What kind of pork carnitas

Can I cook a frozen pork? This will mess with the cook time a lot because it will take sooooo long for the middle of the pork to cook, by which time the outside will be overcooked and when you shred it, it will almost look like mush! The pork must be defrosted! It is up to you!

Will this work with pork stew chunks? Just to confirm — no pan frying to brown the pork before putting it in the slow cooker?

What size slow cooker do you use? I first published this recipe back in , when I was new to blogging. I took sooooo long with the photos — prolonged torture for Dozer! Save Save. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Your email address will not be published. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. I currently eat low carb and was wondering if there was a replacement for the orange juice? Would it possible to add some sort of broth to it instead?

Recipetineats is my go to place for fail proof recipes. Made this recipe for the first time and it was a hit!! Served with my famous guac, pico de Gallo, sour cream and coriander. Will definitely be making this again. I kept a bit of the fat and skin and it was so delicious. Just seems like it will be dry. This was unbelievably good. I grew up in San Diego and there was a place that made the best Carnitas. Thanks to you, I can now have them whenever I want.

Thank you so much! Love, love, love this recipe! I made this tonight and it was great. The cook time for the instant pot was just right! Made these and will make again soon for guests since they serve so much! Restaurant quality. We served it on tacos with sliced avocado, pickled onions, and cotija cheese. Simply outstanding! The searing at the end adds a whole dimension that regular pulled pork lacks.

The spices all worked together. Really enjoy your site! Not judging at all because the recipe looks very good but there is a small way to make the recipe a bit better. Do not skim off the fat and throw it away. The fat is the oils that you should use when you fry up the carnitas in the pan. Hi Just wondering if the Jalepenos make it really spicy hot making this for children if it does is it possible to leave the Jalepenos out without effecting the flavour too much? Does the use of these make this recipe bitter?

It would also seem that using only a bit of jalapeno for the it would lack in in heat and chile flavors? Did you miss the part about the rub? If you follow the directions, you will not be disappointed.

It can be used to make tacos as pictured in the photos in this post , tostadas, salads, nachos, burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, basically everything! This recipe is extremely easy to make and comes out perfect every single time. Cut pork shoulder into large 4-inch chunks, removing any excess fat. Place in the slow cooker. Cover with lime juice, salt, ground cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, dried oregano, onion powder and black pepper. When the meat is very tender, pull it apart with two forks.

Mix in some freshly chopped cilantro if desired and serve. I usually use the high setting and slow cook it for 4 hours. If you have a little more time and want to use the low setting, I recommend slow cooking it on low for hours. As the meat cooks, the fat starts to render and provides enough liquid and flavor! See Instant Pot notes below and in the recipe card. To make these carnitas in the Instant Pot pressure cooker , add all the ingredients into the pot just like you would in the slow cooker method, and then add in 1 cup of broth — chicken, beef or vegetable will all work.

Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure. Shred and serve as normal. Yes, but I would add a tablespoon or two of fat — either olive oil, coconut oil or whatever you prefer. To freeze, cool the pulled pork carnitas to room temperature. Place it in an air tight freezer bag, leaving about 2 inches of room at the top to allow for expansion, and freeze. It can be kept frozen for months. Looking for ways to use your pork carnitas?

Here are some of my favorite ways to eat it throughout the week! To get more easy Mexican recipes delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for my weekly email newsletter. You can also follow me on Facebook , Instagram and Pinterest! Great easy carnitas recipe. I added The juice of one orange. I used my Ninja pressure cooker. I will make these again. So easy and delicious!

Bring on the mexican recipes, I love all of them. I love making. The Carnita recipe has spread all the way to Sweden and we just loved it. Has a slow cooker since some years and recipes found feels a bit outdated, thanks for bringing new flavours to our kitchen. Made these carnitas today; Burp! We make traditional beef with lettuce , tomato, onions and cheese.

