Cochinita Pibil is the most popular recipe out of the Yucatan Peninsula. This pulled pork recipe in an achiote paste is fantastic and one of the most delicious dishes in Mexican gastronomy. Learn how to make it and enjoy it at home, like if you were in Mexico.
Cochinita Pibil Recipe
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It is effortless to make at home; you can do it in an oven bag, grill, smoker, or even in your pressure cooker. I tried most of these ways of cooking cochinita and had great results with all of them. It is ideal for serving with hand-made tortillas and habanero pepper sauce. You can also cook your marinated pork ahead of time and reheat it before serving. Leftovers freeze very well, too.
I still remember in my years living in Southern Mexico, going on Sunday morning to the local market where the Cochinita Pibil Taco Stand was surrounded by people waiting for their orders. When the cook sees a new customer joining the crowd, he will give them a taco to make their waiting time less painful. We need to implement this in the United States. 😉
Frequently Asked Questions About This Cochinita Pibil Recipe
Where does Cochinita Pibil come from?
Cochinita is a dish that everybody knows throughout the whole country. Originated in the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico, cochinita pibil is a traditional dish cooked with Achiote (Annato paste) and sour orange juice (Seville orange). Then buried in a pit and slowly roasted.
The history of this dish goes back to prehispanic times and combines Mayan and Spanish cuisine. The word Pibil, meaning “buried” or in a “pit” in Mayan, was the preferred way of cooking dishes. With the Conquistador’s arrival, ingredients were adjusted, like bitter orange and suckling pig (baby pig) for this recipe. Although, it is believed there were wild hogs in that region before the conquest and the Mayans cooked other wild animals, like Wild turkey, deer, and armadillo, in this same way.
How does Cochinita Pibil Taste like?
The Cochinita Pibil has a pleasant and delectable flavor. It has a sweet, savory flavor due to the combination of orange and achiote paste blended in a well-balanced dish.
What is Cochinita Yucateca?
Cochinita Yucateca (baby pig Yucatan style) is another name for Cochinita pibil. Also known as Puerco pibil (Pibil pork) or cochinita con achiote (Pig with achiote). As mentioned above, Pib refers to the cooking method, however, people nowadays do not cook it in pib.
What is Achiote?
Achiote is a red-orange condiment that grows in Mexico and Latin America. The seed of the plant (also known as “achiote seeds”, “annatto seeds”, “onoto” o “bijol”) is then processed to powder or paste as spices to be used as a rub or to marinate meat. In some regions of Tabasco, the seeds are slowly boiled for hours until all the red seeds form a paste at the bottom of the pot.
How Long does it Last in the Refrigerator?
Packed in an air-thigh container, Cochinita Pibil can last up to 4 days in the fridge. If properly packed, it can last 6 months in your freezer. You can use a vacuum sealer to preserve the flavors. You can even store the uncooked meat with the achiote marinade for up to 2 days in the fridge before cooking.
How to make Cochinita Pibil Recipe
Ingredients:
- Banana leaves
- Achiote paste
- Bitter orange juice or white vinegar* SEE NOTES
- Ground pepper of black peppercorns
- Garlic cloves
- cumin
- Pork Butt or pork shoulder
- Red Onion
- allspice
- Salt
- Dried Mexican oregano
- Lard or Oil
- Oven bag (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
For this recipe, I will break down the instructions for easy cooking.
Prepared your banana Leaves:
- Roast the banana leaf; if you bought it from the frozen section of the supermarket, wait until it is completely defrosted. (Please check the ingredients list in the recipe card below)
- Line your roasting pan with the oven bag and arrange the banana leaves in a way that they overlap and hand from the roasting pan. The banana leaves give a lot of flavor to the dish, but if you can't find them use aluminum foil instead of the banana leaves or use an oven bag.
Note: To roast the banana leaf, place it directly over a medium-hot fire of your gas stove; it will start changing color and getting shiny while in contact with the fire. You can even make this step over your ceramic glass stove. Make sure not to burn the leaves; we just want them to be pliable.
Make the achiote sauce
- In your blender, mix the Achiote (annatto) paste seasoning, garlic, black ground pepper, bitter orange juice or vinegar, cumin, and salt to season.
