pork taco meat

Authentic Mexican pulled pork carnitas recipe are my most popular recipe for a reason!  Because they are the best :)

Authentic Pork Carnitas - Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

pork butt, fat

tsp salt

tsp pepper

tsp cumin

onion,

bay leaves

oregano

lime juice

water

orange,

Prep

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice.

Braise: Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours.  You can also complete this step in a crock pot set on high for 6-7 hours.  You will have more liquid to reduce in the next step however.

Reduce: Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan. Remove and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until it thickens and syrupy, about 20 &#8211; 30 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.

Shred: While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has reduced, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.

Broil: Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.

Hooray for you, Dana ... and all of us pro-Trumpers! We had the biggest celebration in 2016 over his big win and can hardly wait to do it again this year! We also served these delicious pork carnitas at our party. I’ve never been political about a food comment, but the author of this recipe got us going in that vein! Can’t we all just love each other?

I should have posted this a year ago when I found this recipe but I forgot to!  I was just sending the link to a friend and thought about it!  My husband and I absolutely LOVE this recipe for carnitas!  We make it about once a month in the slow cooker.  (I love the set it and forget it aspect of the slow cooker!)  I have also made it at a couple of get togethers we've had and it was a HUGE hit for everyone there also!  For the crockpot I used the tip from Brittanyann about reducing the liquid, I only put a cup at the most, but I usually use a large orange too so it gets a little more juice from that too.  THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE!

So, since my last post about this delicious recipe, my husband and I were gifted a Power Cooker electric pressure cooker. I was very skeptical at first (scared of the old school ones I guess and it carried over). But we absolutely LOVE it and have been trying some of our favorite slow cooker recipes in it. 2 days ago we tried this recipe for carnitas. I will say it is THE BEST we have had! Even more tender than the slow cooker! I had about 6 1/2 lbs of meat after discarding the fat and bone so I used a bit more seasoning and I used a cup of water and a large orange's juice and the juice from 2 limes. It totaled about 2 cups.  I still put in the orange peels and reduced the liquid after cooking to go on the shredded meat under the broiler. I did 60 minutes and let it naturally release pressure for about 20 minutes. Just in case anyone else may want to try it!

I did this in my instant pot. I put everything in and cooked it on high for 90 minutes. It was amazing! It smelled so good that when my mom stopped over she kept saying,  "What are you making? It smells so good." After the 3rd time I had thi invite her thi stay! I will definitely make it again! 

(I also used chicken broth instead of water.)

I’m so glad your pork loin turned out! That’s all they had at the grocery store and I’m making this for friends tonight. 4th time...this recipe makes the best carnitas ever. Try pairing it with butter tortillas from HEB...heavenly.

This is our favorite carnitas recipe!! I totally forgot to add 2 cups of water and just added 2 tbs of olive oil. The orange adds so much great flavor. Thanks for sharing :)

I made this for dinner yesterday and it was awesome!  I did use my slow cooker and it was very tender and just fell apart nicely.  Served it with black beans and rice and was a hit". Thank you!

All I can say is WOW! Please everyone do yourself a favor and make this in your Dutch Oven and NOT your crockpot. I have been making Carnitas in my crockpot for years, and have always had the impression that they were good, but not impressive. I found this recipe and followed in EXACTLY. My whole dinner party was RAVING!!! We made a topping bar with cilantro, limes, cheese, avocado, grilled onions, and sriracha sour cream and little street taco tortillas, it was the BEST! Crispy, so full of flavor and depth. This is hands down the BEST! Im So happy I went with using my Dutch Oven over the slow cooker, I think it made all the difference!!

It's my family's favorite! Love the photos and your blog is very inspiring. Thank you!

I pinned this recipe at least 2 years ago. It is, by far, the best recipe I have come across. I share this recipe with everyone. I have 7 kids and they all LOVE it. I always cook it in my Dutch oven. I am actually making it today. I serve it with corn tortillas, avocado, sour cream, cheese, and black beans. I double the recipe and what we have leftover, we use the next night and make quesadillas with shredded pepper jack. This is a budget friendly recipe too as I make 2 meals out of it. And you are right about how you will never look at taco fillings the same way. We never have any other type of meat in tacos as there is no comparison to this one. I have had authentic carnitas and this recipe is better than any I've had! Thank you for such a perfect recipe!

Thank you so much for this recipe! It is so delicious! I am wondering how to convert this to an instant pot recipe? I tried it as is and although perfectly moist and still delicious, there was not much flavor in the meat itself. The broth it made was dreamy and plentiful. I took about a fourth of it and boiled it down and it did make a sauce, just not as rich as making it in a dutch oven or crock pot. Have you mastered this? I cooked on high pressure for 45 minutes (6 lbs of meat) and naturally released (after 35 minutes it hadn't released, so I did it manually).  Thanks for your recipe, it's a winner!

Fantastic!! My family loves this recipe..we add Spanish rice and queso to our soft flour tortillas and pile in the meat..yummy! I noticed a couple of political comments in here..this is a recipe, not a political debate. Let's keep our political views to ourselves and focus on the recipe here people!

