Pork Carnitas (Mexican-Style Slow Cooked Shredded Pork)

Pork carnitas are one of my favorite go-to menu items at any Mexican restaurant. This simple recipe is so tender and packs a flavor punch! Carnitas are perfect in tacos, burritos, quesadillas, with rice and beans and nachos! Garnish with onions or all the toppings – it’s always a crowd favorite. Everyone should have a back pocket carnitas recipe and I hope you give this one a try at your next cinco de mayo celebration or Mexican themed dinner party!

While there are many recipes out there, for me the American authority on Mexican food is chef Rick Bayless. His passion and love for Mexican foods is unmatched and has earned him many James Beard awards. You can find chef Bayless sharing his recipes on YouTube, his website, various restaurants and cookbooks. You can also buy his frontera salsas at your local grocery store. Chef Bayless says you don’t need a lot of ingredients to make carnitas and his YouTube video shows you how to achieve equal results with three different cooking styles. For me, slow cooking in a crockpot was the way to go since I love the set-it-and-forget-it benefits.

PORK SHOULDER V. PORK BUTT
They are two cuts from the shoulder of the pig. The pork butt is higher on the foreleg while the pork shoulder is farther down. Sometimes it’s called a picnic shoulder or a Boston Butt. This cut became popular in New England and the pork cuts were stored in barrels called butts – hence the name Boston Butt.

ORIGINS
According to folklore, Carnitas (meaning little meats) originated in the state of Michoacan when Hernan Cortes, a Spanish conquistador who was later titled Marques del Valle de Oaxaca, hosted a banquet in 1521 to celebrate the fall of the Aztec Empire. The pork was braised in its own fat (lard) until tender and served with cornbread. The culinary term for this process is confit. It’s a French word that mean “preserved” and it’s a process of slow cooking and storing food in fat. The French would confit duck, low and slow, then store it in a cool place to last all winter.

INGREDIENTS
3-4 lb pork shoulder/butt roast (boneless is preferred)
kosher salt (general rule is to salt 1 teaspoon per lb of meat)
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
2-3 teaspoons of Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice plus the juice of 1 lime (about 2 navel oranges & 1 lime)
6-8 garlic cloves, mashed into a paste with a mortar and pestle
1 large white onion, cut into slices or wedges (for braising)
garnish with lime wedges, cilantro and finishing salt like Maldon

HERE’S HOW I MADE MY CARNITAS
Rinse and dry the pork with paper towels and place the roast in the crockpot. Sprinkle with kosher salt, black pepper, Mexican oregano, cumin and bay leaves, rubbing it around all sides of the meat. Combine the mashed garlic and citrus juices in a Pyrex cup and pour over the marinade over the pork, then evenly distributed the sliced onions.
Note: You don’t want the cumin to overpower the Mexican oregano, so add half the amount of cumin to that of Mexican oregano.

Now set it and forget it. I started mid-morning so I set the pork on high for 5 hours, flipped the pork and cooked an additional 4 hours on low. Remember, braising meats in a crockpot takes a long time, anywhere from 8 – 12 hours depending on the size and cut of the meat.

After 9 hours, the bone just came off! Allow the pork to cool and shred into bite size pieces. Pour the liquid goodness through a sieve to remove the onions and floating bits and seasonings. Discard the sieve contents and reserve the liquid. Since I braised the pork the day before, I stored the meat in its juices overnight. This is a wonderful make ahead dish that’s perfect for easy entertaining.
Note: Did you know you can braise ahead a couple of days? Just let the pork come to room temperature for an hour before searing and don’t discard the lard that will solidify. That lard will crisp up the pork into delicious golden bits.

The next day, after allowing the pork to sit at room temperature for an hour, I seared the pork to crispy perfection in batches on a cast iron skillet. I highly recommend having one – it’s one of the best skillets you can have in your kitchen. Lightly grease the cast iron skillet with extra virgin olive oil, and add enough meat to the pan with some lard and juices, without overcrowding. Let it sit and sizzle for a few minutes – as the liquid reduces, the lard will sear the pork. Gently turn the carnitas over to brown the other side, then stir in the pan a few times before transferring to your serving dish.

If you don’t have enough lard, add a little olive oil. Sear the pork to crispy perfection, but don’t over crisp all the edges. You want crispy and tender bits for the most enjoyable bite. I was able to sear the pork in three batches, adding half a cup of liquid to each batch. Taste and reseason with salt at this point. You can always add salt, but you can’t take it out.

I love to serve carnitas in tacos or with rice and beans. They are amazing in nachos and loaded with toppings. Honestly, it was hard to plate the carnitas as family members would walk by and steal of pinch here and there! Yes, I live with carnitas bandits! Garnish with some cilantro, lime wedges and sprinkle finishing salt, like Maldon.

Shown here, my Pork Carnitas with Cilantro Lime Rice, Mexican Green Beans, Pickled Red Onions and Pico de Gallo. This dish was part of my Mexican Themed Dinner for this year’s cinco de mayo celebration. What’s not to love about pork? As Emeril says, “Pork fat rules” and he’s right!

As I mentioned before, this is a keeper back pocket recipe that you can made a few days ahead for easy entertaining. It freezes well too and doesn’t lose flavor or quality. Thaw in the refrigerator, before bringing to room temperature and searing on a cast iron skillet.