Cafe Rio Sweet Pork {Copycat} – Sweet shredded pork made in the slow cooker, inspired by the popular Cafe Rio restaurant!
If you haven’t eaten at Cafe Rio, you haven’t lived. That is my honest opinion. It is also my personal opinion that Costa Vida is not a suitable substitute, even in a pinch. It’s really not even in the same ball park here, so let’s just stick with the creators of the true sweet pork. Cafe Rio.
I feel a hostile debate coming on from all of the Costa advocates. Let’s keep it nice and friendly shall we?
The great thing about this recipe, well… besides the fact that it is DELICIOUS and incredibly easy because it involves a slow cooker (my best friend), is that it’s so versatile. I mean, we all love the famous tostadas and salads from Cafe Rio but it doesn’t have to end there. Make a big batch of this pork and use it all week long in quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos, on sandwiches and in wraps, the possibilities are endless!
What people are saying about this Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
“I made this a couple days ago and it was AMAZING! The husband and I have been to Cafe Rio a couple times but we’re usually Costa Vida fans. And we ALWAYS get sweet pork 
I actually already had shredded pork roast in the freezer (maybe 2 lbs), so I just made the sauce from “step 3” and simmered my pork in it. It was delicious. I made your sweet pork enchiladas, then the next day we ate it on salads. Twice. This recipe is a keeper!” – Katie
“This is delicious! I made it for the first time this weekend for a party I had. It all disappeared before I could take a picture. My boyfriend and I love Cafe Rio and this recipe is excellent.” – Maggie
“I cooked the sweet pork, put a couple of tablespoons of it on bottom third of a flour tortilla, topped with grated colby jack cheese, rolled it up, sprayed it with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and baked it at 425 for 8-10 minutes. To die for!!! DELICIOUS TAQUITO” – Pat
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork {Copycat}
Ingredients
Step 1
- 2 pounds pork - (rib meat or loin)
- ¾ cup coke
- ¼ cup brown sugar
Step 2
- 1 cup coke
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
Step 3
- ¾ cup coke
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chiles
- 10 ounces mild red enchilada sauce
Instructions
- Step 1: Place pork in a zip lock bag. Add coke and brown sugar and seal bag. Chill at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Step 2: Add pork to slow cooker and discard marinade. Add coke, water, garlic salt, onion salt, and chili powder. Cover and cook on high 3 hours. Drain slow cooker and shred pork with two forks.
- Step 3: Blend coke, brown sugar, chili powder, green chills, and enchilada sauce together in blender. Pour sauce into slow cooker. Cook 30 minutes longer. Serve with rice if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe slightly adapted from Favorite Family Recipes.
I have always wanted to try coke in cooking pork, this recipe looks great!
Well isn’t this interesting. I was just doing some Google research on Cafe Rio sweet pork because I wanted to do a blog post about it. Even though I’ve never been to Rio, I have been to Costa Vida for their version, and was wondering if it was the same thing. Thanks for mentioning CV. Now for the sake of research, I’m going to have to do a taste test this weekend. Rough job. 🙂 Great photos by the way.
Oooh you’ll definitely have to let me know what you think! My husband I swear by Cafe Rio, but there are die-hard Costa Vida fans too so we’ll have to see which side you’re on here 😉 P.S. I think Coasta Vida’s beef is better than Cafe Rio’s so I’m not totally biased!
I have always found that cafe rio gives me bigger portion sizes than costa vida. Could I use dr. P instead of coke in this recipe?
Sure, the flavor will probably be just slightly different but you probably won’t even be able to tell. 🙂
Before step 3 are you suppose to drain it? Or add the blended mixture into the mixture it has been soaking in?
Hi Morganne, you do drain the slow cooker before shredding and adding the new sauce to the pot. Sorry about the confusion, I’ve updated the directions! 🙂
I made this a couple days ago and it was AMAZING! The husband and I have been to Cafe Rio a couple times but we’re usually Costa Vida fans. And we ALWAYS get sweet pork 🙂 I actually already had shredded pork roast in the freezer (maybe 2 lbs), so I just made the sauce from “step 3” and simmered my pork in it. It was delicious. I made your sweet pork enchiladas, then the next day we ate it on salads. Twice. This recipe is a keeper!
Cafe Rio and Costa Vida used to be business partners but they parted ways. That’s why their food tastes so similar. There is no competition between the two because the recipe is pretty much the same.
This is delicious! I made it for the first time this weekend for a party I had. It all disappeared before I could take a picture. My boyfriend and I love Cafe Rio and this recipe is excellent.