Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (2024)

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Our Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes has been a huge hit, so we thought we would compile them ALL in one post! Our salad, beans, rice, soup, burritos, and more!

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Featured with this post
  1. What is Cafe Rio
  2. Meat Choices
  3. Cafe Rio Burrito
  4. Cafe Rio Salad
  5. Enchiladas
  6. Tacos
  7. Cafe Rio Soup
  8. Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes

Here they are! All our Cafe Rio copycat recipe dishes all in one easy-to-find post! You will find quite a few Cafe Rio copycat recipes floating around out there, however, we are proud to be the home of the ORIGINAL Copycat Cafe Rio Recipes. Cooking them is simple with an instant pot, crock pot, or oven. All the Mexican flavor with quick and easy recipes!

We love Cafe Rio and it can be expensive going there often. When we start craving the sweet pork burrito or the tortilla soup we just get the recipe and create it right at home! Now we have several more options to choose from and make when we have that craving! Cafe Rio pork recipes have been one of our favorite family meals!

What is Cafe Rio

Cafe Rio is a quick-serve Mexican grill where you can create burritos, salads, enchiladas, and more. You start with the tortilla or lettuce, then choose your meats, and toppings. It is delicious and a great experience to individualize your meal while everyone enjoys the same eating place. It is similar to Chipotle or Costa Vida but served enchilada style not wrapped in foil and hand-held.

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Meat Choices

Most of the menu items at Cafe Rio or Costa Vida begin with some kind of meat. Your meat choices consist of sweet pork, shredded chicken, grilled chicken, shredded beef, or grilled steak. All the meats are flavorful, tender, and juicy!

  • Sweet pork – The most popular meat at Cafe Rio is shredded sweet pork. Take a pork shoulder, pork roast, or pork butt to make this sweet pork. This is made with enchilada sauce, brown sugar, and co*ke soda ingredients. We love this recipe in the slow cooker.
  • Beef – Our Mexican Shredded Beef is very similar to the shredded beef they serve at Cafe Rio. Any time we make Cafe Rio recipes using shredded beef we will use this recipe.
  • Shredded chicken – You can find our Cafe Rio Shredded Chicken recipe in our first cookbook but we will be adding it soon to the website! Keep an eye out for it!
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Cafe Rio Burrito

Cafe Rio burritos are made with a giant homemade tortilla and served with lettuce and pico de gallo. They are filled with your favorite meat, cilantro lime rice, black bean or pinto beans, enchilada sauce, and Mexican blended shredded cheese. The enchilada sauce comes in red enchilada sauce, medium green, or mild green flavors.

Once your burrito is assembled, you can make it “enchilada style” by adding more enchilada sauce, topping it with more cheese, and heating it in the oven until the cheese is melted. Add shredded lettuce and pico de gallo to the side and you are ready to go!

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Cafe Rio Salad

Cafe Rio Salads also start with a large tortilla on the bottom. This is a fun twist that I love. It is always nice to have a little more substance with the lettuce. As you are enjoying the salad you can pull some tortilla bites off to give more texture. It also is a blocker from the liquid of the meat seeping out. Add a little cheese to the tortilla and place in the oven until the cheese melts.

Start by adding your favorite meat, cilantro lime rice, black bean or pinto beans, chopped green or romaine lettuce, guacamole, pico de Gallo, tortilla strips, and cotija cheese. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges. They have these three dressings tomatillo ranch, cilantro ranch dressing, or cilantro lime vinaigrette which is always hard to choose from. Blend them for a zesty, light, and tasty dressing over your salad!

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Enchiladas

If you are making enchiladas for your family, it is more practical to make enchiladas family-style. We just call them Family Style Burritos. You can assemble a bunch at once and then serve! This is our favorite way of making them.

If you are wanting to stay authentic to Cafe Rio, you can make them individually by assembling them with your favorite meat, enchilada sauce, and cheese wrapped in a flour enchilada-sized tortilla. The beans and rice are served on the side along with lettuce and pico de gallo.

