Carne Adobado is the piece de resistance of Colonial New Mexican cooking. Have you ever eaten it--or made it?  Carne for short is a pork dish with a robust, but not too spicy sauce that is very popular in New Mexico and not well known out of the state.  When I had the Pecos River Cafe in New York City, we served it as a special regularly and we never could make enough.*

We just laid in a nice quantity of our Caribe Chile, which is a must for Carne and we have loads of our always fresh Cumin.  I am placing the Caribe Chile on a half-price or 50% off sale and a 50% discount on the Cumin.   Both fresh Cumin and Caribe are critical for yummy Carne.

The history of the dish is that the early Spanish settlers brought hogs with them among other staples and were in a dilemma when it came  how to preserve the meat when they would butcher a 500 pound or so hog.  (In those days there was no refrigeration or ice in the summer time.) The nearby Pueblo Indians told them how they would preserve a deer or other large animal whenever they were lucky enough to kill one.  

They would make a thick, seasoned, red Chile  sauce and thickly spread it over the entire carcass--inside and out and bury the Chile laden meat in the clean hide, several feet below the ground and it would keep for months that way.  (Just a reminder, red Chile is the world's best natural preservative.) 

I thought you might like to make some.  The best recipe, which follows is for 5.5 pounds of pork shoulder.  So if you make a batch--you can divide it into meal sized quantities and freeze them.  You can make the best Tacos or open faced Tostados, eat it as an entree or even use it in other Mexican style dishes such as enchiladas or quesadillas, etc.  We do make Carne in our Red Chile day classes, weekend and week long classes.

Our next class(es) are our week long class which starts this coming Sunday with a get together New Mexican dinner with Margaritas.  I am discounting it $400.00 until Thursday, October 16.

Our next day classes are Perfect Pies on October 30 at 5 PM and a Special Bread Baking class on November13 and a Red Chile Fiesta on November 20--both at 5 pm.  And, yes, we will be making our special Carne Adobado in the Red Chile Fiesta class.

And, for the holidays--we have set December 4 at 5 PM for our very special holiday class.

Here's my all time favorite Carne recipe....

CARNE ADOBADA
(Pork with Red Chile Sauce)

This is one of the best, if not the very best-tasting, pork creations from northern New Mexico.  Traceable back to Conquistador days, this dish has somehow never gained favor outside of New Mexico.  I think it is because crushed caribe chiles are hard to find outside the area.  (You can always order them from us, click here) I always make a full five-pound recipe because I like to have lots available for burritos, tacos and enchiladas, or to serve over rice, beans or eggs.

Yield:  10-12 servings

4 cups water
1/2 cup crushed caribe chile
1/4 cup ground mild chile
1/4 cup ground hot chile
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried leaf Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons salt
5-1/2 pounds bone-in pork shoulder, cut into ½ inch thick chops (trimmed so as to keep a narrow layer of fat around the edges)

1. Place 2 cups water in the blender bowl, then add all the ingredients except pork and process to make a thick sauce. Stir in the remaining 2 cups water, then pour one-half the sauce into a flat-bottomed glass baking dish.  Dip each pork chop into the marinade and lay to one side of the baking dish as you coat the rest.  Let marinate 30 minutes at room temperature, periodically spooning chile mixture over the top and turning chops over. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  (The pork can be frozen for up to 3 months at this point.)

2. In the morning, stir and coat each pork chop with chile sauce.   Preheat oven to 325F (165C).  Cover pan with lid or foil; bake chops, covered for the first 45 minutes.  Remove cover and bake 1 to 1-1/2 hours longer, spooning the sauce over chops every 30 minutes.  Let cool.

3. Using a sharp knife, remove bones and pull meat apart with your fingers to shred the pork.  Place shredded meat back in the baking dish.  If the sauce is dry, add water to make a thick gravy, then cover and bake 30 minutes to allow the sauce to cook into pork.  If the sauce is thin, do not cover and bake until sauce thickens. When done, the meat should be a bright rosy red color and very tender.

Reprinted with permission from Jane Butel’s Southwestern Kitchen

*Reprinted from May 28, 2025.