📍 Jalisco

Tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwiches)

Name: Tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwiches)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 savory birote rolls; 500 g pork carnitas; 6 tomatoes; Dried chiles de árbol; Garlic, cumin, and oregano; Sliced onion and lime juice; 2 tablespoons vinegar and salt to taste

· Lunch

A savory birote roll filled with carnitas and drowned in a tomato sauce with very spicy chile de árbol.

Editorial content by WorldBites · 2026-10-04 · Contact

⏱ 40 min🍽 4 servings📊 Easy🏷 Commonly associated

Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 20 min
Waiting and resting: 0 min

History

A street-food icon of Guadalajara; the crusty birote holds up to the sauce without falling apart and is served with onion cured in lime.

Ingredients

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Preparation

1
Blend the cooked tomatoes with garlic and spices and strain for the base sauce.
2
Grind the toasted chiles de árbol with vinegar and salt for the spicy salsa.
3
Cure the onion in lime juice with salt and oregano.
4
Slit the birotes open and fill them with carnitas.
5
Bathe the torta with the tomato sauce and add chile de árbol salsa to taste.
6
Top with the cured onion and serve right away.