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pork & pineapple tacos with onion, cilantro, and salsa verde

Pork & Pineapple Tacos

Marinated pork steaks are just right for easy weeknight tacos. It's not the most tender of cuts, but slicing pork steak into bite size pieces and then marinating help to tenderize. The punchy marinade combines pineapple and orange juice with zesty seasonings. Pan frying promotes browning for sweet and savory nuggets of pork. Serve Pork and Pineapple tacos with your favorite toppings.
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Author Margie
Prep Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 8 tacos

Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds thin-cut pork steaks, trimmed and sliced into ¼ inch strips

Marinade

  • ¼ cup orange juice (from 1 navel orange)
  • 4 oz fruit bowl of pineapple tidbits with juice (1/2 cup, see notes)
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon Mexican adobo seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¾ teaspoon seasoned salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • pinch cayenne pepper

Pan Frying

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided for pan frying

Serving

  • 8 soft corn or flour tortillas
  • toppings as desired

Instructions
 

  • Cut pork steaks into ¼ - ½ inch strips, trimming away bone and gristle. Then cut strips into smaller bite size pieces. Transfer sliced pork to a non reactive container.
  • Add all the marinade ingredients to the container with the pork. Stir well or massage to evenly distribute marinade ingredients and coat the pork.
  • Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
  • Cook pork in two batches. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat in large skillet. Add half the pork to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until pork is cooked through and well browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove first batch of cooked pork from the pan and transfer to a clean bowl. Add another teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and cook the second batch of pork.
  • Discard any remaining marinade.
  • Serve the pan fried pork with your preferred tortillas and toppings.

Notes

  1. Prep time for recipe reflects a 30 minute marination time. 
  2. The recipe calls for a 4-ounce fruit bowl of pineapple tidbits, which measures 1/2 cup of combined fruit and juice. I use one of the 4-ounce single serving fruit bowl snack containers. But canned pineapple tidbits also come in larger sizes, in which case use 1/2 cup of pineapple tidbit pieces with juice. 
  3. Please note the recipe calls for canned (or packaged as in the snack fruit bowl) pineapple tidbits. Fresh pineapple contains a compound which has a meat tenderizing effect. The compound is largely inactivated in cooked or canned pineapple. I have not made this recipe using fresh pineapple, but I would suggest a short marination time of approximately 10 minutes. (For a deep dive into the science of marination, check out this Serious Eats article.) 
  4. The Mexican style adobo seasoning that I use contains a blend of garlic, onion, black pepper, cumin, lemon zest, orange zest, sea salt and Mexican oregano. Substitute your preferred taco seasoning blend or maybe a pinch of ground cumin. 
  5. Use more or less cayenne pepper as you like to adjust the heat level. 
  6. I serve pork and pineapple tacos with green salsa. My go to toppings include diced onions and cilantro. Shredded white cheddar on top is great when you want cheese. 
  7. Serve with your preferred type of tortilla. I like to use a local brand of tortillas and choose corn or flour based on which one seems fresher at the time.
  8. For reference, here is information on marinade safety.