When I first moved to Albuquerque a couple years ago, I had never heard of Golden Pride.
One day, my brother mentioned that Golden Pride was owned by the same people who owned The Frontier, which I was very familiar (and obsessed) with, so you could say I beelined to Golden Pride.
Trying my first Carne Adovada Burrito
On probably my fifth visit to Golden Pride, after trying all of the green chile breakfast burritos, I tried their carne adovada burritos. And ooh. my. was I so happy I lived in Albuquerque, where Golden Pride carne adovada burritos are always accessible!
Their burritos are made with fresh flour tortillas, and carne adovada meat, simmered in a mild red chile sauce, and topped with cheese. It’s the perfect breakfast.
And lunch.
And dinner.
I know not everyone in the world lives in Albuquerque, and has access to these life-changing burritos, so I wanted to share my recipe for slow cooker carne adovada.
Now you can make something similar in your own kitchen!
Slow Cooker Carne Adovada
You start with red chile pods. It’s preferable if they’re New Mexican grown chiles. If you happen to be in New Mexico, they’re available at most grocery stores. If you’re outside NM, you can order them on (affiliate link) Amazon.
If you are sensitive to spice, you’ll want to wear gloves before handling the peppers.
Cut off the tops of the peppers with scissors, then split them down the middle. Remove the seeds.
Pro tip: I have another co-worker who says her Vitamix will actually blend up the seeds, so you don’t have to remove them.
Once you have your chile pods stemmed and seeded, cut them into 1″ strips.
Warm olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add chiles, onions, and garlic. These toast for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant (and ooh, how lovely that fragrance is!)
Add in dried oregano and water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 10 minutes.
This pot of deliciousness gets transferred to a blender, where it is blended until smooth.
I am pretty picky about chile peels in my red chile, so I will strain my red chile sauce through a sieve to strain the liquid from the peels.
Taste the sauce at this point. Add honey if the sauce is too bitter, add salt if needed.
Carne Adovada translates into “marinated meat”, which is what we’ll do next!
Pour the red chile onto 4 pounds of pork shoulder or pork butt. Stir well.
Let this mix marinade in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
Once marinated, cook on low in the slow cooker for 9 hours, until fork tender.
Printable Recipe – Slow Cooker Carne Adovada
Here is a printable recipe for slow cooker carne adovada — so you can hang it on your fridge or share with a friend 🙂

Slow Cooker Carne Adovada
Tender and savory carne adovada, made in a slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 20 New Mexican dried red chile pods
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp oregano
- 4 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt cut into 1" cubes
Instructions
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Remove the stems and seeds from the red chiles. Cut into 1" strips.
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Add olive oil to a large pan over medium heat. Add in chiles, onion, and garlic. Saute for 5 - 10 minutes, until fragrant. Pour in water, salt, and oregano, stirring well. Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
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Transfer chile mix to a blender, in batches if necessary, and blend until smooth. Strain red chile sauce through a sieve to filter out peels.
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Stir red chile sauce into the pork. Cover and refrigerate for 12 - 24 hours.
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Cook in slow cooker on low for 9 hours, until cooked through and fork-tender.
Pin it!
If you want to pin this recipe to make later, just click on the image below to save to your favorite New Mexican food board!
Leftovers – Carne Adovada Burritos
As I mentioned earlier, carne adovada burritos are delicious! This recipe makes quite a bit of food, so take advantage of the leftovers by making burritos! All you do is take add 1/2 cup of carne adovada to a flour tortilla, top with shredded cheese, and roll it into a burrito. These will keep in the freezer for 3 – 6 months (although, you’ll eat them long before then!).
I have been looking for a recipe for Carne Adovada since I moved to Texas more than 30 years ago! Thanks!
I grew up in New Mexico, Albuquerque, specifically. I still refer to it as home. I am lucky that Texas, at least my part, has become enlightened to chile, but mostly green. Good thing my sister still lives there and when I visit I can get some. The big grocery store here even sells Sadie’s Salsa.