Mixing Sauce and Pork for Cochinita Pibil
- Cut the pork meat into medium size pieces (about 2 ½ to 3 inches)
- Place pork meat on the leaves, then pour the Achiote mixture over. And add the lard to give it more flavor.
- Add the sliced onion, oregano, & Allspice. Fold the ends of the banana leaves over the pork. Wrap tightly with the banana leaves and cover with the roasting pan lid.
- If using the oven bag, cut 3 or 4 slits according to the bag to package instructions and place the meat inside. Add about 1 ½ of a quarter of water to the roasting pan to create a steaming effect. One time, I forgot to add the water, and it still came out great. If using aluminum foil, wrap it tightly, and do not add the extra water.
Bake and Serve:
- Bake for 2 ½ hours in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Add more water to the pan if needed if using the baking bag.
- Remove the roasting pan from the oven and uncover the meat. The meat should be tender. If it isn’t, cover and return to bake for another 30 minutes.
Notes:
- Most of the time, this dish is prepared with pork butt or pork shoulder, but it can be made with other parts of the pork like pork lion.
- You can also substitute the bitter orange juice by making a mix of ¾ cup of orange juice and adding 4 tablespoons of lime juice.
- Sometimes, If you decide to use peppercorns to make a smooth sauce is better to process them in a food processor. The use of bay leaves and red onions is not very common but it adds an extra flavor. Thyme & marjoram are not commonly used.
- Another spice that is added to the achiote sauce to make the marinate is cinnamon, but if you are buying the commercial Achiote paste. Most of the time it is included in the paste.
- The meat can be placed in a large bowl with the achiote marinade and stored overnight to absorb more flavor.
What to Serve with Cochinita Pibil?
To serve, shred the meat and cover it with the released juices of the achiote marinade, warm tortillas, chopped onions with habanero peppers and lime juice, pickled onions, and a side of Yucatan Style Black Beans. Or, as most people eat it in Mexico, as tacos topped with pickled red onions, and habanero salsa.
Did you like the recipe? Please let me know in the comments section, do you have questions, or share the link with your friends. I hope you have an incredible time cooking!
Buen Provecho!
Mely Martinez, the cook at Mexico in my Kitchen!
More recipes:
Mexican Pork Carnitas Torta
Pork Ribs in Salsa Verde
📖 Recipe
Cochinita Pibil
Ingredients
- 2 large banana leaves
- 1.75 oz Achiote Paste (50 grams, half stick of achiote paste)
- 2 cups bitter orange juice or a mix of orange juice with white vinegar (other options are orange juice mixed with lime or grapefruit juice)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 Pounds of boneless pork butt or pork shoulder cut into pieces 2-½ IN Cubes.
- 1 large red onion sliced (optional)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
- ¼ cup lard
- 1 Large size oven bag Optional
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Prepared you banana leaves
- Roast the banana leaf, if you bought it from the frozen section of the supermarket, wait until it is completely defrosted.
- To roast the banana leaf, place it directly over a medium-high heat of your stove, it will start changing color and getting shiny when it gets in contact with the fire. Make sure not to burn the leaves; we just want them to be pliable.
- Line your roasting pan with the oven bag and arrange the banana leaves overlapping and leaving some of the leaves hanging. You can also use aluminum foil instead of the oven bag.
- The banana leaves give a lot of flavor to the dish, but if you can't find them use aluminum foil instead of the banana leaves or use an oven bag.
Achiote Sauce Marinade
- In your blender, mix the Achiote (annatto) paste seasoning,garlic, black ground pepper, bitter orange juice or vinegar, cumin, and salt toseason.
Mix sauce and pork
- Cut the pork meat into medium size pieces (about 2 ½ to 3inches). Place pork meat on the leaves, then pour the Achiote mixture over it. And add the lard to give it more flavor. Marinade for 2-4 hours or overnight.
- Add the sliced onion, oregano, & Allspice. Fold the ends of the banana leaves over the pork. Wrap tightly with the banana leaves and cover with the roasting pan lid. SEE NOTES above if using alummium foild or an oven bag.
Bake and serve:
- Bake for 2 ½ hours in a preheated oven at 350 degrees.
- Remove roasting pan from oven and uncover the meat. The meat should be tender. If it isn’t ready, cover it again and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.
To serve shred the meat and cover with the released juices, some warm tortillas and habanero sauce.
