Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrittos (Copy-Cat)

Oh how I miss Cafe Rio!  Those of you who have ever spent any time in the West can relate - there's nothing better!  Qdobe, Chipotle - both substandard compared to the goodness that is Cafe Rio.  Whenever we go to Utah for a visit, the first place we hit up is Cafe Rio.

Nothings beats their sweet pork burritos served enchilada style.*  There are about a million and one copy-cat recipes floating around the internet, with first-hand accounts of someone who "swears they saw the Cafe Rio manager put this and that" on the sweet pork.  I've tried almost all of them, and none come even close to the real deal.

Until now.  This recipe isn't a perfect match, but it's about 90% there.  And being 1,500 miles away from the nearest Cafe Rio, I'll take what I can get!

 

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

Recipe from someone in my Mom's ward, though I don't know who

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs. Pork Butt Roast 
• 4 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
• 3-4 tsp. minced garlic cloves
• 2-4 C. brown sugar, depending on how sweet you like it (I usually do 3 cups)
• 4 tsp. cumin
• 4 C. Dr. Pepper (not diet)
• 3 T. molasses (unsulfured)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix tomato sauce, brown sugar, cumin, Dr. Pepper, molasses, salt and pepper.  
2. Spray slow cooker with Pam spray, and place roast in cooker.
3. Pour 1/2 liquid ingredients over pork and cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Start checking it after 5-6 hours. 
4. When the roast is very tender and falling apart, take it out of the cooker to rest on a platter. 
5. Remove liquid in crock pot for disposal, but taste a small amount of the liquid for sweetness. 
6. Shred pork roast with 2 forks, put back in slow cooker. 
7. Pour the remaining half of mixture over pork (adding more brown sugar or molasses if needed) and let cook on high just to heat through, about 15-30 minutes. 

*To make them enchilada style, place some of the pork, black beans, and cilantro rice into a tortilla, and roll into a burrito.  Place in a oven-safe dish, pour green enchilada sauce on burrito, and top with Monterrey jack cheese.  Place in 350 degree oven for for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted. 

This makes a ton (especially for two people), so after we eat what we want, I assemble the burritos and freeze.  Then I just take one or two out at a time, microwave for one minute.  Then top with green enchilada sauce and cheese, and microwave for another minute.  Tastes amazing!