Smithfield Applewood Bacon Loin Filet is spit roasted in the air fryer before slicing and serving in these Applewood Bacon al Pastor Style Tacos. They’re topped with a simple al pastor style sauce that makes them scrumptious!
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Our air fryer is addicting. I really should share more recipes than I have. Actually, I think I’ve only shared one. Anyway, I should create more recipes for it. It’s on my to do list. You’ll just have to stay tuned on that topic.
We’ve made schnitzel style pork chops, roasted potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. I’ve been playing with making some taquitos in there, too. So crispy and so delicious.
Of course, we use it for any number of prepared frozen foods like tater tots, chicken strips, and countless fries. Everything comes out super crispy and delicious. More so than our convection ovens. Yes, we had a counter top one and one of our wall ovens supposedly is a convection but we have doubts.
Since we used the counter top convection for more than just baking we made sure this air fryer did the same. Meaning, it had to be able to rotisserie. We made countless rotisserie chickens in that counter top convection oven. So much so that the spit sort of, just, wore out. I’ll just leave it at that.
Yes. The first thing we tried out in there was a rotisserie chicken. It was so crispy on the outside. More so than the other oven. Which made me think of other things to cook on the spit. Of course, I cooked one pork roast already. It was so good! It tasted like those Brazilian pork slices from those restaurants. Have you been to those? SO so good.
Anyway, I was thinking of all the other foods that are spit roasted like gyros, lamb, and some tacos. Like tacos al pastor! I’ve talked about the history of tacos al pastor in my recipe for grilled pork tacos al pastor. No, I didn’t spit roast that pork. I simply marinated it and then grilled the chops.
But I am still amazed that Lebanese immigrants inspired the al pastor style of cooking the meat on a spit or in a cone. I think the term cone is more appropriate. It’s stacked piece upon piece and then rotated vertically until it’s all cooked and delicious. There are many recipes that show you how to do this in the oven. Maybe I’ll try one one day and share it with you.
But, what do you do when you don’t have all day to bake or cone cook some meat but still want that al pastor flavor on your tacos? You make an al pastor style sauce to go with your rotisserie roasted Smithfield Applewood Bacon Loin Filet tacos.
Not to worry! There’s not a ton of complex ingredients in this sauce. I really cannot stand those types of recipes. You know those recipes, right? You have to buy a gallon bottle of some specialty ingredient to use like a teaspoon of it. And now you’re stuck with this gallon of stuff you’re hardly ever going to use again. I feel that way about tahini. I really wish it came in little packets like tomato paste does now. Those little squeeze packs are so handy!
What else is handy is Smithfield marinated fresh pork loins at Walmart. Marinated in real flavorful all natural ingredients, these fresh cuts of pork are perfect for quick meals. Because they’re perfectly marinated and seasoned, you can make a quick sheet pan meal your family will love.
Trust me. I’ve done that before.
Smithfield® makes many different flavors of marinated pork loins:
- Hardwood Smoked Bacon and Cracked Black Pepper
- Applewood Smoked Bacon
- Original Recipe
- Roasted Garlic & Herb
- Roasted Garlic and Cracked Black Pepper
- Slow Roasted Golden Rotisserie
- Sweet Teriyaki
- Slow Smoked Mesquite
- Steakhouse Mushroom
They all sound so delicious! I’ve had the Roasted Garlic & Herb and the Steakhouse Mushroom. So much flavor in those delicious roasts. They easily make a delicious, hassle-free meal for any night of the week. And since they’re the loin or tenderloin, they cook up in no time!
It took less than 35 minutes to cook the pork loin in the air fryer for these Applewood Bacon al Pastor Style Tacos. I centered the Applewood Smoked Bacon loin on the rotisserie spit. Then I preheated the air fryer to 375, inserted the spit, and cooked the loin for 30 minutes.
I checked the internal temperature, but it wasn’t quite ready to rest. To reach 140, I only needed an additional 5 minutes of cooking time. I took it out and let it rest for 15 minutes before I thinly sliced and served up my tacos.
