Carne Adovada
Pork shoulder marinated overnight in a smooth New Mexico red chile sauce with garlic, oregano and cumin, then slow-baked until it collapses into tender, deep red chunks.
Don't Make These Mistakes
Toast the chiles for only a minute. A short toasting brings out their fruity aroma, and a burnt chile makes the whole sauce bitter.
Strain the sauce. The skins of dried chiles stay tough after blending, and straining gives a smooth sauce that clings to the meat.
Cover the dish tightly while it bakes. The pork should stew in the sauce, not dry out, and the lid can come off at the end to thicken the sauce.
Cooking Carne Adovada
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Toast the chiles in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 1 minute on each side, until fragrant, pressing them down with a spatula. Do not let them burn, or they turn bitter.
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Put the chiles in a bowl, pour over the hot water and leave to soften for 20 minutes.
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Tip the chiles and 300 ml of their soaking water into a blender with the garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar and salt. Blend until completely smooth, then push through a sieve.
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Put the pork in a large bowl and pour over the chile sauce. Stir until every piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
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Heat the oven to 150°C / 300°F (130°C / 265°F fan). Tip the pork and sauce into a heavy casserole and cover tightly with a lid or foil.
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Bake for 2 hours, stirring once, until the pork is very tender. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more, until the sauce is thick and clinging to the meat.
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Taste and adjust the salt. Serve hot in warm tortillas or on a plate with beans and rice.
What's Going On Here
Carne adovada is the red chile pork of New Mexico, a dish of pork cubes marinated in a sauce made from dried red chiles and then slowly baked until the meat is meltingly tender and coated in a deep, brick-red sauce. Adovada comes from the Spanish adobar, to marinate, and the tradition is old, since the chile and vinegar marinade was a way of preserving pork before refrigeration, and the dish is a New Mexican staple that is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is quite unlike the American idea of chilli. The sauce is made only from dried chiles, cooked with garlic, oregano, cumin and a splash of vinegar, and its flavour is earthy, fruity and mildly bitter, with a heat that depends on the chiles you choose. New Mexico chiles, grown around Hatch, are the traditional choice, and guajillo chiles are a good and easy-to-find substitute. The chiles are toasted briefly in a dry pan to bring out the aroma, soaked until soft, and blended into a smooth sauce. The pork needs to marinate overnight, so the sauce can soak in, and then it cooks very slowly, covered, so that it does not dry out. Serve it in warm flour tortillas, in a burrito with eggs for breakfast, or on a plate with beans and rice.
Storage and Reheating
Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days and improves with time. Freezes for 3 months. Reheat gently with a splash of water.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the usual stand-in when you are out of fresh garlic — it will not caramelise the same way, but it carries the flavour.
- Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.
Good With
- Flour tortillas
- Refried beans
- Mexican rice
Common Questions About Carne Adovada
How long does Carne Adovada take to make?
About 2 hours 55 minutes of hands-on work — 25 minutes of preparation and 2 hours 30 minutes of cooking — plus 8 hours of Marinating overnight, so allow 10 hours 55 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
What are the key tips for making Carne Adovada?
Toast the chiles for only a minute. A short toasting brings out their fruity aroma, and a burnt chile makes the whole sauce bitter. Strain the sauce. The skins of dried chiles stay tough after blending, and straining gives a smooth sauce that clings to the meat. Cover the dish tightly while it bakes. The pork should stew in the sauce, not dry out, and the lid can come off at the end to thicken the sauce.
What should I serve with Carne Adovada?
Flour tortillas; Refried beans; Mexican rice.
Can Carne Adovada be made ahead or frozen?
Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days and improves with time. Freezes for 3 months. Reheat gently with a splash of water.
Is Carne Adovada suitable for a special diet?
This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, high-protein, low-carb, keto and no added sugar. Those labels are checked against the ingredient list, so a dish is only marked when nothing in it contradicts the claim.
How many calories are in Carne Adovada?
About 398 kcal per serving, with 34 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate and 26 g fat. The figures are calculated from the ingredient list and are an estimate.
Carne Adovada Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.
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Written and tested by Turab
One person, one kitchen — no test kitchen, no team. How every recipe on this site is checked before it goes up.
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