Every tortilla dreams of being stuffed with Carnitas. Picture seasoned pork slow-cooked into tender submission, gently shredded and pan-fried to golden, crispy perfection. Carnitas has that elusive combination of juicy and crispy that’s so irresistible. The best part of this Carnitas? 5 minutes prep!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Carnitas
Is there anything better in this world than pork slowly cooked until it’s crazy juicy and fall apart tender, then crisped to golden perfection?
Yes.
When it’s inside a taco. 😂
Carnitas is one of my specialities. I make this recipe often – for everyday purposes, a freezer standby and for taco-bar gatherings with friends!
The one and only Pork Carnitas
I went through A LOT of Pork Carnitas recipes before settling on this as The One. I’ve been loyal to it for over a decade because it ticks all my boxes:
✅ Extremely quick 5 minute preparation
✅ Made with easy to find natural ingredients
✅ Enough flavour to eat plain (and you will pick it out of the pan!)
✅ Subtle enough flavour so it can be used in any Mexican dish (over salting and over spicing is a common problem);
✅ Perfect caramelized brown bits while retaining the incredible juiciness from slow cooking;
✅ Perfect freezer food – reheats 100% perfectly; and
✅ Excellent food for gatherings – big batch recipe, stays fresh even hours after cooking it
What are Carnitas?
If you’re new to Carnitas, let me be the first to welcome you to your new addiction.
Carnitas are Mexico’s version of pulled pork. It’s the first thing you seek upon landing in Mexico. It’s why we trawled the back streets of Mexico City in torrential rains, hunting down a hole-in-the-wall carnitas joint that was popular with locals.
Made by slow cooking pork fully submerged in lard, this confit method of cooking yields pork that’s unbelievably rich and tender with loads of crispy golden bits.
Unfortunately for most home cooks, a huge cauldron of lard isn’t viable or practical.
But fortunately, it is possible to make carnitas that tastes very similar to authentic Pork Carnitas without gallons of lard. And it’s unbelievably simple.
How to make Pork Carnitas
Best Pork Cut for Pork Carnitas – for ultimate juicy pulled pork full of flavour, you can’t beat pork shoulder, aka pork butt. Bone in or out, it needs to be skinless so it can be rubbed with the Carnitas seasoning
Carnitas seasoning – rub pork with a simple spice mix of oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.
Flavour for cooking – top pork in slow cooker with onion, garlic and jalapeño, then pour over orange juice (the secret ingredient!). It sounds so simple, but with hours of slow cooking, mingling with the pork juices, it transforms into the most incredible braising broth that more than makes up for the absence of gallons of lard.
Slow cook until the pork is pull-apart tender and infused with incredible flavour
Pan fry until golden, doused with the juices from the slow cooker. Pan frying is so much better than broiling/grill or oven!
Can Carnitas be made in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker?
Yes! The outcome is exactly the same – no one can the difference once browned in the skillet. I make this in a pressure cooker when time is of the essence!
The BEST Pork Carnitas are browned in a skillet!
Don’t skip the step to brown the Pork Carnitas! This is the key that makes this the best Pork Carnitas you will have outside of Mexico.
Hand on heart, it is as good as the carnitas I had at a really authentic Mexican joint called Old Town Mexican Cafe in San Diego which is famous for its Pork Carnitas.
So if you think you’ve had great carnitas before, but you haven’t tried browning in a skillet, this is going to be a game changer!
What to serve with Pork Carnitas
While I have a great fondness and tendency to favour Tacos de Carnitas (Pork Carnitas Tacos), pork this juicy and full of flavour is highly versatile – plus it freezes 10000% perfectly.
I use Pork Carnitas to make Enchiladas, Burritos, Quesadillas, Sliders, Mexican pizzas. I toss them into my Mexican Fried Rice (don’t laugh, this is a firm favourite with many readers!), and I make Carnitas Plates – pile Carnitas over Mexican Red Rice with a side of Pico de Gallo or Guacamole, and steamed corn.
And of course, I eat it straight out of the skillet. 😂
And the best part?
• You’re just 5 minutes away from getting this Pork Carnitas in your slow cooker, pressure cooker or oven.
• It can be frozen without any loss of quality.
