Easy Pork Carnitas Recipe

User Reviews

5.0

54 reviews
Excellent
  • Prep Time

    5 mins

  • Cook Time

    4 hrs 5 mins

  • Total Time

    4 hrs 35 mins

  • Servings

    16 servings

  • Calories

    459 kcal

  • Course

    Dinner

  • Cuisine

    Mexican

Easy Pork Carnitas Recipe

Pork is seasoned and slow-cooked, until it's fall-apart, fork-tender. We like to serve this taco night favorite in a variety of ways, with sautéed sweet peppers!

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Ingredients

Servings
  • 5 lb. bone-in pork shoulder aka Boston butt
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 T. vegetable oil
  • 3 c. low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 white or yellow onion peeled & quartered
  • 1 T. dried oregano leaves
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 3 to 4 sweet bell peppers – I like to use a colorful variety
  • 1 T. butter
  • 1 T. olive oil
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Instructions

for the pork:

  1. Remove pork from refrigerator one hour before starting to cook. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle all over with salt and pepper, fairly generously.
  2. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  3. Heat a 5 to 7 quart Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat. Add oil. When oil is hot and starts to shimmer, add pork. Cook until nicely browned and then turn, repeating that same process until all sides are browned. Add broth, onion, oregano, cumin, and paprika. Turn heat up a bit to bring liquid to a boil. Then spoon some of the hot liquid over the top of the meat.
  4. Place the cover on and transfer to preheated oven. Cook until meat is literally falling apart, about 4 hours, spooning liquid over meat once or twice during cooking.

for the sautéed sweet peppers:

  1. About half an hour before the meat is done, prepare the sweet peppers. Cut into long slices, about 1/4″ wide or so. Heat a wide skillet over medium heat - I like to use a large cast iron skillet.
  2. Add butter and olive oil. When the butter has melted, add the peppers, stirring to coat. Cook for about 10 minutes, letting them soften up.
  3. Then turn up the heat to medium-high. Let the peppers start to darken and char, stirring every couple minutes. Transfer peppers to serving dish.

to crisp the pork:

  1. When the pork has finished cooking, remove pot from the oven and place on stove top. Transfer meat to a platter. With a large spoon, push meat off the bone in chunks; discard bone and any large pieces of fat.
  2. Transfer pork back to French oven and turn on heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring with a large wooden spoon to break up pork, until liquid in French oven has almost entirely evaporated and meat begins to sizzle and caramelize, 5 to 10 minutes. The meat should pull into shreds very easily.

Notes

  • To serve: Serve with small warmed tortillas, the sauteed peppers, and your choice of taco toppings. Also great served over tortilla chips, in rice bowls, or with a taco salad.
  • Adapted from Braises and Stews by Tori Ritchie (a really great overall cookbook, by the way!)

Nutrition Information

Show Details
Serving 1 Calories 459kcal (23%) Carbohydrates 5g (2%) Protein 34g (68%) Fat 33g (51%) Saturated Fat 12g (60%) Polyunsaturated Fat 18g Cholesterol 129mg (43%) Sodium 153mg (6%) Fiber 1g (4%) Sugar 2g (4%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 16servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 459 kcal

% Daily Value*

Serving 1
Calories 459kcal 23%
Carbohydrates 5g 2%
Protein 34g 68%
Fat 33g 51%
Saturated Fat 12g 60%
Polyunsaturated Fat 18g 106%
Cholesterol 129mg 43%
Sodium 153mg 6%
Fiber 1g 4%
Sugar 2g 4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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5.0

54 reviews
Excellent

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