Looking for something different and easy. I understand how to make the meat looking what to top it with. I would make a pico de gallo to add on top! Keep it simply and add some sides like corn. I give out tacos on Halloween along with candy and I use a corn tortilla, the meat, pickled red onions, avocado crema sour cream, avocado, salt, lime juice , cilantro, and fresh lime wedge. I was short on time so I took a risk. I did everything like the recipe up to where the pork needs to be glazed.

I cut the pork in pieces and put it in the frig. The next day. I warmed up the pork at degrees on a foil lined jelly roll pan covered with heavy duty foil until warm. I warmed up the juice on the cooktop at low heat. Once I was ready I just scooped up a large spoonful of the meat and tossed it in the juice until the meat was covered and continued this until I did all the pork. I then followed the recipe as written. I will do it this way every time as I usually have time constraints around dinner time.

I served it with refried beans, guacomole, sour cream and some onions and green peppers using veg. I also did this the day before and just warmed the veg. Definitely a keeper, everyone loved it.

This was absolutely amazing! My almost one year old loved it too. I made these today for a snow in dinner and although I enjoyed it, I wish there was more sauce or moisture to the pork. Usually, I have plenty of sauce and the meat is extremely moist. Not even close to being dry. Looks yummy. Have I missed a step?

Carolina Cake: yep. I think you missed a step. You cook the pork in a Dutch oven with the citrus. Let me know if you have further questions after you re read the recipe! Pork shoulder and pork butt are the SAME cut of meat. Different parts of the country call them different names, but are the same. I added a few red pepper flakes at the very beginning, just because. And I only had to bake for 1. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! Fantastic and so easy!

A keeper for sure. Everyone loved it, even my super picky husband!! It was still amazing! Sahra- you could use the loin but the results will be different. The loin has much less fat and connective tissue that will breakdown and become tender. Works like a charm. Last time I added about a cup maybe less of green salsa replaceing some water , as well as a couple T of brown sugar. It was amazing.

I found this recipe recently on Pinterest. Made it last night for dinner. The smell emanating from my oven was driving me crazy all afternoon!

I was not disappointed. My two girls, who are both picky eaters, liked the meat. Thanks so much for posting this recipe. I tried this tonight and I had a cooking disaster! I think I will try this again when I have the right meat and someone else home to change the diapers!!

Tonight I hope for more control. I just made this for dinner this evening and it was a hit! There is nothing left! Everyone was raving about the tenderness and flavor. Thank you for this recipe! Made this tonight, and it was awesome! Family loved it, even the finicky fourteen year old. Hubby raved about the carnitas throughout the meal. Also loved your Roasted Parmesan Creamed Onions recipe too! Thanks for sharing your tasty recipes with us!

I made this for dinner last night and it was great! Loved it, my whole family did! My husband said this is the best recipe I have found yet! I used a crock pot to cook the meat then boiled the juice in a pan and broiled! This is an authentic recipe for spanish carnitas as I have many spanish friends and have eaten pork tacos al pastor at many taquerias.

It is my favorite hands down! And the method of this recipe is right on the money to achieve the authentic results. After you eat them with these dressings, OMG! So good! The squeeze of lime over the top kicks it over the edge!

Made them 3 times already! Just made this for the first time and it is delicious! I made it exact to the recipe but you can see that it is an easy recipe to play with. Thank yu so much for sharing. I am going to try this recipe, so looking forward to it!

As a single person who cooks for a non-existent army, I tend to freeze everything in portions. There were some earlier posts about people freezing the meat and possibly losing some of the texture. Will let you know how it goes. My freezer meal group made this to the point right before broiling then froze. Before eating we thawed and broiled as instructed. Turned out fantastic! Texture seemed the same as when I made it all in one day. I made it the other night for some friends and they loved it too!

I made this tonight for dinner, and this in now my go-to recipe for shredded pork. I did make some of my own alterations, based on my own flavor preferences and my past experiences making shredded pork. I put the cut up pork in a large mixing bowl, drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil, then added the spices and citrus juices. I also threw 3 cloves of garlic in the pot. Rubbed the spices all over the pork then simmered before putting in the oven.

