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.
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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!
Bri says
It’s like a flavour bomb exploded in my mouth! Yummy!!!! I’ve made this recipe once, and will be making it again for the next few days as a loved one generously picked up a truly massive pork shoulder at my request.. ‘problem’ being they misread the kilos for pounds, so I now have 12KG (roughly 26lbs) of pork shoulder instead of 12lbs..
Yes, I’m making at least 16lbs of this pulled pork. You should too – you won’t regret it!!!!! Freezes and reheats great, this is a staple in my freezer!
Side note – this is my go-to recipe website. Need something delicious? Come here. Always, no exceptions.
Thank you Nagi for your amazing recipes!
Love from Canada x
Lyssa says
OMG!! 26 Pounds of Pork roast?? I can’t imagine 😆 That has to be just MASSIVE, we would have to go to an actual Butcher, like a special Meat Shop to find something THAT HUGE! Our Sam’s Club might possibly have something around that size, but it would definitely cost a real pretty penny! 😳😱
I hope you had the best of luck and will be supplied with wonderfully amazing Carnitas for the next few months!
Catalina says
Hello! What is a good substitute for the jalapeno in this recipe? They didn’t have any at the store (maybe Covid supply issues?). We love this recipe and with a new baby it’s perfect for freezing to have on hand for a quick meal!
Nagi says
You could use a long green chilli (serrano) or a long red cayenne one (won’t be as much heat). N x
Catalina says
Thank you! (Sorry, didn’t see the rate button before, am rating now 🙂
Lorraine says
Another awesome (and easy) recipe from Nagi! I had a 10 Lbs bone-in pork shoulder and had to cook in the oven as I don’t have any instantpot or slow cooker. It took a while for the meat to get really tender. 7.5 hours covered plus 1 hour uncovered. Then, I pan-fried the shredded meat. It was soooooo good. We especially love it with white rice. Thank you, Nagi! You are my “recipe lady!”
Iwona says
I made this for New Year’s Eve but with different spices (from your middle eastern lamb) – I wanted middle eastern flavour even though pork isn’t legit there. It was a huge hit. When I invite people I always look at your website. You are a GENIUS. Thanks. Greetings from Poland.
Nagi says
I am so glad you enjoyed it Iwona! N x
Sue Bellwood says
Hi Nagi. I absolutely love your recipes. May I ask what is the sauce you put over the pork carnitas on the taco? I’m going to make this recipe for New Years Eve.
Erin says
I’m going to make this recipe for Christmas. Can I use sous vide to cook it (instead of the oven)? I don’t have a pressure cooker
Ami says
I made it in the instant pot and it was superb!
Colleen Ekback says
Can’t wait to try this! I don’t like oregano… should I sub for something else?
Nagi says
You can leave it out Colleen! N x
Ridvana says
I made it last night and I love the results. Especially, since I am restricted from eating onions and garlic (not cool at all!), so I had to skip those, but my carnitas still came out perfect! Thank you very much!
Lydia says
Hi Nagi, I will be cooking this in the oven and using a smaller cut (1.2kg). Do i need to adjust the cooking time? If so, could give some advice regarding how long? Thank you
Geoff says
My kids are super picky. I googled for a slow cooker carnitas recipe and found this. I forgot to start it early today so opted for the instant pot version (added 1/4 cup water to the OJ because they say you need a cup to make sure it works right).
Well holy cow. My pickiest (12) said eww it smells bad. Then she bit into one and ate 3 more. She loves taco truck carnitas and said this was like that.
The 16 year old said this was the best dinner I have ever made. Now mind you I cook all the time and “daddy makes yummy food”. But this was enough to pull her out of her room to socialize while she ate 5 of these.
The boy (10) rejected me at first because he didn’t like the lime taste. Then he came back and I made him eat just the last bits of pork in the bowl and he devoured it.
So I put it on corn street taco sized shells heated on the stove and put lime, cilantro and onion on them with a bit of cholula.
I’m short, you don’t lie, ma’am. These were the best carnitas I’ve ever made. Oh and the cast iron pan was the perfect browning utensil.
Thank you for sharing this. Now I have to look for deals on pork butt whenever I go to the store because they want more.
Cheers!
Nagi says
Well done!! Getting the kids on the street foods!! Taco Tuesday! N x
Megan says
Hi Nagi,
I’m making this tomorrow, but I have a 6lb pork butt. In the notes it says the cook time for 6lbs, and says that the other ingredients will change. What are the changes? (Sorry If I’ve missed them!)
Thanks!
Beth says
Can I use a dutch oven in the oven? I’m starting one now in the instant pot and have another one to cook as well. (50% off on it’s expiration date 😅) I’m not sure doing both together in the instant pot is a good idea …
Nagi says
Hi Beth – yes that will work. A tightly covered Dutch oven in an oven is really just a slow cooker! N x
Helene D says
This recipe is the real deal. I made this last night and it’s better than what I get at my favorite Mexican restaurant. My husband couldn’t stop eating it! This recipe is better than my Cuban style pulled pork (I’m Hispanic). Thank you for sharing!
Ruth says
Delicious! But I think this is a Cuban dish. For example: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cuban-roasted-pork-sandwiches/
Andrea says
Hi Nagi!!! I´m from Mexico, i saw this recipe in FB and i saved cause i dont have in that time mi slow cooker, so recently i have it and it was my first recipe -oh my!!!!- i love it!!! you are my inspiration every dy for make better and tasty meals for my family, thanks a looooot!
Marsha says
I have loved so many of your recipes. Can’t wait to try the carnitas this weekend! Any chance that I could slow cook the pork the day before and put the pork and juice in the fridge and fry the next day?
Nagi says
Absolutely! That is a great way to do it! N x
Caroline Moore says
OMFG I love You and Your Style. You are becoming a Go To for any recipe I want to make – Love your style and sensibilities. Wmah (airkiss).
Nagi says
Wmah back!!! 😘 N x
Francesca Benedetti says
This is an amazing recipe. My family loves it. I find making them recipe a day ahead is helpful as the juice and fat naturally separate.
Recipe Tin Eats never disappoints!
Nagi says
Great tip Francesca! N x
Eman says
Can this recipe be used for a leg of lamb? I want to make a mexican meat dish, but do not eat pork.
Nagi says
Hi Eman – I think that would work – I haven’t tested it though. Let me know how it goes! N x