Pork Al Pastor Bowls
with Fajita Veggies, Pico de Gallo, and Cilantro Lime Rice
- Milk
Inspired by one of our favorite tacos, we ditched the tortillas and created these vibrant rice bowls, all while keeping the toppings fun and fresh. We swapped in quick-cooking ground pork for the thinly sliced pork shoulder typically found in al pastor tacos. Cooked with some sweet heat, it’s served over cilantro-lime rice. Now, get ready for a boat load of toppings! Fajita-spiced pepper and onion, Monterey jack cheese, and pico de gallo, to name a few. Plus, there’s a drizzle of spicy crema for extra richness. And it wouldn’t be al pastor without pineapple, so we top the bowls with sweet, lightly charred pineapple, as well. These bowls are an al pas-tornado of flavors!
Ingredients
4 ounce
Pineapple
1 unit
Lime
1 teaspoon
Chili Powder
1 tablespoon
Fajita Spice Blend
10 ounce
Ground Pork
½ cup
Jasmine Rice
1 unit
Roma Tomato
1 unit
Yellow Onion
¼ ounce
Cilantro
1 unit
Long Green Pepper
4 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 teaspoon
Hot Sauce
¼ cup
Monterey Jack Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Salt
Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce. • Zest and quarter lime. Drain pineapple over a small bowl, reserving juice. Pat pineapple dry with paper towels.
• In a small pot, combine rice, ¾ cup water (1½ cups for 4 servings), and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• While rice cooks, dice tomato. Halve, peel, and thinly slice onion; mince a few slices until you have 2 TBSP (4 TBSP for 4 servings). Roughly chop cilantro. Halve, core, and thinly slice green pepper into strips. • In a second small bowl, combine tomato, minced onion, half the cilantro, and a big squeeze of lime juice to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large, dry pan over medium-high heat. Add pineapple; cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly charred, 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. • Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and green pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until charred and softened, 7-9 minutes. • Add half the Fajita Spice (you’ll use the rest in the next step) and a splash of water; cook, stirring, until fragrant and water has evaporated, 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat; transfer to plate with pineapple. Wipe out pan. TIP: Tent with foil to keep warm.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in same pan over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, add pork*; cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Add chili powder, remaining Fajita Spice, reserved pineapple juice, and a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until pork is coated and sauce has reduced, 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in a big squeeze of lime juice. • In a third small bowl, combine sour cream and hot sauce to taste. Add water 1 tsp a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
• Fluff rice with a fork; stir in lime zest, remaining cilantro, and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings). Season with salt and pepper. • Divide rice between bowls; top with pork, pineapple and veggies, and pico de gallo. Sprinkle with Monterey Jack. Drizzle with spicy crema. Serve with remaining lime wedges on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the vibrant mix of sweet and savory, though some found it bland and wanted more seasoning or heat 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: While tasty, several noted longer prep time than expected with many steps and dishes to wash.
- Suggestions: Consider adding more pineapple for stronger flavor; some preferred chicken or beef over ground pork.
- Portions: Several wished for more rice; others found it filling with generous meat servings.
- Produce: Some received wilted herbs or less-than-fresh vegetables; using ripe, quality produce enhances the dish.
Reviews from our home cooks
We already had another pork dish scheduled this week so we substituted ground beef for pork in this one. The al pastor was just as good either way. Flavorful meat, bright cilantro-lime rice, and we ALWAYS love the homemade Pico de Gallo. So much better than any salsa jar I've found on any shelf. I usually buy authentic salsa from a local restaurant but Hello Fresh's recipes have taught me I can make my own homemade Pico or salsa easily and it tastes as good or better than the stuff my wife and I love from a restaurant.
Add green pepper, more lime, add garlic, tell people to use the pineapple juice Alex: loved the big portion of pico de gallo (made it feel healthier), good portion size overall, I really liked the flavors and I think everything pulled together really well, would love to have more lime and somthing spicy for some kick, maybe consider some green pepper for some veggies Mom: why was it sweet?, appreciated the portion of pico de gallo, would like to have hot sauce or optional spicy ingredient for some kick Matt: was bummed for just white rice (tried to explain to him other rices don't work), liked the el pastor side of it Diane: it's ight, use the pineapple juice - embed this into the recipe, need to use garlic in the recipe Josie: cilantro leaves were yellow
The recipe itself tastes great. Would prefer to have specific amount of salt to add. Also, for the price this costs, the recipe card should be for chicken al pastor bowls and not pork. I used the ground turkey from another recipe only to find out I can't use the other recipe now.
Now this bowl is super yummy!! Pork Al Pastor?! Never heard of it till now and thankful i got this bowl! Ohh my mouth is watering just thinking of it!
Really delicious! I added half salad with the rice so up my veggies. The flavor was incredible and the charred pineapple was super fun to try out.
Very good recipe. Pretty simple and easy to make kid friendly since you can keep the veggies seperate. I'd make this again, we truly enjoyed it!
It was kind of a pain making the pico de gallo. It could have been pre made
This is a good recipe with lots of layers and flavors. Lime was like a brick so had trouble adding any juice but recipe overall was good and not too challenging to make.
Amazing recipe. So many great flavors coming together in this one and very hearty!
The only complaint I have is that I would prefer either 1 more Roma tomato or 1 big tomato for the salsa. Otherwise this is a recipe I want to try to recreate time and time again!
