Carnitas are good year-round but there’s something extra special about making them in the fall. The scent that fills the house while the pork is slow-cooking is tantalizing and the warmth from the oven while broiling is welcome on cool evenings. These little crisp, yet juicy nuggets of goodness are great eaten on their own, straight out of the pan while no one is looking but even better with roasted salsa verde and a tortilla.
Pork Carnitas
One of our favorite Mexican taco fillings!
- October 14, 2018
- 4 Servings
- 7 hr
- Print this
Ingredients
- 3.5-4 lbs pork shoulder
- 1 orange
- 1 lime
- 1 white onion
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 t cumin
- 1 t chili powder
- 2 t salt
- 1 t pepper
- 1 t oregano
- 1 t garlic powder
- 1/2 t paprika
Directions
- Step 1
- You can cook this recipe with a slow cooker or a sous vide. Get your slow cooker or sous vide bags ready.
- Step 2
- Cube pork into 2-inch chunks and put them in your cooker or sous vide bags. Drizzle olive oil over the top.
- Step 3
- Stir together all the spices and stir into the pork.
- Step 4
- Cut up the onion into big chunks and the orange into slices and toss in with the pork.
- Step 5
- Squeeze the juice of one lime over the pork, toss in the bay leaves.
- Step 6
- Slow Cooker Method: Set it to 6 hours.
- Step 7
- Sous Vide Method: submerge into 185 degree water and leave it for 10+ hours.
- Step 8
- Once the meat is done and very fork tender, separate it from the oranges, onions and bay leaves while reserving the cooking liquid.
- Step 9
- Spread the pork in a single layer in a cast iron skillet preheated to 450 degrees.
- Step 10
- Put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the edges (or use a foil-lined baking sheet). Once the level of crispiness you desire is achieved add a couple of spoonfuls of the liquid left over in the slow cooker.
- Step 11
- Serve on warmed corn tortillas with your favorite toppings. We like a bit of cilantro, finely diced white onion and homemade salsa.
