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Happy Cinco De Mayo. I hope you have a fun fiesta planned for today. I know I do.
My family loves Cafe Rio. If we’re going out to eat Mexican, it’s the only place my husband wants to go. Cafe Rio claims to be the #1 Mexican Restaurant in the Nation for overall customer satisfaction. Which sort of made me chuckle because Cafe Rio is only in six Western States. But it is Mexican fast food at it’s finest. It is consistently good and we Utahns love our Cafe Rio.
Everything is made fresh daily. The tortillas are hand made and you watch them bake them on a circulating stone while you order. They make your order in front of you as you’re herded along the counter with a throng of other hungry people waiting to get their Cafe Rio fix. Do you want your salad with pork, chicken or beef, black or pinto beans, cilantro lime rice, pico de gallo, Cotija cheese, cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, tortilla strips, and Creamy Tomatillo or Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette Dressing? It’s a huge salad served in aluminum tins.
I recently made Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Barbacoa Salads for a birthday party. It’s the perfect way to feed a crowd because everyone can fix it just the way they like it.
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Sweet Barbacoa Pork
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless pork ribs
- 1 12 oz.. can Coke not diet – can use caffeine free
- ¼ c. brown sugar
- dash garlic powder
- ¼ c. water
Instructions
- Put the pork, 1 can of Coke and ¼ c. brown sugar in a Ziploc bag to marinade. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.
- Pour meat and marinade into crock pot. Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 on low. Keep lid on to retain liquid. Drain liquid. Shred meat with 2 forks when done.
- Put shredded pork and Barbacoa Enchilada Sauce in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours.
- Note: The meat and the beans are both very saucy, which is nice if they are being served buffet style because it keeps them really moist, but be sure and use slotted spoons to serve them.
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Barbacoa Enchilada Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup Coke
- 1 can diced green chilies
- 1 cup red enchilada sauce
- ½ c. brown sugar
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, blend Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and ½ c. brown sugar.
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Cilantro Lime Rice
Ingredients
- 1 c. uncooked rice long-grain, white rice
- 1 tsp. butter or margarine
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 can 15 oz chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth, and water. Bring to a boil.
- Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat.
- In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.
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Black Beans
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 ⅓ c. tomato juice
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it.
- Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through.
- Just before serving, stir in the cilantro. (Next time I make the beans I’ll use less tomato juice.)
- Note: The meat and the beans are both very saucy, which is nice if they are being served buffet style because it keeps them really moist, but be sure and use slotted spoons to serve them.
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Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix not BUTTERMILK
- 1 c. mayonnaise
- 1 c. buttermilk
- 2 to matillos remove husk, diced
- ½ bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 jalapeno I used some jalapeno slices from a jar
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in the blender.
Kim
What is not to love about shredded pork ribs? This sounds delicious and definitely a great way to celebrate cinco de mayo. My husband and I would love this.
Sue Sparks
Mexican food is my husband's favorite! It seems everyone in Utah loves Cafe Rio:) All the recipes sound great! My grandma used to make homemade tortillas:) Muchas gracias for your comment on my blog;)
sweetlife
great recipe, I could eat mexican food everyday..yum but then again I do..haha
coke with pork sounds tasty
sweetlife
Lynn
Mmm, I am such a fan of shredded pork. Your version looks delicious. Happy Cinco de Mayo! We're having chicken and artichokes for dinner; a pretty American meal, I believe 😮
lisaiscooking
I wished I'd planned a meal of Mexican food for dinner tonight! I forgot all about it being Cinco de Mayo. Your salad looks fantastic!
Holly
It all sounds so good:) I love all kinds of Mexican food:)
Kathleen
This sounds amazing! I can't wait to try it> I think I could eat Mexican food everyday of the week!
Bonnie
We love this pork. I make another variation but I like to use Dr. Pepper instead of Coke. I know someone who used to work at one of the original restaurants, before they franchised and they told me that is they used when they worked there. Either way, this is a winner.
Darlene Young
Thanks for the recipe! And now, can you just figure out how to make their green mild enchilada sauce? How I love that stuff . . .
Julie
Sounds like a wonderful way to prepare pork!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Happy Cinco de Mayo mum! 😀 I seem to have some strange love for recipes that involve Coca Cola so I really like the sound of this sauce! 😀 xxx
Candy Girl
This looks fantastic! I can't wait to try it.
Faith
This is a beautiful Cinco de Mayo dish! I really love the Coke in the sauce!
Chow and Chatter
oh this looks wonderful great recipe and who would have thought to add coke
Frieda
Thanks, Barbara ~ I love the fact that we can tweak recipes to suit our tastes!
Maria
Josh loves their pork. I will have to show him this recipe. Thanks!
Lynda
We are addicted to mexican food, can't wait to try this!
The Double Dipped Life
Who would've thought that they used Coke?? I hate Coke- does it taste like coke? I'm abnormal- I'm a Utahn that really doesn't care for Cafe Rio! There are other places that are just better. Oh well! I will try your tomatillo dressing recipe though!
Grumpy and HoneyB
I could devour this in a heartbeat!
Cathy
We love Mexican food and I know this pork and sauce will be a big hit. Pork ribs have so much flavor and cooking them in the crock pot is perfect. Yum. Gracias.