• There are easy ways to pan fry to golden perfection and still be juicy and fresh hours later – even after refrigerating.
There’s a reason I am rarely without a stash of Carnitas in my freezer!!! – Nagi xx
Mexican recipe favourites
Mexican Fiesta Menu and recipes
Carnitas
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
Is that a pressure cooker in the video??
Yes and no! My slow cooker (Breville Fast-Slow Cooker) is like an Instant Pot. It’s multi-functional, a pressure cooker and slow cooker in one. Hence why it looks like a pressure cooker with the twisting top. The slow cooking function is no different to any standard slow cooker.
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Carnitas (Mexican Slow Cooker Pulled Pork)
Ingredients
- 2 kg / 4 lb pork shoulder (pork butt) , skinless, boneless (5lb/2.5kg bone in) (Note 1)
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 onion , chopped
- 1 jalapeno , deseeded, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup juice from orange (2 oranges)
Rub
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Rinse and dry the pork shoulder, rub all over with salt and pepper.
- Combine the Rub ingredients then rub all over the pork.
- Place the pork in a slow cooker (fat cap up), top with the onion, jalapeño, minced garlic (don’t worry about spreading it) and squeeze over the juice of the oranges.
- Slow Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 7 hours. (Note 2 for other cook methods)
- Pork should be tender enough to shred. Remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly. Then shred using two forks.
- Optional: Skim off the fat from the juices remaining in the slow cooker and discard.
- If you have a lot more than 2 cups of juice, then reduce it down to about 2 cups. The liquid will be salty, it is the seasoning for the pork. Set liquid aside – don’t bother straining onion etc, it’s super soft.
To Crisp:
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non stick pan or well seasoned skillet over high heat. Spread pork in the pan, drizzle over some juices. Wait until the juices evaporate and the bottom side is golden brown and crusty. Turn and just briefly sear the other side – you don’t want to make it brown all over because then it’s too crispy, need tender juicy bits.
- Remove pork from skillet. Repeat in batches (takes me 4 batches) – don’t crowd the pan.
- Just before serving, drizzle over more juices and serve hot, stuffed in tacos (see notes for sides, other serving suggestion and storage/make ahead).
Recipe Notes:
1.5 – 3 kg / 3 – 6 lb: Cook time per recipe.
3 – 4 kg / 6 – 8 lb: Use large oval slow cooker, 12 hours on low. 2. Other cooking methods: Electric pressure cooker or Instant Pot: 1 h 30 minutes on high. Let pressure release naturally. Proceed with Step 5 of recipe. Stove pressure cooker: use a rack or balls of scrunched up foil to elevate it from the base OR add 3/4 cup of water. Cook 1 h 30 minutes. Proceed with Step 5 of recipe. Oven: Follow recipe but put pork in roasting pan. Add 2 cups water around pork. Cover tightly with foil, roast in 325F/160C oven for 2 hours, then roast for a further 1 to 1.5 hours uncovered. Add more water if the liquid dries out too much. You should end up with 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid when it finishes cooking, and you can skip the pan frying step because you will get a nice brown crust on your pork. Shred pork then drizzled with juices. 3. Taco Fixings: Diced avocado or make a real proper Guacamole, Pico de Gallo or Restaurant Style Salsa or even just sliced tomato, grated cheese, sour cream. Sliced lettuce or pickled cabbage / red onions would also be great, but unlike other tacos, you don’t need it for the texture because the carnitas have the crispy bits! Also see this Carnitas Tacos dinner spread. 4. Other Ways to use Carnitas: Burritos (switch for the beef), Quesadillas (baked version here), Enchiladas, Sliders, with Mexican Red Rice, in Taco Soup or Enchilada Soup. 5. Storing / Make Ahead: Crispiness is retained very well, main thing is loss of moisture as meat cools (happens with all meat, shredded meat cools faster). a) Best way to store: Shred pork but don’t pan fry. Keep pork and juice separate, refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months (for freezer, I put pork in containers/ bags and put juice in ziplock bags in the same container). Gently reheat juice to make it pourable (congeals when cold). Pan fry per recipe, drizzling with juice. b) Storing leftovers after pan frying: Keeps extremely well, but tends to lose juiciness when it cools down. Just drizzle with juice, cover with cling wrap and reheat – the crispy bits hold up very well. It’s not quite as crispy as when cooked fresh, but still seriously tasty. c) Brown pork a few hours ahead / keep warm: Works extremely well. Brown pork per recipe, then transfer to slow cooker on warm setting or food warmer and drizzle generously with juices to keep it moist. Cover loosely. As long as the pork is warm when served, it’s really juicy. The crispiness holds up extremely well. 6. Source: This is a recipe I’ve been making for over a decade now, with minor tweaks over time so I can’t remember the exact source. I want to say Rick Bayless but I can’t find the recipe, however, I did find this one from Food Network which is very similar. However, I’m not sure when it was published. 7. Nutrition per serving, pork only, assuming 12 servings. Calories is higher than it actually is because it does not take into account discarded fat.