Reduced the liquid, stirred in the pork and then spread it out on a foil lined cookie sheet. My husband loved it and kept commenting about how good the house smelled.

Thank you for sharing! This was the best Pork I have ever had. It was fall-apart-melt-in-your-mouth tender. But I did not get a syrup like consistency in the sauce until after it had cooled. Is it supposed to be syrupy while it is reducing? Thanks for a wonderful recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!! I have made this 3 times in 2 months!! Did not have a Dutch oven, so I put it in a large pot with a lid, and it was great!!

Everyone loved it!! I did notice a few asked about using beef, but no one replied. I have tons of beef in the freezer so would also like to know if a beef cut can be used. Let me know your results when you do! I had my doubts that the liquid would reduce and get syrupy, but I stirred and boiled for 20 min. It was delicious and a hit with the family.

Good recipe for a lazy day at home. I found you via Pinterest and the link that I had used was removed! I had a panic attack for not having written this down. This is one of my favorite recipes and well worth the 30 minutes I just spent hunting it down on the web. Thanks so much! Made these tonight with an added twist of my own. Added marjoram, paprika, garlic and a little brown sugar. I made these tonight, and they were absolutely amazing!

The meat melts in your mouth, and the flavors were great! My two little girls, my husband, and I all loved it! Oh my gosh this is delicious! Love love love it! I have never made carnitas, nor have I ever eaten it, so it was a surprise for us and our guests. I will make again. I have had carnitas at two authentic Mexican restaurants here in town and then I made these.

Let me tell you, these are astounding! This is a recipe that I will never part with. Definitely two thumbs up! I made these with chicken instead of pork bf hates red meat and did it once with thighs, once with breasts. Both times the flavor fell a good bit flat, and with the breasts, I doubled all the spices and citrus. Any insights as to how I might boost the flavor? As a note, the reduction process took forever, and the sauce was still very watery.

Sugar, maybe? Anne-my main suggestion for you is to stick with the pork butt instead of chicken. The flavors of this recipe are made to work with pork, not chicken or beef. Plus, the texture is completely different as well. The pork is tender and melts in your mouth. Chicken will never do that. As far as reducing, be patient and use the widest pan you have if you need to speed it up. Adding sugar will only mess with the balance of flavors that is so perfect with the pork. But, growing beef and pork sort of makes us have to eat it.

On the menu for this week. Thanks so much for posting something appetizing for this roast disliker. Trying this tonight! Thankfully someone had figured it out and I found the link here. Love this recipe. I make about 4 batches and freeze them. Last time I did not have time for the Dutch oven so I put it in the crockpot. Did last 2 steps in recipe. Family said it was the best one yet. Definetly my go to recipe. Thank you for sharing it with everyone. Beth- it depends on how you use it.

For our family of 8, we use it for tacos and we still have leftovers. It makes a big batch! Looking forward to trying this recipe for a casual dinner party for 13 friends this weekend. Having not made this before and assuming the meat cooks down quite a bit — can you make a suggestion for how much meat to start with for the correct number of servings?

Sarah- this will be a huge hit for your party! If you want the bowls to be generous with meat, I would make two batches. Otherwise, a recipe and a half will be great. I tried this tonight and waited and waited for my liquid to thicken.

It never happened. Any ideas? I boil my liquid on high for about 20 minutes before it reduces down and starts to thicken. How much liquid did you have before you began to boil it down? I started with the 2 cups liquid so I was boiling whatever was left after baking approximately 3 hours.

I removed the bay leaves and orange rinds before boiling. The collagen that comes out of the meat in slow cooking causes the liquid to get syrupy when it is reduced.

If refrigerated it would downright gel. Maybe thicken is the wrong term to use. It reduces down, the natural sugars in the meat and citrus cause the sauce to become a more syrup like thickness so it will cling to the meat before you put it under the broiler. You should reduce the liquid to about half by the time it begins to become more syrup like. Made this tonight and like others, my sauce never became a syrup like consistency…boiled for 20 minutes.