The Applewood Smoked Bacon loin is already marinated and seasoned, so it was ready for the air fryer. How easy is that? No prep. Well, a little prep because you have strain the pinapple for a bit and then stir the salsa with the pineapple and the achiote paste. That’s like, 10 minutes max? But you can do that while the roast is cooking.
Is that considered prep?
Usually, al pastor meat marinates in either guajillo or chipotle peppers, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, vinegar, and pineapple juice. But the Smithfield® pork is already marinated in delicious flavors. So, I combined all these ingredients into a delicious sauce you serve with your Applewood Smoked Bacon pork loin. There’s chipotle peppers, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, and a dash of vinegar in the chipotle salsa I bought. To that I added some crushed pineapple and achiote paste.
What is achiote paste? Achiote paste is a combination of:
- Achiote seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Black peppercorns
- Cumin seeds
- Cloves
- Oregano
- Garlic cloves
- Salt
- Vinegar
The spices get ground together and the garlic gets mashed with the salt. Then you combine the two and add the vinegar until it forms a paste. It gives the al pastor tacos their bright red color and adds an interesting level or flavor not found in other taco recipes.
Yes, yes I did forget to top the tacos with the queso fresco. I realized that when I sat down to eat these drool worthy tacos. Don’t forget the cheese! It’s important with tacos. I also topped mine with a little crema. I’m totally addicted to crema. If you haven’t tried it, you should.
Just look at those tacos! All those layers of flavors make for a delicious taco. There’s the crisp lettuce on the bottom. Then I added some of the sliced Applewood Bacon pork loin. You can see some of the chopped bacon that comes with the pork loin. It’s all topped with the al pastor style sauce. Imagine the queso fresco.
It’s there in spirit.
You can see the red peppers and tomatoes in the sauce. There’s little flecks of the pineapple in there. Since it’s crushed pineapple, it’s not easy to see, but I can see little flecks of it here and there. And that deep red color is partly due to the achiote paste with the chipotle salsa.
I drizzled mine with a little lime juice. It just kicks up the flavor of everything a little. I also made a little bit of guacamole to dip my tacos in or some tortilla chips. The creamy guacamole really rounds out the taco experience. So do the tortilla chips.
You could easily serve the sauce as salsa. I mean, it’s made with salsa so why couldn’t you serve the sauce as salsa? I sure did nibble on it with some chips while I putting this all together.
So you don’t miss a nibble, check out the Smithfield® website. And don’t forget to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. They’re constantly sharing recipe ideas and new products.
Applewood Bacon al Pastor Style Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pound Smithfield Applewood Bacon Loin Filet
- 1 cup chipotle salsa
- 3/4 cup crushed pineapple in juice, drained through a mesh sieve
- 1 tablespoon achiote paste (see notes)
- 6 ounces queso fresco
- 12 soft taco shells
Instructions
- Carefully thread the Applewood Bacon Loin Filet on the spit of your air fryer. Tress with kitchen twine if needed. (see notes)
- Preheat the air fryer to 375. Cook the loin filet for 30 minutes. Check the internal temperature of your roast. Remove it from the air fryer if it’s 140. If not, cook in 10-minute intervals until the internal temperature reaches 140. Tent with foil and allow to rest 10 minutes.
- While the pork is cooking, drain the pineapple through a fine mesh strainer. Use a spoon to remove as much of the pineapple juice as possible. Reserve the juice for another use.
- Combine the salsa with the pineapple and achiote past. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve the tacos.
- Thinly slice the pork roast. Stack a few slices and cut into thin strips. Place a few slices of pork on the tortilla (or taco shell). Spoon some of the al pastor style sauce and garnish with queso fresco before serving.
Notes
To keep the chopped bacon with the roast, I wrapped mine in center cut bacon before trussing. You could easily crisp this bacon up in a skillet and serve with the pork roast barbacoa style.
If you cannot locate achiote paste, you can substitute:
- Makes 3 tablespoons:
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
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