Lomo Mechado: Mexican roast pork with prunes
This Mexican Lomo Mechado is a perfect roasted pork sirloin that’s tender, flavorful, and juicy. The meat is stuffed with prunes, bacon, and nuts, then slow-roasted along with a delicious prune sauce.
Serve this impressive, yet easy-to-make roast with your favorite sides like roasted vegetables, pasta, or potatoes and have a Merry Christmas!
About
Lomo Mechado is a Mexican recipe that consists of roasted pork sirloin stuffed with spices, nuts, prunes, and bacon. It is usually served for special occasions like weddings, birthdays, or for Christmas Eve dinner.
The recipe originated in Andalusia, Spain, and then spread to many Latin American countries, including Mexico, where to this day is one of the most traditional and popular dishes for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
Mechado comes from the Spanish verb “mechar” which is a cooking technique that consists of introducing pieces of some food or seasoning into a piece of meat that is going to be cooked.
An incision is made with a knife in the meat and it is filled with various ingredients like olives, capers, spices, vegetables, dried fruits, and cold meats, among others.
There are many versions of Lomo de Cerdo Mechado in Mexico, the difference among those are in the ingredients for stuffing the pork meat and in the sauce to serve it.
The idea is that when the meat is sliced the layered elements can be seen, in addition to giving flavor.
The recipe we’re sharing today is made with a slightly spicy and sweet sauce made of prunes and chipotle peppers which adds an incredible and particular taste to this pork roast.
This final dish looks beautiful yet it’s quite easy to make. It is perfect to impress your guests and family at a holiday dinner.
So keep reading because I’ll give you the step-by-step recipe with photos + the quick printable recipe at the end of the post.
Ingredients
- Pork Sirloin (lomo): You will need a large piece of about 2.2 pounds / 1k which is enough to feed 4 people.
- Bacon: For flavor, you’ll first cook it and then use it for stuffing.
- Prunes: You will need pitted prunes for the stuffing and some more for the sauce.
- Chilies: Chipotle peppers add a flavorful smoky touch, you can leave them out if you don’t want the sauce to be slightly spicy or add less than the recipe calls.
- Walnuts: You can use walnuts or pecans, or any other type of nut you prefer.
- Butter: Unsalted butter to make the sauce.
- Oil: Use any type of oil you prefer to sear the meat.
- Onions: Yellow, white, or red, finely chopped.
- Orange: Use fresh orange juice.
- Jugo Maggi: Look for this sauce at your local supermarket near as Maggi seasoning or Maggi sauce. Or substitute with 1:1 parts of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.
- Spices: Cinnamon, whole cloves, salt, and pepper.
How to Make
Slightly fry the bacon on its own fat, it doesn’t need to be crispy just a bit browned. Set aside until it reaches room temperature.
Place pork loin on a cutting table. With a long and narrow knife, make various longwise incisions in the meat.
Now, stuff the incisions with prunes, bacon, and walnut bites. Use one of your fingers to push the ingredients, making sure they are layered one after the other.
Season the assembled lomo mechado with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Tie the roast
- Tie your loin roast by first making a slip knot on one end of the roast.
- Then pull a length of twine out away from your anchor and create a large, loose loop.
- Slide the loop over the roast and pull it tight.
- Repeat the loops to the length until all roast is looped.
- Pull the twine to secure the roast trying to keep an even shape.
- Flip the roast, run the twine lengthwise, and tie it to the first knot you made.
Note: Step-by-step tie a roast process here.
Make the prune sauce
- In a medium saucepan heat the butter over medium heat.
- Add diced onion and cook until softened and translucent (about 4 minutes).
- Add the prunes and then pour 2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer.
- Add piloncillo, ground cinnamon, whole cloves, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine and simmer for 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool down.
- Place the prunes mixture in a blender along with chipotle peppers, orange juice, and Jugo Maggi.
- Blend until nicely smooth and adjust salt if needed.
Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof deep pan or a dutch oven. Sear the pork loin until nicely browned on all sides. About 10 minutes over medium-low heat.
Pour the prunes sauce into the pan, making sure it coats the whole piece of loin. Cover the pan with its lid or use aluminum foil.
Roast
Roast in the preheated oven at 360°F (180°C) for 40 minutes.
Uncover and keep roasting for 10-15 more minutes or until the intern meat temperature reaches about 170°F (70°C).
Remove from the oven AND from the pan, tent it with foil, and allow to rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
Recipe Notes
- Allow Lomo Mechado to rest so the juices will redistribute themselves all throughout the meat and not in your cutting board.
- Make sure you remove the roasted lomo from the pan so it won’t continue cooking in the hot pan.
- Invest in a meat thermometer, there are some really cheap ones in the market like this Instant read thermometer, those last forever!
How To Serve
You can serve Lomo Mechado sliced and drizzled with the scrumptious prune sauce, then pair it with your favorite sides. Here are my favorite classic side dishes I’d serve on a Mexican holiday table:
- Mexican green spaghetti.
- Buttery rice.
- Mashed potatoes.
- Espagueti rojo.
- Jalapeño pasta salad.
How To Store & Reheat
You can store lomo mechado leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container or up to 2 months in the freezer.
Label the container before freezing. Use a permanent marker to note the type of meat, date, and any other useful information.
To reheat, arrange the roast in a baking dish and thin the prune’s sauce with a dash of water. Brush the roast with a bit of sauce and cover it with foil.
Reheat at 325°F (160°C) until heated through (from 15 to 20 minutes).
More Mexican Christmas Recipes
Lomo Mechado: Mexican Christmas Pork Loin
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb pork loin roast
- 3 slices bacon (cut into small bites)
- â…“ cup prunes (pitted)
- ¼ cup walnuts (cut into bites)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- pepper (to taste)
- salt (to taste)
For the prune sauce
- 1 ½ cup prunes (pitted)
- 2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
- 1 cup fresh orange juice
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp ground piloncillo (or brown sugar)
- ¼ cup onion (diced)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp Jugo Maggi (read note 1)
- 2 cups water
- 2 whole cloves
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Fry the bacon on its own fat until slightly browned. Set aside until it reaches room temperature.
- With a long and narrow knife make various longwise incisions in the meat.
- Stuff the incisions with prunes, bacon, and walnut bites. Use one of your fingers to push the ingredients, making sure they are layered one after the other.
- Season the meat with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- You can now tie the meat or roast it as it is (read note 2).
Make the prune sauce
- Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion and cook until softened and slightly browned (about 4 minutes).
- Add the prunes and the water. Bring to a simmer and add piloncillo, ground cinnamon, whole cloves, salt, and pepper.
- Mix to combine and simmer for 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool down.
- Place the prunes mixture in a blender along with chipotle peppers, orange juice, and Maggi sauce.
- Blend until nicely smooth. Adjust salt if needed.
- Heat the olive oil in an oven-proof deep pan or a dutch oven.
- Sear the pork loin until nicely browned on all sides.
- Pour the prunes sauce into the pan, making sure it coats the whole piece of loin.
Roast
- Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C).
- Cover the pan and roast for 40 minutes.
- Uncover and keep roasting for 10-15 more minutes or until the intern meat temperature reaches about 170°F (70°C).
- Remove from the oven AND from the pan, tent the roast with foil, and allow to rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- You can replace Maggi seasoning with 1:1 parts of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.
- Check the full post for instructions on how to tie a roast or take a look at this post too.
- Allow the roast to rest so the juices will redistribute themselves all throughout the meat and not in your cutting board.
- Make sure you remove the roasted lomo from the pan so it won’t continue cooking in the hot pan.
Nutrition Information
If you’ve made this Lomo Mechado recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Happy cooking!
Because of you I bought a Meat Thermometer! Life-changing, now I don’t have to worry about it being uncooked. My Lomo Mechado cooked perfectly, I served it in a party and they all loved it!