No matter. It was still over-the-top delicious! Thanks for the recipe! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe that is now a beloved staple of our family meal planning. I also used a crockpot for the first step: for 4 lbs it cooked for about 4 hours on low and then another 2 on high was running out of time. My plan for next time have already picked up another chunk of meat! Then whenever I want carnitas, I can just defrost, broil and eat!

I had it with chihuahua cheese, avocado, onion, cilantro, lime and grilled pineapple. I never leave comments on recipes—until now! These are amazingly good. I follow the recipe almost exactly I shred the meat more than the recipe calls for and everything turns out more than perfectly. I serve these with homemade flour tortillas, cheese, cilantro, tomatoes, sliced scallions, and generous squeeze of lime.

I boil until the liquid sort of runs slowly off the spoon…sometimes takes more than 20 minutes, but it does happen. This was a hit!! It stayed juicy and so flavorful. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Try pairing it with butter tortillas from HEB…heavenly.

This I think is the best recipe I have made that I have found on pinterest. This was so delicious and worth the time. I am making this for the second time tonight. It was sooooo good. My husband and I fought over the leftovers. Not this time! This is now one of my go toos for company! I found this recipe today and decided to try it as my husband always orders this when we go to the local mexican restaurant.

I followed the recipe exactly though the juice never thickened even after 30 minutes. I used the juice to make a gravy mixture and dipped the meat in it before broiling. We loved it and will definitely be making again. Just mixed the reduced liquid in with the meat. Amazing, reminded us of the carnitas we got at a little taco stand in Cancun! I made some with just the meat and reduced drippings, and some I added Daiya dairy-free Mozzarella Shreds… Fabulous! Its a nice blog. I love to eat your recipes.

Hope in near future you will present more delicious recipes. I made this last night and the meat turned out pretty dry. Do you have any suggestions? It should have a nice char and crust on the outside but the reduced cooking liquid should keep the meat quite moist while it is in the broiler. Since you are cooking your meat in a liquid, again, not quite sure what happened. The only thing I could suggest next time is maybe reducing your cooking time and temperature a little bit.

Thanks for the amazing recipe post! I have made this 3 times now and its so good. I have made it every time in my pressure cooker with huge success. I cut the water down to 1 cup, and cook on high pressure for 35 mins, and do a quick pressure release. Once the pressure cooker has released pressure you open it up and follow the rest of the recipe for broiling it with reduced liquid.

Its so fast and easy! I plan to make this for my daughters birthday party next week. Do you think I should quadruple the recipe for this many? I plan to serve it with tortillas, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, shredded cabbage, and beans. Thanks again! Thank you for the pressure cooker directions! I will have to give that a try next time.

I think a quadruple batch would be perfect for that many people! Have a great time. I started with at least cups of juice. Does that seem right?

Dianne- cups seems like quite a lot of juices left. Try using less water next time. You should end up with about 1 cup of finished liquid after it is done reducing. Thanks for your question! This is seriously the best pork taco recipe I have ever made or tried! Even better than any taco stand or fancy Mexican restaurant! My family asks for these at least 3 times a month! I make homemade quac and Pico to go with them. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!

I just finished cooking this. It is sooooo delicious! I had to adjust a few things, but still had great results. I used pork loin, and just added some olive oil. I also, emptied the pot into a crockpot for the slow cook portion, just to keep the house from getting hot.

This is a super easy, delicious recipe! Question is I want to take to party tomorrow but need to make today and then warm up in crockpot. Will it be dry if I do this? It is best hot from the broiler because of all that caramelization on the pork. You lose that once it gets reheated later. Do you know how many servings this makes? Can I halve it? If I do, how would you adjust any cooking times?

