Chipotle Chicken al Pastor: Calories, Nutrition & Return Dates
Of every limited-time protein Chipotle has rotated through its menu, Chicken al Pastor is the one people keep asking about months after it disappears. It’s grilled chicken marinated with dried chiles, achiote and pineapple, then finished with fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro. The flavour lands sweet first, then smoky, with a gentle heat underneath — nothing like the regular grilled chicken it sits next to on the line. This page covers what it is, what it cost, where its nutrition lands, and the question most readers actually arrive with: is it back yet?
Is Chicken al Pastor on the Menu Right Now?
Short answer: no. As of November 2026, Chicken al Pastor is not on the menu at Chipotle, and you can’t currently order it in a burrito, bowl, tacos or salad.
- Status: Off the menu
- Last run: 10 February 2026 to late April 2026
- Previous runs: March 2023 (debut), 2024, 2026
That on-off pattern is how this item works. Chipotle has never made it permanent; it shows up for a couple of months, rotates out when the next limited-time protein launches, and comes back a year or so later. We update the status line at the top of this page whenever that changes, so it’s worth bookmarking if you want first word of a return. Until then, everything on the current Chipotle menu is what can actually be ordered today.
What Is Chicken al Pastor?
The name comes from tacos al pastor, the Mexico City street food built on meat marinated in dried chiles and achiote, stacked on a vertical spit, and carved off with a slice of pineapple. Chipotle kept the blueprint and changed the protein: instead of pork, it’s chicken, marinated in an adobo-style blend of morita and other dried chiles, ground achiote and pineapple, then grilled and chopped. Fresh lime and hand-cut cilantro go on at the end.
The pineapple does double duty. It sweetens the marinade, and its sugars char slightly on the grill, giving the chicken’s edges a caramelised bite. Add the smoke from the chiles and it tastes closer to a sweet barbecue glaze than anything else on Chipotle’s line — which is why it built a following the regular chicken never quite has.
Chicken al Pastor at Chipotle: The Story So Far
- March 2023: The debut. Chicken al Pastor was Chipotle’s first global menu launch, rolling out across the US, Canada, the UK, France and Germany at the same time.
- 2024: The first comeback, which settled it: this is a recurring seasonal protein, not a one-off experiment.
- 10 February 2026: The third run. Rewards members got early access on 9 February, and the protein appeared in the High Protein Cup for the first time. It rotated off the menu in late April 2026, when Chipotle Honey Chicken took over the limited-time slot.
Read the pattern and you can guess the future, though Chipotle never confirms it in advance: a run roughly once a year, usually in the late winter or spring slot. Treat specific return dates you see on social media as rumours until Chipotle announces one.
Nutrition: Where Al Pastor Fits
One honest caveat first. Chipotle publishes nutrition for its limited-time proteins inside its online calculator only while those items are live, and its current official US nutrition document doesn’t list Chicken al Pastor. So no official per-serving row for it exists right now — anyone quoting you an exact label figure today is guessing.
What we can give you is solid ground. Chipotle’s official published calorie ranges for each entrée format are:
| Entrée | Official calorie range |
|---|---|
| Burrito Bowl | 420–910 cal |
| Salad | 420–910 cal |
| Burrito | 740–1,210 cal |
| Tacos (3) | 390–1,140 cal |
And because al pastor starts life as grilled chicken, the most reliable per-serving estimate comes from Chipotle’s official nutrition for that chicken. The figures below are calculated from Chipotle’s official ingredient nutrition for a 4 oz serving of its grilled chicken — the marinade sits on top of that base and isn’t part of the published chicken figures, so treat these as close estimates, not label values:
| Per serving (4 oz) | Calculated estimate |
|---|---|
| Calories | 180 cal |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Total fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 310 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 0 g in the base chicken (the pineapple marinade adds a small amount of sugar) |
Built into a standard bowl, the maths is friendlier than you might expect. White rice (210), black beans (130), al pastor (about 180, calculated as above) and fresh tomato salsa (25) come to roughly 545 calories before cheese, sour cream or guacamole go anywhere near it — calculated from Chipotle’s official ingredient values. Guacamole adds 230; cheese and sour cream together add 220 more. Our chicken nutrition breakdown covers the permanent protein in the same detail.
What It Costs When It’s on the Menu
When al pastor is running, it’s priced in the same tier as the regular chicken entrées — burritos, bowls and salads built on it started from around $11.35 in most US locations during its 2026 run. Exact prices are set per restaurant, so yours may have differed. For the current numbers on everything else, see the full Chipotle menu prices list.
What to Order Instead (While You Wait)
Chipotle Honey Chicken — the closest match
The protein that replaced al pastor is also its nearest flavour neighbour: sweet heat, a glaze that caramelises, and a loyal following of its own. Chipotle Honey Chicken returned on 28 April 2026 and is still on the menu — if it’s the sweet-and-smoky profile you miss, this is your order.
Pollo Asado
Pollo Asado came back on 31 August 2026 with a new recipe — adobo-style grilled chicken with garlic, citrus and cilantro. It’s less sweet than al pastor but scratches the same marinated-chicken itch.
Smoked Brisket
The current headline limited-timer, back since 5 November 2026: mesquite-smoked brisket with garlic and cumin. Richer and beefier than al pastor, but if you like ordering whatever’s new, this is it right now.
The DIY approximation
Regular grilled chicken with roasted chili-corn salsa gets you smoke plus a little sweetness in the same bite. It’s not al pastor — nothing on the permanent menu is — but it’s the closest build you can make today.
FAQs
Is Chicken al Pastor back at Chipotle?
No. As of November 2026, Chicken al Pastor is off the menu. Its last run ended in late April 2026, and the status section at the top of this page is updated whenever that changes.
When will Chicken al Pastor return?
Chipotle hasn’t announced a return date. Its pattern so far is a run roughly once a year, in 2023, 2024 and early 2026, so a 2027 return is plausible but not confirmed.
Is Chicken al Pastor spicy?
Mild to medium. The heat comes from dried chiles in the marinade and sits behind the pineapple sweetness, so most people find it gentler than the tomatillo-red chili salsa.
How many calories are in Chipotle Chicken al Pastor?
Chipotle doesn’t currently publish an official figure for it. Calculated from Chipotle’s official nutrition for its grilled chicken, a serving works out at roughly 180 calories with 32 g of protein, and a typical bowl lands around 545 calories before cheese, sour cream or guacamole.
Is Chicken al Pastor gluten-free?
Chipotle doesn’t include limited-time items on its standard allergen chart and warns that they may contain allergens not listed there. The only standard menu items flagged for wheat and gluten are the flour tortillas, but if you have coeliac disease, check with Chipotle directly when it returns.
Want the numbers for an order you can actually get today? Head back to our Chipotle nutrition calculator and build any current menu item — every protein, rice, salsa and topping on the line, with the calories, protein and sodium added up as you go.
