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Sweet pork-baked burritos you can get on the table in no time! Shredded sweet pork burritos served enchilada style in portions perfect for family dinner.
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These sweet pork-baked burritos still have all the great flavors of Cafe Rio. However, it is much simpler and much more family-friendly. In the time you can make your typical casserole pan of enchiladas, you can make these! If you have the extra time, then this traditional way of making them is just what you need. Both are delicious and flavorful dinners!
We have some great side dish options to go along with these baked burritos. A nice green salad is always a good pairing with burritos. It adds some crunch and some color to your plate. We also love serving our Cheater Restaurant Style Refried Beans and Restaurant Style Mexican Rice with all of our Mexican dishes. Of course, you can never go wrong with adding chips and homemade salsa to the mix.
Sweet Pork Ingredients
First, you will want to sear the pork on all sides giving the pork those crispy edges. Place the pork in the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients. Slow cook until it is tender and your fork can easily shred the meat. Sometimes it just falls apart without using a fork in some places. This is a quick and easy way to make pork for sweet pork-baked burritos.
- Pork ribs – Country-style pork ribs, pork shoulder, or a pork roast work well in the slow cooker.
- Coke – Don’t use diet coke or any other type or flavor of coke besides the original coke brand. Trust me, this will give your pork the flavor and tenderness it needs.
- Brown sugar – This adds extra sweetness as well as gives the pork ribs that melt in your mouth flavor.
- Red enchilada sauce – This adds to the richness and flavor giving the pork the classic Mexican flavor within the pork.
Cilantro Lime Rice
Place all the ingredients into the rice cooker and cook until it is done! That means the rice cooker will do all the work. This is light and fluffy rice with a hint of zest and spice from the cilantro and lime ingredients. It is the perfect combination!
- Rice – Uncooked rice can be added to the rice cooker or on the stovetop.
- Chicken broth – Rather than using water for making rice we used chicken broth for more flavor and to make the rice even more fork tender.
- Lime – A squeeze of fresh lime juice is always a MUST in this rice. It is refreshing and so flavorful!
- Garlic – Balance all the flavors with minced garlic. This will bring in the savory and sweet flavors combined!
- Cilantro – Fresh chopped cilantro gives that authentic flavor to the cilantro lime rice.
How to Make Sweet Pork Burritos
Making this sweet pork burritos enchilada style is a fun twist! Add all your ingredients to a tortilla and roll it up and place it in the pan. It is simple to do and you only have one pan to clean up!
- Cover – Pour about ¾ cup of the green enchilada sauce over the bottom of a greased cooking spray in the 9×13 glass pan and spread evenly.
- Layer – In each flour tortilla shell, place shredded pork, a scoop of rice, a scoop of black beans, green enchilada sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese. Place burritos along the bottom of the prepared 9×13 pan.
- Smother – Pour the remaining green enchilada sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
- Bake – Place the baking dish in the oven and cook. It is fully cooked once the cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Serve – Serve with any extra remaining rice and beans.
“I love sweet pork and enchiladas are my favorite – as soon asa I saw your recipe I knew I would love it! I definitely recommend this recipe!”
-Melissa
Frequently Asked Questions
Like several pork recipes, sides are always delicious and a great way to complete a meal. A side salad, rice, and beans, or soup for the colder months.
We love to use sour cream, salsa verde, or homemade salsa that tastes delicious over top for each bite. Squeezing lime juice or sliced avocados is a bonus too!
We haven’t tried corn tortillas for this cafe rio pork recipe but you are welcome to try them. I fear that they will fall apart while baking and not hold together like a flour tortilla will.
Storing and Leftovers for Pork Baked Burritos
Place your leftover pork burritos in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three days. When ready to reheat, place it in the oven or microwave until it is warmed through. These are perfect for next-day lunches or making ahead for meal prep!
More Delicious Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes
It used to be Cafe Rio was known only in the west, but its popularity has spread over the past several years. If have eaten there, you know why. Their food is amazing! After enjoying their delicious food, we moved to a city that didn’t have a Cafe Rio. I went to work to create copycat recipes so we could still enjoy the Cafe Rio flavors at home.
Sweet Pork Baked Burritos
Equipment
Ingredients
Shredded Pork
- 2 pounds country style pork ribs you can also do a pork roast
- 1/2 cup Coke
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup red enchilada sauce
Cilantro Lime Rice
- 1 1/2 cups rice uncooked
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
Burrito
- 8 flour tortillas
- 14 ounces cuban-style black beans
- 28 ounces green enchilada sauce (2 cans)
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese grated
Instructions
For the Shredded Pork
- Sear pork on all sides until browned. Place pork in slow cooker with Coke, brown sugar, and enchilada sauce. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours or until pork is tender and shreds easily. Shred pork, place back in crock pot and set aside.
For the Cilantro Lime Rice
- In the meantime, place rice, chicken broth, lime, garlic and cilantro in a rice cooker and cook until done (you can also do this on the stove following rice package instructions).
For the Burritos
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Pour about ¾ cup of the green enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 glass pan and spread evenly.
- In each flour tortilla shell, place about ¼ cup shredded pork, scoop of rice (to taste), scoop of black beans (lightly drained, to taste), about 2-3 tablespoons of green enchilada sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese (to taste). Place burritos along the bottom of the prepared 9×13 pan.
- Pour remaining green enchilada sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly.
- Serve with any extra remaining rice and beans.
I love sweet pork and enchiladas are my favorite – as soon asa I saw your recipe I knew I would love it! I definitely recommend this recipe!
These burritos came out SO GOOD. Can’t wake to make them again!
These are a NEW FAVORITE! We fell in love with these and now my kids are even asking for them again tonight. Lol! Thank you so much.
Can these be made ahead and left in the fridge until baking, or will they get too soggy? What about freezing?
If you want to make them ahead of time, do everything except pour the enchilada sauce over the top. Pour it on right before you bake. I hope this helps!
I LOVE cafe rio burritos. This was phenomenal. Tasted better than the restaurant version. Can’t wait to have it on repeat at my house.
Found dinner for tonight!! Thank you for making a Cafe Rio favorite of ours a little bit quicker!!
Do you think this would be fine with corn tortillas as well? My husband is Gluten Free.
Yes, that way it will just be like the Cafe Rio enchiladas.. which are delicious! Just make sure to soften up the corn tortillas first in a pan or they will fall apart. Hope this helps!
Looks delish! Can’t wait to try it! Can you tell me about how many servings this produce? Forgive me if it’s posted; I’m just not seeing it. 🙂
It should serve 6. We have 5 in our family and it makes plenty 🙂 Hope this helps!
Can’t get enchilada sauces here–any good homemade enchilada sauce recipes?
We have a great one! Copy and paste this link: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/homemade-enchilada-sauce/
Thank you for this recipe. This was pretty darn good!
Next time, I will cut back massively on the brown sugar (from a cup to perhaps 1/4 c). The pork was far too sweet for us, but we’ll definitely be trying this again with minor alterations. The rice was amazing; I’ve done cilantro lime rice before (our favorite and great to serve with grilled vegetables), but making it with chicken broth added a whole new dimension to the flavor!
For those interested in making this but prefer not to use a crockpot, you could alter this dish to be ready in under an hour by swapping out the pork and shredding up a rotisserie chicken instead. We may try that next time!
Do you think that this would work with chicken as well?
Literally no reason why it wouldn’t.