Nutrition Information:
Carnitas recipe originally published 2014. Updated with new photos and video in 2018, and some housekeeping in March 2019. No change to recipe, I wouldn’t dare! This has been one of the all time most popular recipes since I first published it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use pork tenderloin? Sorry to say it’s not suitable for this recipe. Tenderloin is too lean so the long cook time will dry it out. Also, it does not shred into strands well.
Just to confirm – no liquid other than the juice from the oranges?? Really? YES, really. 🙂 The small amount of liquid from the oranges is all you need to keep it from drying out while it comes to temperature, then while it cooks the pork will drop juices. When this finishes cooking you will have more liquid than you started with.
Will it taste of oranges???? Nope, not at all! It magically turns into the most incredible broth that is then poured over the shredded pork.
Can I cook a frozen pork? Please don’t! 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!
After I skim off the fat, do I include the onions garlic and jalapeños when topping the meat, or do I discard these and only use the juices? It is up to you! Because it’s been slow cooked, the onion etc is really soft and it just melds into the pulled pork. I don’t bother straining it, but you can if you want to.
Will this work with pork stew chunks? It will definitely work and still be tasty but won’t be quite the same because smaller pieces of pork will cook faster so you won’t get quite the same amount of flavour. 🙂
Just to confirm – no pan frying to brown the pork before putting it in the slow cooker? That’s right! You brown the pork AFTER it is cooked and shredded.
What size slow cooker do you use? Mine is 6 quarts / 6 litres. I use this Breville Fast / Slow Cooker (I’m in Australia) which I love because it’s a pressure cooker and slow cooker in one, plus it has a saute setting! It’s basically an Instant Pot – but without one touch cook functions (like rice etc).
Life of Dozer
I first published this recipe back in 2014, when I was new to blogging. I took sooooo long with the photos – prolonged torture for Dozer!
David says
Hi .
My 15 year old slow cooker just died so I was looking at buying what you have. Never had a pressure cooker before so my question is with this recipe does the pork come out identical with both slow cooking and pressure cooking or is there subtle differences between the two. Eg , tenderness , the ease of tearing apart with forks, taste, are the flavours developed the same with long and fast methods.
David says
Oh . And can you fit four lamb shanks in your appliance?
Loretta says
This recipe is divine! I have made it about 5 times with high quality pork neck and it is superb.
Nagi says
Woo hoo!! That’s great Loretta! N x
Ellie says
Hi! My daughter has an allergy to oranges. Would pineapple juice be a good alternative?
Nagi says
Yes Ellie that would be fine here! N x
Geoff McClure says
Love this recipe! The key to good carnitas IMO are the crispy bits. Too many restaurants sell basically pulled pork as carnitas. BORING! The first time I had legitimate crispy carnitas I was a convert. I was sold on your recipe because you pay the proper attention on that key step. Thanks so much!
Nagi says
I mean YES!!! The crunchy bits are the whole reason to eat it!!! N x
Rebecca says
I’ve made your recipe several times, and it is positively scrumptious! I don’t change a thing. Thank you for sharing it! I have some cooking now and it smells amazing!
PJ says
We used this recipe for street tacos on Cinco de Mayo, and it was EX.CEL.LENT! All 6 of us gobbled it up. My roast was large, so I doubled the recipe, and people were eating leftovers plain. So yum. This is definitely a recipe that we will make again and again. (I omitted the jalapeno because I don’t generally like the jalapeno, but next time I will probably try putting it in)
MelB says
Can I use pork shoulder steaks for this recipe?
