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

This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.

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!

Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (1)
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.

Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (2)

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!
Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (3)

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!

Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (4)

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!

Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (5)

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.

Cafe Rio Recipes - All the Best in One Place! (6)

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

What is the mild sauce at Cafe Rio? ›

However, the following items are made with certain ingredients produced in the same facility where peanuts or tree nuts are manufactured, and are potentially exposed: Key Lime Pie, Tomatillo Sauce (Mild). Green Sauce (Medium), Shrimp, and Queso.

What is enchilada style at Cafe Rio? ›

Burrito Enchilada Style

A fresh, homemade tortilla is packed full with black or pinto beans, cilantro lime rice and your choice of protein. Then, we smother it with cheese and one of our signature sauces and bake it to perfection. Your life will never be the same.

What is the flavor of mild sauce? ›

What is Mild Sauce? Mild sauce is a mild version of buffalo sauce, used to season chicken wings. The main ingredients are butter melted with hot sauce. The color of this sauce is a red-orange and has a medium thin viscosity with a flavor that is buttery, lightly spicy and a little tangy.

What is mild sauce called? ›

It's a sauce, hallowed on the South and West Sides of Chicago, called "mild sauce." But don't let the meek name fool you—it's beloved. What exactly is mild sauce? You could technically classify it as barbecue sauce. But in the Windy City, and especially in Black communities, mild sauce is an all-purpose condiment.

What is pollo asado from Cafe Rio? ›

This is chicken grilled to perfection then top with a Honey Chipotle glaze🤤 I love it in the quesadilla or salad with the house dressing!

What is the difference between Cafe Rio tostada and salad? ›

you want the salad, just get the tostada and request a flour tortilla instead of the hard corn shell. You end up with literally the same thing as the salad, but slightly less tortilla and slightly less dressing. Save yourself about $2. Also, if you have children, take advantage of the free nino quesadillas.

Why are they called divorced enchiladas? ›

They are called 'divorced' enchiladas because one is covered in green salsa and the other in red salsa! Subscribe to our free CTP download, to be kept up to date with all cookery items.

What enchilada sauce is mild? ›

LA VICTORIA® Red Enchilada Sauce Mild is a perfect blend signature spices and red chiles for a mild flavor profile for those who want great taste without too much heat.

Is mild enchilada sauce spicy? ›

The heat of the enchilada sauces can range from mild to hot, depending on the variety of chili pepper used in the recipe. For example, ancho chili-based sauces will be on the mild end of the spectrum, while a sauce made with serrano pepper will be hot.

Is mild red enchilada sauce spicy? ›

Just like green enchilada sauce, red sauce can range from being mildly spicy to knock-your-socks-off spicy — it all depends on the chili.

What spice level is mild sauce? ›

Spiciness is measured in SHU, or Scoville Heat Units. Mild foods are around 100-2,500 SHU, and medium foods are 2,500-30,000.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Rubie Ullrich

Last Updated:

Views: 6404

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (52 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Rubie Ullrich

Birthday: 1998-02-02

Address: 743 Stoltenberg Center, Genovevaville, NJ 59925-3119

Phone: +2202978377583

Job: Administration Engineer

Hobby: Surfing, Sailing, Listening to music, Web surfing, Kitesurfing, Geocaching, Backpacking

Introduction: My name is Rubie Ullrich, I am a enthusiastic, perfect, tender, vivacious, talented, famous, delightful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.