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Tacos

The tacos are served with your favorite meat in a small flour tortilla and topped with lettuce, pico, and cheese. The rice and beans are served on the side. You can order or make these with softened corn tortillas as well.

Cafe Rio Soup

The tortilla soup at Cafe Rio is one of my very favorite soups EVER! It is so easy to make! You just get a bowl and add in chicken, pico de Gallo, guacamole, pinto beans, cheese, and chicken broth. Top with tortilla strips, cilantro, and lime for a garnish.

“Love these recipes!! So tasty & love to make these when we don’t feel like going out!”

-Jennifer

Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes

Need more Cafe Rio recipes!? These delicious recipes are perfect for family dinners and staying in. Enjoy all the flavor and delicious taste that Cafe Rio has to offer all in your own home.

Dressings

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

Dinner

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Burrito

Soups

Cafe Rio Tortilla Soup

Dinner

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Recipe

Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (2024)

FAQs

Where can I find the best recipes online? ›

2024's Best Recipe Websites: Our Picks
  1. Minimalist Baker.
  2. Love and Lemons.
  3. Cookie and Kate.
  4. Pinch of Yum.
  5. Budget Bytes.
  6. Smitten Kitchen.
  7. A Cozy Kitchen.
  8. David Lebovitz.
Apr 2, 2024

What cheese is used at Cafe Rio? ›

This delicious combination of flavors from Cafe Rio tastes delicious not only in salads (if you haven't made this sweet pork salad, you need to), but also tastes amazing in burrito form. Cafe Rio smothered burritos are legendary not only for their size but for all the delicious ingredients packed inside: sweet pork, ...

What food is most ordered online? ›

The Top Food Delivery Orders of 2022
  • Cheese Pizza.
  • Pad Thai.
  • Chicken Quesadilla.
  • California Roll.
  • Fried Chicken Sandwich.
  • Caesar Salad.
  • Chicken Tikka Masala.
  • Boneless Wings.
Dec 20, 2022

Where do people get recipes? ›

There are many good sources out there, including cookbooks, magazines, and friends and family who are willing to share their secrets. One thing is sure: if you want to be a successful food blogger, you need to have a reliable source of recipes you can use as inspiration to create your own dishes.

What is Cafe Rio queso made of? ›

16 oz Queso Blanco Velveeta, cut into cubes. 1/2 cup Rotel original or hot (with habanero) OR 1/2 cup pico. 1/4 cup green chili sauce- mild, medium or hot. 1/3 cup red enchilada sauce- regular or hot.

What is in a Cafe Rio bowl with rice? ›

First Timers Bowl: The perfect intro to what Cafe Rio does best, with options of Sweet Pork Barbacoa or Pollo Asado, nestled with cilantro-lime rice, black beans, roasted tomatillo sauce (mild), pico de gallo, cheddar and jack shredded cheese, cotija cheese, NEW chile lime tortilla strips, cilantro, lime wedge, and our ...

Why is it called Cafe Rio? ›

The place, a little town in southern Utah called St. George. A lovely couple named Steve and Patricia Stanley started a restaurant called Cafe Rio Mexican Grill. Cafe Rio served authentic dishes derived from inspired recipes and traditional cooking of Northern Mexico's Rio Grande region, Southern Texas, and New Mexico.

How do I find the best cook? ›

The best way to ensure that you're comfortable with a potential cook is to ask questions. Start by asking about their experience, including how long they have been cooking and what types of meals they specialize in. You can also ask to see pictures of their past work or even sample some of their food if possible.

How do chefs find new recipes? ›

So, they do plenty to keep inspiration flowing - from listening to the community through to attending cooking clubs, expert talks and foodie events. As they develop new recipes, they also have to think about important factors like: Number of ingredients - 14 is the max so recipes don't get too complicated.

Is delish credible? ›

Why You Should Trust Us. We hand-pick every product that appears on Delish with you in mind—and they're all tested, researched, or editor-approved.

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