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!
I’ve made this a number of times and it is always a crowd pleaser. I used orange juice/pineapple/banana juice mixture because that’s what I buy. Delicious!
Is that just like a normal juice container you used?
THIS is my go to Carnitas recipe! SO GOOD! I’ve been making it for years with zero alternations. Do you ever use the dry rub and let it sit overnight?
Hi Nagi
Your wonderful is food! There’s more – had a birthday celebration for my brother and what I did was a Slow Cooked Rorisserie BBQ pork shoulder version of Carnitas wrapped in Tortillas. We used the usual mix of sour cream, tomato, cheese, japapenos, diced black olives, some black beans – etc etc.
The result was superb!! A strong reminder of my student years in the US where Mexican food rules! Thanks so much!! I really appreciate the detail in your recipes and love all the variation from Mexican to Italian to Asian!!
Thanks for all these wonderful recipes and your detail in making Food an expression of excellence!! Congratulations!! As I may have said in a previous post. I love trying to improve my cooking and your recipes are my standard fall back these days. She’s still with me so must be good!!
Yet – your recipes don’t include a few favourites of mine??
Please look into Sosaties – A Malay South African marinaded
Sweet Apricot Curry Lamb Skewer usually cooked on the BBQ. Check these out and maybe consider to add to your many wonderful recipes??
From an avid Fan.
CJ –
I’d love Nagi to try some South African dishes! I definitely think Sosaties or maybe a baboti would be a great idea!
Hi Nagi
I keep telling my friends to fix their marriages – with your wonderful food! There’s more – had a birthday celebration for my brother and what I did was a Slow Cooked Rorisserie BBQ pork shoulder version of Carnitas wrapped in Tortillas. We used the usual mix of sour cream, tomato, cheese, japapenos, diced black olives, some black beans – etc etc.
The result was superb!! A strong reminder of my student years in the US where Mexican food rules! Thanks so much!! I really appreciate the detail in your recipes and love all the variation from Mexican to Italian to Asian!!
Thanks for all these wonderful recipes and your detail in making Food an expression of excellence!! Congratulations!! As I may have said in a previous post. I love trying to improve my cooking and your recipes are my standard fall back these days. She’s still with me so must be good!!
Yet – your recipes don’t include a few favourites of mine??
Please look into Sosaties – A Malay South African marinaded
Sweet Apricot Curry Lamb Skewer usually cooked on the BBQ. Check these out and maybe consider to add to your many wonderful recipes??
From an avid Fan.
CJ –
Hi Nagi
I keep telling my friends to fix their marriages – with your wonderful food! There’s more – had a birthday celebration for my brother and what I did was a Slow Cooked Rorisserie BBQ pork shoulder version of Carnitas wrapped in Tortillas. We used the usual mix of sour cream, tomato, cheese, japapenos, diced black olives, some black beans – etc etc.
The result was superb!! A strong reminder of my student years in the US where Mexican food rules! Thanks so much!! I really appreciate the detail in your recipes and love all the variation from Mexican to Italian to Asian!!
Thanks for all these wonderful recipes and your detail in making Food an expression of excellence!! Congratulations!! My wife is Japanese as I may have said in a previous post. I love trying to improve my cooking and your recipes are my standard fall back these days. She’s still with me so must be good!!
Yet – your recipes don’t include a few favourites of mine??
Please look into Sosaties – A Malay South African marinaded
Sweet Apricot Curry Lamb Skewer usually cooked on the BBQ. Check these out and maybe consider to add to your many wonderful recipes??
From an avid Fan.
CJ –
I made this with country style pork ribs and it was incredibly delicious!
Nagi, this may sound a little over the top, but this recipe has literally changed my life.
With this recipe, you have turned my uncomfortable-in-the-kitchen partner into a “maybe I could cook pork canitas again” and a “I wonder what other slow cooker recipes are available on that website you like” type of person and I’m so thankful for you!
He loves his in wraps, as your recipe suggests, but I pair my pork with brown rice, topped with hot sauce, cheese, jalapeños, red onion, sour cream and lettuce. Delicious.
If I could rate this 100 stars, it still wouldn’t be enough!
Thank you for sharing. My wife and I visited a winery that had a food truck and we ordered pork carnitas. They were good so we wanted to make this at home. I followed your recipe to a tee in the slow cooker. 4 pound pork butt took 10 hours on slow. It is literally amazing. Browning the meat with the left over juice makes it out of this world. Finding great recipes like this is making it hard to go out to eat when you can make it better at home. Simply delicious. Thank you for sharing.