Nagi says
Yes I think they would work but they will have a shorter cook time as they are not in one piece. N x
Gwen says
By far the best recipe of Carnitas. My MIL introduced us to this recipe of yours, and it’s now an official staple in our household! We put it on low in the crockpot, for over 10hrs and it still came out perfect!
Nagi says
I love that you listen to your MIL Gwen! lol!! Enjoy!! N x
Susan says
I dont have oranges on hand, and I think orange juice might be too watered down for this. Could I use frozen O.J. concentrate in a can?
N says
I wanted to do something different for cinco de Mayo so tried this recipe – followed it exactly and it was DELICIOUS- thank you! My pork was fall apart tender at about 8 1/2 – 9 hr mark 🙂
Nagi says
The perfect Cinco de Mayo dish!! Enjoy it N! N x
Victoria says
If I’m making this in the oven, should the pork go on the rack of the roasting pan or right in the bottom with the juices?
Nagi says
It needs to be in the juices Victoria! N x
Candy says
Made it and it was amazing. I am glad i took off the fat slab. Cause i was able to pull it out and it’s ready. Well didn’t have to mess with the sorting the fat. I put a little to much oregano but didn’t hurt it. It was the most amazing slow pork I have ever had. Going back to buy 2 more pork butts now. Thank you so much.
Nagi says
That’s great Candy – I am glad you liked it!! N x
Jessica Turk says
I bought a 8.5 lb. Pork Shoulder / Butt bone in , Will the recipe given for 20 servings work or should add ingredients a little on heavy side ? Or should i attempt to cut meat in half ?
Nagi says
If you slide the scale to 21 serves Jessica, then the ingredients will scale accordingly. (Slide it up to 20, let go of the mouse, then when the scale disappears, hover over it again and you can slide higher than 20 – you can do this up into the hundreds if needed – we use it for making cookies in the RTM kitchen!) Just follow the timings listed in Note 1 under the recipe for the larger size – no need to cut it in half! N x
Kim says
I don’t have any oranges can I use apple juice ?
Nagi says
Another citrus fruit would be better like lime but you can use apple if that’s what you have on hand! N x
Bernadette Langdon says
Help! I’m using on the stove pressure cooker. The steam smells like it is burning!
Nagi says
If it smells burnt then you might not have enough liquid in there – take it off and cool it down to open it safely then check the flavour and liquid level! N x
San says
I made this in my crockpot for my birthday and it was meant for Carnitas but the meat never left the crockpot to the tortillas!! Everyone wanted to try it and once they did, that’s all they ate!! It’s an amazing recipe and I made an 8lb roast and everyone wanted the recipe lol My husband has today off so I’m making it again for just him, our son and I and we will hopefully have leftovers this time!! Thank You for the amazing recipe. There are so many things I can make with it if it survives more than a few hours lol 😋
Nagi says
I’ve got two words for next time – Double It!! N x
Candy says
I made a mistake and cut the fat off. Can I do it the same way?
Nagi says
Yes Candy – this recipe is very forgiving! N x
Candy says
Thank you so much for answering back so fast. I will rate it tomorrow once I actually cook it. Just doing prep work for verde smothered burritos.
Nagi says
Now you are making me hungry!! N x
Bobbie says
I’m
Making this for 20 people and wanted 3 tacos each. What size butt Would you use?
Nagi says
If you assume about 50 grams per taco then you need a 3.5kg butt to allow for shrinkage when cooking! N x
Lisa says
So sorry – please disregard my previous question about browning in the oven. I should have read the entire recipe. I see you noted that pan frying is best for flavor!
Lisa says
I can’t wait to make this! Can you brown the shredded pork in the oven instead of pan fry?
Irene says
Oh my goodness, this is amazing!!! I halved the recipe and used a 4-qt slow cooker and it worked wonderfully! I used freshly squeezed navel oranges and added bay leaves. I didn’t have jalapenos so swapped them with a couple of Thai chilis but that didn’t make it spicy at all. I also ate it directly from the slow cooker and from the pan, and I enjoyed it either way. Great recipe, definitely a keeper!
Nagi says
I secretly eat straight from the pan all the time!! N x