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!
Monica says
Hi Naji, I’ve made this several times and it’s always delicious. Have you changed your instructions for freezing? I seem to remember that I used to freeze it with the juices and not the meat and juice separately. I have shared this recipe and everyone loves it. So good!
Nagi says
Hi Monica! I did change it, I found that it works slightly better if the juices are kept separate but it’s not a big deal! 🙂 N x
Dakota Silvers says
Hi Nagi!
I’m thinking of trying the oven roasting method. How long would I roast it for a 12lb pork shoulder? Do you prefer the slow cook/pan fry method or oven roasting? Thank you!
Nagi says
Hi Dakota! To be honest for this one, I choose slow cooker but will happily oven roast if I don’t have access to one 🙂 N x
Emily says
Can you cook it on high for half the time?
Dakota Silvers says
Hi Nagi!
Do you prefer the slow cooker/pan fry method or the oven roasting method? I’m thinking of trying the oven roasting method but I have a 12lb boneless pork shoulder. How long would I ready it on the oven with that size cut? Thank you!
Danielle says
I’m new to cooking with pork shoulder. Would I be able to use bone in pork shoulder for this recipe? I accidentally bought bone in instead of boneless. If I can, should I adjust the recipe in some way for it?
Nagi says
That’s fine, just follow recipe as is! 🙂
Monica says
I’ve only ever use bone-in pork shoulder for this recipe and it comes out wonderfully.
Wendy says
I live in the UK and as we don’t really have a Mexican population, I have no idea what carnitas is or what it should taste like. However, it was delicious. Followed the recipe exactly and had it in a wrap as a fajita type meal. 6 year old approved too! Thank you.
Darek says
“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.”
I am not sure if I understood well. If I use a foil o rack I do not need to add any liquid in stove pressure cooker ( word OR) ? Is it safe? How I am going to built up a pressure if there is no steam?
Linda says
Hi Nagi… what can i substitute the orange juice with? Have a sick kid at home so can’t leave to get to the store and want to get this in the slow cooker asap…. thanks for your recipes I have made so many of them and not a failure in sight!
Linda x
Nagi says
Hi Linda! Any similar fruit juice will be terrific – do you have anything? Otherwise, chicken broth + 1 tsp sugar 🙂
Tom says
I’ve made this recipe twice now. Most recently for a dinner party and I would put this up against any restaurant carnitas I’ve ever had, and my guests agreed. This is a great recipe!
Nagi says
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Tom! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Patty j says
Can I cook it in an oven bag?
Nagi says
What a great idea! 🙂
TC says
This is now our new go to recipe for Carnitas, I didn’t get it into the slow cooker early enough so I used my electric pressure cooker. It’s been a few weeks so I don’t remember if I used both oranges or not and I only had crushed refrigerated garlic from Costco (I did add extra to make up for the preservatives), but other than that I followed the recipe pretty close. It was a true hit with my hubby, I got this is good (instead of, “It will make a turd” but, he calls Casserole poop (not his exact word) in a bowl”. Yes we are a bit irreverent, lol and I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, but its some of our family jokes). I am so glad I found your recipe and Thank You for sharing it. I put the leftovers freezer per your instruction. When we had the leftovers, I was able to get my husband to do it (he hardly cooks. unless he’s hunting, anymore.), I told him what he needed to do but with his partial hearing lose (do to 40 year in construction), his not completely listening to me (as he sometimes does) and my not being specific enough, even though I handed him the directions, he put all the meat in the pan at once and then dumped most all the meat juices in the pan. Even with that he still enjoyed it because of the flavor. Both times we had it, I served it taco style, with the small street taco sized corn tortillas with Cabbage Salsa from this recipe https://www.ladybehindthecurtain.com/cabbage-salsa/ Thank you again, this has now been added as one of my regular recipes now, the recipe and the Crisping part are the key to what makes this the best ever!
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear TC!! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x
Katelyn says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I kept the seeds in the jalapeños and felt that it wasn’t spicy at all. Next time I’ll add more peppers! We love spice! Also we splurged and went to the Mexican grocery story and bought homemade tortillas, chips, Mexican cheeses and guacamole! Perfect fiesta for two! Excited for leftovers tomorrow!
Susan says
Nagi – Hello from New York! I made this recipe tonite with your red rice and both are amazing! I’ve tried several of your recipes and all have been outstanding. Thank you!! I’m so happy I happened upon your blog.
Denise says
Denise asks , will the jalapeño peppers make my carnitas recipe hot and spicy?
John Aceves says
Doesn’t make the carnitas spicy, but your broth can get a bit spicy depending on the number of jalapeños used. You can water down the broth at the end.
Karina says
Just wanted to thank you for sharing. I tried it yesterday and it was great!
brenda says
Hi Nagi!! We have made this several times and my mexican husband, and in laws absolutely love it!! We were wondering how it would be if we made it with beef instead? Have you ever tried it that way?
Richard Hawkins says
I made this yesterday. It was fantastic! There is an amazing depth of flavor and texture. I used the oven method since I was cooking a 10 pound blade roast. It just fell off the bone once it was done. I am serving it to a crowd of about 25 today. Thanks for a fantastic recipe.
Sam says
Hi Nagi,
I am really enjoying cooking my way through your recipes. I think every meal over the last 4 weeks has been one of your recipes – so thank you!
I would really like to try this pork, but I have someone who can’t eat orange. Have you any suggestions for a replacement?
Nagi says
Hi Sam! So glad you’re enjoying my recipes, thank you for trying them! Apple juice or other similar fruit juice would be a terrific sub – you want some sugar as it adds to the flavour 🙂 N x
sam says
Thank you Nagi
Christy Stratton says
Super recipe!!! Everyone says it’s the best carnitas they have ever had. I have made it in the Crock-Pot and in the oven with a humongous pork shoulder in a turkey roaster. Both great!!!
Nagi says
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Christy!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x ❤️
Anna says
Wow! This is amazing recipe the softness of the meat its very delicious. I think your dog is begging for small piece of pork carnitas. I really love this recipe thanks for sharing. I will give you 5 star for this.
Nagi says
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Anna!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x ❤️ PS He begs for EVERYTHING. Even lettuce 🙄
Patti says
What can I use with leftover pork if I don’t have enough leftover juice?
Nagi says
Hi Patti! Fry it up with plenty of olive oil. YUM!! N x PS Or use in enchiladas smothered with enchilada sauce, or put on rolls with melted cheese….