New Mexico style Carne Adovada Recipe
Breakfast,  Delicious,  Ethnic,  Mexican,  Pork,  Sauce,  Snack,  Stews

Carne Adovada

As difficult as it might be to say, Carne Adovada, this is a dish that is typically found in the state of New Mexico, and one that is not commonly found on a Mexican menu. If you have never been to New Mexico, I highly recommend it. It is simply beautiful, and you get everything from desert (the White Sands) to spectacular mountain views. Along your journey through New Mexico, you will notice a lot of roadside diners, which by itself is really cool, and these diners are worth stopping for.  For some odd reason, one of the things I remembered from being in New Mexico (early 90’s), was stopping at one of these roadside dinners and having a really great lunch.

New Mexico style Carne Adovada Recipe

Typically when one thinks of food from New Mexico, they think of red chili or green chili. Whatever the case, I love them both, and love the food not only of New Mexico, but Mexico itself. But lately I had a real craving for some red chili sauce, and hence why I made a delicious batch of carne adovada.

Carne adovada can be eaten any time of the day, however I believe the best time of day to have this dish is for breakfast. There is something to be said about the awesome chili broth with slow roasted pork, a sunny side up egg, and some corn tortilla flutes. Really comforting, and super delicious, this recipe is sure to fill you up and satisfy the soul.

Ingredients:

  • 4 lbs of pork shoulder, fat trimmed, and cut into cubes or larger chunks
  • 20-30 dried New Mexico chili peppers, or guajillo chilies, like I used
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 8 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • generous pinch of salt
  • generous pinch of pepper
  • 1/2 tbsp Mexican Oregano
  • 3-4 cups of chicken stock
  • corn tortillas
  • water

Begin by ripping off the stems of the dried chili peppers and empty out all of the seeds. Feel free to cut a slit into each chili if it helps removing the seeds. Get a large pot of water boiling and add in your chilies, cooking until nice and tender, about 40 minutes. During this time, get a large skillet out and warm the olive oil on a medium heat. Take a small batch of the pork shoulder and brown each side, roughly 2-3 minutes per side. Do this for all of the pork, adding more oil if necessary. Once the shoulder is browned, remove to a slow cooker if you have one, or place in a large pot. Once all of the pork has been cooked, toss in the onions, garlic, and salt and pepper to the skillet, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Once the chilies have softened, add them to a blender with about a cup, or more of the water it was cooking in. Add in the onion and garlic mixture, and the chicken stock. Blend until you have a nice sauce, with the everything being pureed. You should have a nice smooth sauce. Add this sauce to the slow cooker or large pot, making sure that the pork is covered. Cook this for about 3 hours on the stove, or go low and slow in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

You are ready to serve this up. I like mine simply placed in a bowl, with an egg on top, using corn tortillas as my helper. However, once you taste this, you will probably want to put it in a taco, stuff it in a burrito, or go full force and use it for enchiladas.

Trust me, it is just that good!

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5 Comments

  • SPENCE

    From a Spanish speaking New Mexico ChiliHead. It looks like a good recipe, however, it is written Adobada. I also checked a New Mexico Cooking cookbook and they spelled it with a ‘B’ as well. It gets its name,I believe, from the red adobe bricks we use in home building in New Mexico. Thanks for all the great recipes and tips!

  • Chile not chili

    It may be spelled “adovada” or “adobada,” actually, but there is only one way to spell “chile” if you are referring to the peppers from New Mexico. “Chili” is that stuff from Texas with the meat and tomatoes, etc. Good recipe, though. The best way to serve it is with eggs and hash browns, with Socorro County green chile slopped all over everything to complement the Chimayo red chile that has permeated the pork.

  • Eric

    I recently made this Adobada for a party of about 30 and it was devoured. At the first bite their eyes lit up and the typical reaction was…”OMG..this is sooooo GOOD!” I will be making this again and again. I have a friend who’s dad is in the meat business in San Diego and he makes a pork adobada that is to die for. I have been trying for years to get the recipe and failed. I have tried for years to replicate it…this recipe is as close to it as I have come. I am completely satisfied with the results and I am confident in saying that my search is finally over. Thank you for submitting this.

  • dolores

    No kidding! Hi I grew up having carne abobada, but in Mexico when we’d visit our Abuelita(grandma) My husbands family moved to New Mex. when he was 16, and I asked him if he had ever had this type of meat, he said never, not even my mother in law ever mentioned it! wish somebody would have mentioned of this tasty meat, it would have been great to taste New Mex. version. I know how to make it Mexico way, we just add lots of spices, and of course grind up the chile to make a paste, it’s usually eaten for lunch and dinner- hmm, will have to try it for breakfast. Now that I do have the recipe for New Mexico’s version, I will be making it-it sounds good

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