Notes
- The meat can be placed in a large bowl with the achiote marinade and stored overnight to absorb more flavor.
- Other cooking Methods are using an Instant Pot or Stove Pressure cooker, placing the banana leaves at the bottom of the pot, arranging the meat and achiote sauce on top of them, cover with the banana leaves, and cook for one hour. If using a regular pot over your stove, it will be the same process and will take about 2-½ hours to cook.
- Most of the time, this dish is prepared with pork butt or pork shoulder, but it can be made with other parts of the pork like pork lion.
- You can also substitute the bitter orange juice by making a mix of ¾ cup of orange juice and adding 4 tablespoons of lime juice.
- The use of bay leaves and red onions is not very common but it adds an extra flavor. Thyme & marjoram are not commonly used.
- Another spice that is added to the achiote sauce to make the marinate is cinnamon, but if you are buying the commercial Achiote paste. Most of the time it is included in the paste.
Cathy
Hi Mely, I would really like to make this. The recipe calls for achiote paste, but all I have and can find is powder. Can I make the paste from the powder and if so how do I make it?
Mely Martínez
Hello Cathy,
I don't have experience using powder Achiote. You can try mixing with it the vinegar, onion, and garlic to form a paste. Let me know if it works for you.
Wendy
I don’t have a gas stove. Any recommendations for roasting the banana leaves?
Mely Martínez
Hello Wendy,
If you have an electric stove. Try passing the leaves over the electric stove coils or your ceramic top stove heat element. Another option is to submerge the leaves in hot water until they are soft and pliable.
J-lo
Hi, I have made cochinita pibil as well as pollo pibil using several recipes including yours. I'm really having difficulty capturing the same flavor my family and i had in the yucatan. We were served by a mayan family who cooked it in an earth oven for us. I have recreated the earth oven, but haven't been able find the one ingredient that must be causing my disappointment, the naranja argria. I have even made my own achiote paste. My question is: will be impossible for me to duplicate these two dishes without the naranja agria? My dishes have been too sour and nothing like the mildly sour, but flavorful version we had last year in mexico. Please help!!!😭
Mely Martínez
Hello J-lo,
You are right, the bitter orange flavor is key. I try a mix of orange juice and a little lime juice to make my own substitution. What are you using to recreate the bitter orange flavor?
BTW, where do you live? I have found bitter orange now sold at some large Latin stores.
Sara Lichtenberg
How might I adjust the recipe (cook times) for an electric pressure cooker?
mmartinez
Hello Sara,
I sent you an email about the Cochinita Pibil cooking time last week when you left this comment. I hope you find that helpful. I'll leave the note here in case you didn't see the email.
To cook Cochinita Pibil in the electric pressure cooker, cook for about 40 minutes if you are cooking meat with bones, like ribs. However, if you are using only boneless pork, then it will be about 35 minutes. Every electric pressure cooker is a little different. Maybe your meat is not that extra soft and ready to shredded, after the above given times. But better safe than sorry. You can add five more minutes of cooking time after checking the meat for doneness.
Please let me know if you still have more questions.
Happy cooking!
Vada Baird
I'm in Texas. Not sure I can get banana leaves any where. What can I do?
mmartinez
Hello Vada,
I'm not sure where in Texas are you located, but in large cities, you can find the fresh banana leaves sold at Latin and Indian Markets. Even at Asian markets, you find them fresh and also frozen.
Erin M Brewster
Can I use chicken instead? How would I change the cooking time?
I saw you have a recipe for chicken, but it looks a good bit different and the chicken isn't shredded like the pork.
Thanks!
Mely Martínez
Helo Erin,
Yes, you can use chicken, the meat is not usually shredded, it looks like that due to the long cooking time.
The meat is cooked until tender. The cooking time will vary depending on the cooking method.
mmartinez
Hello Ken,
This step (roasting-steaming) the banana leaves is done all over Mexico, this also helps the banana leaves to soften and be more pliable.
Happy cooking!
Ken, Lakeland, Florida
Hola Mely,
¿Qué tal?
I love cooking REAL Mexican food and love your site.
Interesting that you toast the banana leaves first. I made this Pibil once and wrapped the pork in the banana leaves with all the spices. My wife could not stand the aroma of the banana leaves in the house, so I removed them. dish was still outstanding, but i will try your technique to toast the leaves and also wrap in a roasting bag.