Brandy — it makes quite a bit of finished carnitas! Keep checking the meat after that because you need it to be tender and falling apart. I too am curious of the serving size. I have 4 adults and 7 kids to feed. Would you double the recipe? Jamie- it depends what you are using the meat in. If you are serving it in smaller tortillas, I think you are fine with a single batch. Hey Carole, My husband and I love this carnitas recipe and are going to make it for a party tomorrow. I was reading through the recipe again and noticed at the bottom a link for a chicken chorizo bake.

Thanks so much. Will do Mackenzie! Thanks for letting me know. Hi Carole! I make a homemade chicken broth, how do you think that would be in place of the water? Thanks in advance! Cortney- I think it would be fine but worry a bit about the chicken flavor altering the richness of the pork. Let me know how it goes! Any suggestions? It basically reduced down to nothing. It should reduce and thicken. Just thicker like a syrup. I think you were fine.

I just reduced it and poured it over the pork. My husband seemed to think it was because I was using a cast iron dutch oven and it was to hot just made the juices evaporate. I use a Dutch oven as well. I just reduce it until it becomes more syrupy….

You need that liquid to stick the meat, but it does take some time for it to reduce enough. Making this for the first time! While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces.

Once the liquid has become a syrup, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Agnes — great question! I think it is easier to put the meat back in with the reduced liquid and then onto a pan to go under the broiler! I made this for dinner tonight. I also made the home made tortillas. My husband and son devoured them. Believe me. I asked my husband from a scale of 1 to 10 and it got a Will definitely make in the future. Thanks for the recipe. Made this recipe today with some balsamic roasted carrots and homemade corn tortillas and hmmm hmmm hmmm it was good.

Thanks so much Shani for coming back and sharing your experience with the recipe! So glad you loved it -Carole. Thank you for the yummy recipe!!! So glad to hear that Christi! One of our favorites as well. This one is perfect as is. I loved it and so did everyone else that tasted it. Thank you SO much for sharing! I made this about two weeks ago, my family has not stopped asking when will I make it again, they loved it!

Next time I will try the suggestions here about using a crock pot. That would make it easier for during the week. However, I set the pork up to marinate last night. I expect it to taste even better this time. Jill- it makes a lot! Fills my half sheet pan full of meat, so easily enough for 10 people to eat a couple tacos each.

My daughter made this when I came for dinner a few weeks ago, and it was delicious! She used a crock pot.

What tweaks would you recommend for using a run-of-the-mill aluminum Farberware dutch oven? Great question Jana! You can use any large pot, but it has to be safe to go into the oven. If you have handles that are not oven safe, or a lid that is not oven safe, you will ruin your pan -Carole. This will be interesting. I am use a lamb shoulder. Lots of fat. Hope it works out. Smells great BTW. My husband and I have traveled together for our jobs for almost 30 yrs, everywhere we land we look for the most authentic mexican food we can find along with the best local mexican grocery store.

We definitely know our mexican food! Recently we have been in Nebraska in the middle of NOWHERE and there is nothing remotely worth eating here other than steak unless we travel to the bigger cities. I make it every week! Super simple and has been a life saver! Who knew you could make this at home and why have I never tried??? I use almost the same recipe now for chicken to switch it up, learned how to make home made beans and rice as well. Now I make this every Sunday, and we have AHmazing lunches and dinners all week!

I just toss the meat in any meal im making. This recipe equals a very happy husband! Thank you so much Terra for your kind words! Jenn — How about a side of mexican rice and some refried or pinto beans? It really depends on how you are serving the meat. I love it over a salad with a lot of avocado and pico de gallo.

These were incredible!!! I made a few minor adjustments I wanted to throw out there! I cut as much meat off as I could off the bone, then actually just threw the bone in on top of everything else. Adds flavor and gets every scrap of meat! I used chicken stock instead of water.

I almost never use water where I can substitute stock. Why pass up a chance to add flavor! You can even get pork stock now! I threw in a handful of sliced garlic… Because nothing leaves this kitchen without a ton of garlic, lol.

I also added a little harissa for kick. The main change was my cooking method. I am addicted to my electric pressure cooker. I brought everything to a boil, then cooked at high pressure for 45 minutes with natural pressure release.