I made my carnitas yesterday and they were amazing!  I was looking for a recipe that used an oven braising method (I'm not a slow cooker fan and I am not on team IP either).  When I saw this recipe was adapted from a Cooks Illustrated recipe, I knew I had found my recipe (HUGE CI fan here)! These turned out amazing!  I love the process of reducing the cooking liquid and tossing the meat in it, so any recipes had you just throw away this deliciousness rather than maximize its magic! It took me longer to reduce (I likely yielded more liquid) and had to toss and broil about 4x (maybe a smallish jellyroll pan), but they came out perfect! Even my picky kids ate them! Thanks for an amazing recipe, Carole!

Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! It is a staple on our menu now! My son got married this summer and I made 10+ pounds (finished) of carnitas for the rehearsal dinner. I make it in the crockpot with less water than the recipe specifies. Always a hit! &lt;3

This recipe is AWESOME! We make these all the time. I've only ever done tHem in tHe Crock-Pot and they so so delish!

This is a huge family favorite for us. You introduced me to the wonders of the Dutch oven! I've come to adore recipes like this where you can just prep for a moment and then let the oven do it's thing and Presto! You have a beautiful delicious melt-in-your-mouth meal. 

I just had to write to thank you for a delicious way to prep an inexpensive cut of meat. I have to make it by request for friends frequently.

I just made  this recipe! This recipe is  amazing and the carnitas are flavorful and tender. Just what I was looking for in a carnitas recipe. Thanks for posting it!

This was an amazing carnitas recipe.  I put all the ingredients in my crockpot and went to work.  I came hime and followed the rest of the instructions, and BAM!  We ate it with rice, beans, fresh homemade flour totillas in addition to corn tortillas with fresh hot salsa.  It was an instant hit.  How do I know?  My 14 year old son ate 3 burritos and 2 tacos after waterpolo practice!  Thanks for a wonderful recipe.

Amazing recipe.
Here in the Netherlands I used ( ofcourse )  a Dutch oven and I made it in the oven.
Everybody loved it and it is now one of my son’s favorite’s.
Thank you so much for this very tastefull recipe and the way you wrote down the steps.
You made it easy for me to follow, so everybody had a very lovely dinner and there were no leftovers.
We ate it with corntortilla’s coleslaw, salsa and guacamole.
Greetings from Holland

Made this in the crock pot using chicken broth instead of water and it was really good, but we all agreed there was something missing.  Talked to my daughter who lives on the border, and she said she couldn't imagine cooking it without garlic.  Going to try that next time.  By the way, I had a huge butt roast and cooked it overnight.  Shredded and boiled down the juice and refrigerated it. Just had to broil it before dinner. Made an easy dinner that night when the kids came over!  Going to try it in a Dutch oven next time.

This was my first time making this and it is truly delicious! I made it as the recipe is written except I only had a very small orange so I added actual orange juice and also used chicken broth for part of the liquid . I probably should have trimmed off even more fat from the inside of the pork than I did (which took forever) because when I simmered down the liquid at the end there was a lot of grease to skim off. Next time I won't boil it down so much as mine was not syrupy enough, it was pasty : (  The taste however was great and everyone loved it. It was so moist even after broiling. It's definately a keeper! I look forward to making it again to get it just right.

I love love love this! Made it a few times in my Crock-Pot but it was usually a little overcooked because my Crock-Pot was terrible. I tried it in my instant pot and cooked it 45 minutes and it was unbelievable. Shredded beautifully and the flavors stuck out even more. I throw my lime in there with the whole orange and onion too. So scrummy.

You guys! This is the best carnitas recipe EVER!! My search is over.

Hello! 
  Just wanted to say thank you for the recipe! I’m an avid Pinterest pinner, but only make about 1% of the things I’ve pinned! I have to say I’ve made this 3 times now! I absolutely love it and will continue to make it over and over again! Hands down my most successful Pin!  You are a rockstar!  Thanks for making me feel like a rockstar when I make Carnitas!!!

I’ve made this countless times!!! Absolutely fantastic!!

Great for Keto diet.  Will make again. Very flavorful. The fatty pieces are the best 5*****

Came for the carnitas, stayed for the comments.   (yang2024 my dudes)
This recipe was awesome! Everyone loved it so much the first time (two weeks ago) that we’re making it again tonight. I used our crock pot and had it cooking and smelling up the house alllll day and it was wonderful.

Absolutely the BEST carnitas I have ever made! Definitely don’t skip the broiling step it makes all the difference in the world. My husband could stop himself from eating until he was bursting at the seams! He requested it for his Father’s Day dinner. 
The only alteration I made was adding more seasoning to the liquid while reducing. 
Thank you this life changing recipe 

I have made this recipe twice, it is amazing! I made it both times for a large crowd, tripled the recipe, so I did it both times on top of the stove in a big stock pot instead of in the crock pot or Dutch oven in the stove. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly, make sure you do not skip the final steps using the reduced liquid on top of the meat and putting it under the broiler, it makes a huge difference in the flavor of the meat!!

Wow great recipe and I love to see my Trumpers filling their bellies with yum Mexican food! We're all grown up so much since the 2016 campaign. Viva México.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uigibjARw-s

This is the filling you've been looking for in your tacos, burritos, and quesadillas! Full recipe on the blog https://www.mykitchenescapades.com/pork-carnitas-recipe/

Music by www.bensound.com

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