipe – low for 8 hours, then shred and add the sauce and cook on low for an additional 2 hours. Thank you for asking!
I know this is an older recipe and I’m wanting to try it! I bought pre-cooked shredded pork. I’m wondering if you’ve tried that before and does it work just as well?
Pre-cooked pork won’t have quite the same flavor as it hasn’t been cooked in the right flavorings. You can try marinating it in coke and brown sugar and then heating before serving. I’m not sure. I don’t think I have even seen pre-cooked shredded pork before (without BBQ sauce). Is that what you found?
We love, love, love this recipe! We have made it for several years now and it surely is a treat! I love your blog and haven’t ever been disappointed! I make LOTS when I make it and freeze it…tastes just as good when thawed! Also the dressings freeze well too! Thanks for your time and talent!
Thank you so much for this kind comment! You seriously made my day 🙂 So happy to hear you are a long-time fan. Please keep coming back for more! We will do our best to keep the good recipes comin’ 😀
Hi, I just made this and it was so wonderful. There is no enchilada sauce here so I made my own, also no cans of green child’s so I sautéed some peppers that looked like Anaheim peppers and it worked nicely. This is my new go to recipe for pulled pork. Thank you!
We’re so glad you like it!
I would like to serve Sweet Pork Salad for a gathering of about 60 people. I’ve noticed your recipes don’t have serving quanities. How many people do these recipes serve? I’m commenting on the Sweet Pork recipe, but portions need to apply to all the salad ingredients: pork, rice, and black beans. (You may have answered this question already; I didn’t take the time to read through all the comments.) Also, I’d like to be able to prepare as much ahead as possible. I’m planning to make the meat ahead, freeze it and then put it in my roasting oven the morning of my event. How well will the rice do if I make it the day before, and then warm it up in big aluminum trays in the oven? I’m open for any other suggestions on how to efficiently serve this to a large crowd of people.
thanks.
All of the Cafe Rio recipes should serve about 4-6.. the pork can usually serve a little more though if you want to stretch it out (maybe 8 servings). We have never made the rice ahead of time so I am not sure how it will turn out. You will probably be fine, my only worry is that it will be a little dry. Just be sure to keep it sealed well if you do make it before. Let us know how it turns out!
I would like to serve Sweet Pork Salad for a gathering of about 60 people. I’ve noticed your recipes don’t have serving quanities. How many people do these recipes serve? I’m commenting on the Sweet Pork recipe, but portions need to apply to all the salad ingredients: pork, rice, and black beans. (You may have answered this question already; I didn’t take the time to read through all the comments.)
thanks.
I know the recipe calls for coke, but could Pepsi yield the same results?
Yes, Pepsi will work just fine. It’s the carbonation that tenderizes the meat and the sugar that sweetens it. Thanks for asking!
I have made this recipe for a few years, and love it. Even though I’m not a Coke drinker (we just don’t drink a lot of soda), I keep 12-packs of caffeine-free Coke in my pantry for “Cafe Rio night.” But I’ve gotten lazy; let’s call it busy, it’ll make me feel better. I’ve gone to buying the precooked pulled pork at Costco, and putting it in the microwave with a little of all the ingredients. All the flavor without all the time… Everyone loves it. I throw rice in the rice maker with broth, lime, sugar & cilantro, open a can of black beans that are preseasoned with lime/peppers, and Bam. If I haven’t had time to make cilantro lime ranch ahead, everyone grabs the hidden valley and STILL loves it. We all choose if we want it in a tortilla or as a salad. Best mix of ingredients for a cafe rio taste!!!
How many salads does this make? I need to feed 12 people.
It makes 4-6 depending on how hungry people are.. the dressing serves probably 10-12
This recipe is really close to what an anonymous source at a certain restaurant told me, except he says they use an obscene amount of butter, and it’s Dr. Pepper instead of Coke. I did it his way and it tasted exactly the same as the restaurant. But this recipe is so close, I’d rather skip the butter and do it this way.
Want to make this for a baby shower luncheon but there is a lot to do. Can I make the pork and freeze it ahead of time? Has anyone tried this and did the flavor/consistency of the pork suffer
I always make a bunch of the pork when it goes on sale and freeze it. It is a family favorite and a staple at our house. Love the sweet pork. You won’t be disappointed when you thaw it out and reheat it.
Can this recipe be done in a pressure cooker rather than a slow cooker?
We haven’t tried it in the pressure cooker, so I can’t definitively say how it would affect the recipe. But let us know how it turns out if you try it!