I am glad I found your blog!
Thanks for the comment, Martha! I am so glad to hear Texas has access to Sadie’s Salsa 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe!
This looks absolutely delicious and a friend who passed through Albuquerque recently brought me a big bag of NM chiles. I was wondering what sort of sides you’d recommend if serving this as a main meal?
Ooh, sounds like you have a great friend!
With Carne Adovada, I have topped it with cheese and a couple flour tortillas. I have also added to a fried corn tortilla and topped with with an egg and cheese. They are also delicious in a burrito! For general sides, a tossed salad, rice, pinto beans, or refried beans are great options.
We enjoy home fried potatoes topped with the carne, some freshly grated cheese, and a couple of over easy eggs. Old school!
My favorite recipe calls for 2tbs of red wine vinegar, which gives it a truer adovada taste as my family has lived in New Mexico well before it began as a state.
My own add on is add a couple of diced potatoes they are nice addition, and will stretch the amount of adovada.
Potatoes are a great idea. Thanks for the tip on the red wine vinegar – I will try that next time!
I made this following recipe exactly…
My family LOVED it and they love Golden Pride carne!!! I’ll be making this again and again. Thank You.
Thank you for this recipe!!! I went to UNM for my BS and grad school, so the Frontier and Golden Pride where important go to places (as was El Modelo and Garcia’s). I’ve been gone for 2 years now and I cant find a single place in the entire Seattle area that has carne adovada worth mentioning! This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Hi Ruth – aww, I am so glad this recipe was what you’re looking for! I hope you enjoy it!!
This is great! I take the additional step of shredding the cubes with forks to a pulled pork barbecue texture. Then I make Frontier-style breakfast burritos, using hash browns and scrambled eggs (I skip the cheese) and green chile. They freeze well in freezer paper! Thank you!
Yum! That sounds awesome, Russell – I will try your method next time I make them 🙂
New cook here… Do you have to cube the meat before you put it in the slow cooker? Thanks!
Hey – good question! I did cube the meat for this recipe, so I had tender cubes. You don’t necessarily have to, though. If you leave it as a roast, it will be fork tender so you can shred it with a fork.
Hi Andrea,
I moved to Dallas from Abq a couple years ago and like you, I’m a HUGE fan of Golden Pride. I have been dreaming of a No. 2 breakfast burrito from GP for years at this point. I wanted to know your thought on using the BUENO red chile sauce tubs instead of the red chile pods…thoughts?
Hey Jennifer,
The No. 2 is soo good! Yes, the frozen Bueno red chile sauce works well! I usually cook it with some chicken broth and season it, to reduce the bitterness, but it also makes an excellent red chile sauce for canre adovada. If it doesn’t get thick, you can add in a tablespoon of cornstarch or flour.
Going to give this recipe a good try. I do not use olive oil in my chile- gives it an extra flavor I do not care for. I think adovada is best with a side of beans and fried potatoes.
I’ve been craving Golden Pride carne adovada burritos, and I’m going to try this recipe with chicken! Yum!!
Can you use beef instead of pork? If so, how long do you cook in the slow cooker?
I haven’t ever made this with beef, but this recipe (https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18776/slow-cooker-carne-adovada/) uses beef roast and says to cook it over high heat for 4 hours.
To clarify, is “Oregano” Greek or Mexican? I keep both in the pantry.
Mexican 🙂
I fell in love with Carne Adovada when I went to Abq New Mexico two years ago. I live in Australia and can’t find New Mexico red Chile powder. What would be a good substitute?
Hi there,
I know you wrote this in March, but hope you get my response. I live in Albuquerque NM. I don’t know if Amazon ships to Australia, but Amazon has NM chile powder for sale. The Bueno premium (has a blue label) red chile powder is good (I just tried that one recently & loved the flavor). I heard the Chimayo Red Chile powder is delicious (although I haven’t tried that one yet. Chimayo is a part of Northern New Mexico, and I can’t wait to try that one…