Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork is made either in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. Sweet Pork is a tender, melt in your mouth pork with a sweet sauce made up of only 3 ingredients; taco sauce, Coke and brown sugar. Use on salads, in burritos or quesadillas!

Cafe Rio? Sweet Pork?

If you read those two words and just feel confused, you are likely not alone!

Cafe Rio is a restaurant that was started in Utah back in 1997. They serve Mexican cuisine, getting their inspirations from the Rio Grande area.. hence the name Cafe Rio.

Once one location, now there are over 120 operating locations in the US. Most of it’s locations are on the West Coast, there are a few states further east that are lucky enough to have a Cafe Rio though! Florida, Virginia, and Maryland are the lucky states to be exact.

If you don’t have a Cafe Rio near (I have 11 restaurants within an hour of me!) Either plan a special trip to visit a state that has one, or make this copy cat version at home. ?

How To Make Sweet Pork

Sweet Pork is such an easy thing to make. You will find this out by how many paragraphs it takes me to explain.. here is a hint: there won’t be many!

To make the sweet pork, you’ll need nice, tender pork roast. Either slow cook the pork roast for 6-8 hours on high or cook on Manual HIGH for 90 min NPR 30 min in the Instant Pot/ pressure cooker.

Once you have shredded pork, drain the liquid from the Instant Pot/ slow cooker and return the shredded meat to the liner.

Pour over and mix together taco sauce, some Coke and brown sugar. If using the slow cooker, turn on low and let it sit for 30 minutes or until all of the brown sugar has dissolved. If using the Instant Pot, turn onto Sauté LOW and simmer for a few minutes until the brown sugar has dissolved.

See.. Easy Peasy!!

Sweet Pork Serving Ideas

If you were to take a trip to the restaurant, there are few different serving options, and we usually rotate through the options at my house.

Serve this Sweet Pork inside of burritos, Fill with rice, beans, cheese, sweet pork. Top with Pico de Gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro.

Another option, which happens to be my favorite, is on a salad. We always buy raw tortillas that we cook up quickly on a frying pan (buy them at Walmart! Near the cheese.). We top the fresh, warm tortilla with shredded romaine lettuce, rice, beans, cheese, Sweet Pork, Pico de Gallo, sour cream, guacamole, and crushed tortilla chips. Cafe Rio has a creamy tomatillo dressing that everyone LOVES, I generally just put ranch on mine though. #RANCHFORLIFE.

On of their newest ways of serving up Sweet Pork (or any of their meats!) is on nachos! The last time we went into the restaurant (thank you, gift card!!) my husband and I shared some Sweet Pork Nachos. They are HEAVEN. Basically, tortilla chips loaded with Sweet Pork, rice, beans, cheese, Pico, guac, and sour cream. This one is SO easy to recreate at home.

The most common and easiest way to serve Sweet Pork up at home is quesadilla style. Sweet Pork and some cheese melted inside of a fresh tortilla, yes PLEASE!!

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork is made either in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. Sweet Pork is a tender, melt in your mouth pork with a sweet sauce made up of only 3 ingredients; taco sauce, Coke and brown sugar. Use on salads, in burritos or quesadillas!

Ingredients

• 3 lb pork roast
• 3 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 can Coke
• 16 oz taco sauce I use mild
• 2 cup brown sugar

Instructions

1. Place the pork roast and broth into the Instant Pot. Cook on Manual HIGH for 90 minutes, allow for a 30 minutes NPR.
2. Remove from pot and shred. Discard the liquid inside of the pot and return the shredded meat to the pot.
3. Turn the Instant Pot onto sauté NORMAL. Add in the coke, taco sauce and brown sugar. Simmer until the brown sugar has dissolved.
4. If you’d like your sauce thicker, simply simmer until the sauce reduces to your liking.
5. For crockpot instructions: cook the pork roast on HIGH for 8 hours or until shreddable. Shred the meat. Discard liquid and then return the shredded meat to the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for an additional 30 minutes on low.

Try These Other Instant Pot Recipes

BBQ Pulled Pork
Ground Beef Stew
Creamy Ziti

I LOVE seeing my recipes come to life in YOUR kitchen! Take some pictures, share on social media and TAG ME! ?

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_2″]

Want to save this recipe?

Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you'll get new recipes from us every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Save Recipe

SaveSaved Pin Print

4.73 from 11 votes

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

By: Karli Bitner

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork is made either in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. Sweet Pork is a tender, melt in your mouth pork with a sweet sauce made up of only 3 ingredients; taco sauce, Coke and brown sugar. Use on salads, in burritos or quesadillas!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

NPR: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

• ▢ 3 lb pork roast
• ▢ 3 1/2 cups beef broth
• ▢ 1 can Coke
• ▢ 16 oz taco sauce, I use mild
• ▢ 2 cup brown sugar

Instructions 

• Place the pork roast and broth into the Instant Pot. Cook on Manual HIGH for 90 minutes, allow for a 30 minutes NPR. 
• Remove from pot and shred. Discard the liquid inside of the pot and return the shredded meat to the pot.
• Turn the Instant Pot onto sauté NORMAL. Add in the coke, taco sauce and brown sugar. Simmer until the brown sugar has dissolved.
• If you'd like your sauce thicker, simply simmer until the sauce reduces to your liking.
• For crockpot instructions: cook the pork roast on HIGH for 8 hours or until shreddable. Shred the meat. Discard liquid and then return the shredded meat to the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for an additional 30 minutes on low. 

Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!