From Tamales to Casados: One Pork Recipe to Rule Them All
Discover the savory flavors of this traditional Costa Rican pork recipe. Perfect for tamales or as a tasty casado side dish. Evoke the essence of Costa Rica.
Costa Rican pork is an important Costa Rican side dish, as you can use it in all kinds of recipes. Traditional Costa Rican food doesn’t generally use as much pork as it does fish, beef, or chicken, but especially at Christmas, pork is a food we eat a lot.
This shredded pork recipe is the main filling for Christmas tamales, but you can also use it for taco night, or even as a side dish as the protein in a Costa Rican casado.
This simple Costa Rican pork recipe won’t disappoint.
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Costa Rican Pork Recipe
Ingredients
(printable recipe below)
2–3 lbs pork meat cut into large chunks (see notes)
1/2 white or yellow onion, roughly chopped
1/2 red pepper, roughly chopped
2–3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped (leaves and stems)
1 Tbsp salt
6–8 cups water
3 Tbsp Salsa Lizano
2–3 Tbsp achiote (see product recommendation below)
Instructions
Cut pork into large chunks for shredding later.
Roughly chop the vegetables.
Brown the meat in the pot, and then add the rest of the ingredients. Cover the pot.
If cooking on the stovetop, simmer on low for 2-3 hours until everything is super tender. Gently shred meat.
If slow cooker, cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Shred.
If using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, cook sealed on high pressure for 30 minutes. You can then release the pressure or leave it on warm.
Stir in achiote until pork is the desired color and there are no chunks of achiote in the meat. Shred and use the pork liberally in your Costa Rican tamales – or any other favorite Costa Rican recipe.
Serving Suggestions
The main serving suggestion I have is to make this for the Costa Rican tamales- it’s the main filling along with arroz a la jardinera.
You could serve this with some Costa Rican black beans and Costa Rican white rice and make your own casado- complete with a picadillo de chayote! Just don’t forget the Salsa Lizano!
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Variations
In general, apart from the Christmas tamales I mentioned before, most pork eaten in Costa Rica is pork belly made into chicharrones. This is part of a very popular dish called the Costa Rican chifrijo.
It’s essentially Costa Rican rice, red kidney beans, chicharrones, pico de Gallo, and tortilla chips in the same bowl. It’s delicious. You could easily substitute this shredded pork recipe for the fried pork chicharrones in the traditional chifrijo recipe.
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Printable Recipe – Costa Rican Pork
Costa Rican Pork Recipe- For Tamales
This Costa Rican pork is the main filling for a Costa Rican tamale, and is also used as a side dish for a Costa Rican casado.
Ingredients
- 2–3 lbs pork meat cut into large chunks (see notes)
- 1/2 white or yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 1/2 red pepper, roughly chopped
- 2–3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped (leaves and stems)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 6–8 cups water
- 3 Tbsp Salsa Lizano
- 2–3 Tbsp achiote (see product recommendation below)
Instructions
- Put everything into a pot and cover. If cooking on the stovetop, boil for 2-3 hours until everything is super tender. Gently shred meat.
- If slow cooker, cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours. Shred.
- If using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, cook sealed on high pressure for 20 minutes. You can then release the pressure or leave it on warm.
- Stir in achiote until pork is desired color and there are no chunks of achiote in the meat.
- Shred and use the pork liberally in your tamales!
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Meet Christa
I’m Christa and I help families plan stress-free, culturally immersive trips to Costa Rica. As a home chef, I also share my passion for Costa Rican food through authentic recipes. My mission is to help your family fall in love with Costa Rica through practical advice, unforgettable experiences, and delicious meals.
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Do you remove the fat from the pork? Great recipe by the way, this matches closely what I remember my abuela doing when I was a child and I used it to recreate her tamales.
Hi Adriana! I don’t remove the fat until I shred the pork. Then I remove all the bits and pieces I can. Thank you for the compliment on the recipe- I hope the tamales turn out perfectly! Pura vida! ~Christa