I cannot believe how good this is with only a few ingredients! We’ve actually made this twice now and the only change I made the second time was an additional jalapeño. So delicious and the leftovers the next day are even better.
Nagi, this is another seriously amazing recipe! My husband was looking for something to do with a pork butt roast we picked up and found your recipe. He told me he found it on “my girl’s” website. I said, Nagi? It is going to be delicious! And I was right. My son who will not eat leftovers ate it for lunch the next day and then again for dinner. He wants to learn how to make this himself. Absolutely love!! Thank you, thank you!
Hi! I’ve put 14.25 pounds of pork loin in my oven (Friday morning) with the adjusted measurements for seasonings, etc. I am making this for a crowd to serve on Tuesday. I’m thinking I should cook long enough to be able to shred but not do the time with no foil as I can brown prior to serving. Hoping to cook the right amount of time to be able to cool, shred and freeze. Planning to save the juices in a separate container to freeze as well and will thaw to have for the browning process. Anyone do this before or have any suggestions? I’ve set my timer for 3 hours and 15 minutes. Does that seem right?
This is so easy and delicious! perfect taco filler. would also go well with coleslaw rolls.
Amazing! My whole family loves this recipe. Simple ingredients yet bold flavour 🥰
Can I cut off some or most of the fat before cooking and still get the same flavor?
in the video what was the additional sauce put on the pork when in the taco shell?
I’m allergic to oranges, is there anything else i could use in place of orange juice?
I’ve used chicken broth in the past and it turned out well.
Chicken broth and some beer!
I used a couple of limes squeezed
I just put this in the crockpot, and I can’t wait! I’m cooking it on Low, so it won’t be ready until 9:45 tonight, but we will feast tomorrow! I’m hoping for deliciousness!
Oh. My. Goodness! This is such a KILLER recipe! Just had carnitas for lunch with son, and they were a huge hit! So delicious! Will definitely make again. Thank You!!
I found the recipe to be delicious, but quite time-consuming. “Five minutes prep” is very misleading – but perhaps in part due to the bone-in 5# pork shoulder that I happened to buy.
1) My fat cap was very thick, so I scraped a large percentage of it off. I had to be very careful because my knives are professionally sharp – but my knife skills are less so.
2) The pork shoulder was marbled with fat. After the slow cooking, I had to cool the pork, then remove the excess fat and other excess.
3) I chilled the juices overnight, then removed a 3/4 inch layer of fat from the top of the container the next morning.
4) I was able to pan-fry the pork in four batches (with two ladles of juices/gelatin), but it took about 8 minutes per batch. I chose to add more fresh ground pepper and about 3/4 t of cumin to each batch at the start.
The result is very tasty, but it was a LOT of work. On the other hand, I have a lot of carnitas to freeze for quick use in future meals.
Hi Kevin, I totally agree. This was a lot of work for me, mainly because the shoulder I got looked nothing like the one in the video–the fat cap on my cut had been trimmed a bit, but the meat was in a solid block held together by massive amounts of fat and connective tissue, much of which I had to painstakingly remove to get to a piece of seasonable meat that resembled Nadi’s. Perhaps Australian markets trim their pork shoulders for the consumer? My American market sure as heck doesn’t! I trimmed about 2/3 pound of internal fat and silverskin-like tissue out of a 3.8 pound boneless pork shoulder!
I have had some cuts of meat the exact same. I think you never know what you’re going to get until it’s cooked and you get in there. I have been using a half loin- not tenderloin. I’ve had better, more consistent results with it. However I do remember 1 that just simply was not going to shred – ever!
I think what makes this recipe a standout is the technique. I’ve made carnitas many times, and I know how to season them to my taste, however, getting them both crispy and juicy consistently has eluded me until now. Nothing is more disappointing than too dry meat. Adding the reserved juice to the meat when frying is magic. Cooking the meat this way made it perfect. I used the slow cooker followed by the skillet. The only thing I changed was to add a bay leaf to the slow cooker and some real lard to the skillet. The San Diego Old Town Cafe is also my standard for carnitas. The only ingredient needed to make the experience as good as the cafe, is their incredible hand patted corn tortillas.
Unbelievable flavor!! I cooked in crockpot for 12 hours. Pan frying is the way to go… nice crispy edges. Leftovers made into large burritos with refried beans then smothered in white queso!! Yum!!