Mexican

Pork Carnitas Recipe

Name: Pork Carnitas Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 45 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients: 4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes; 1 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 tsp pepper; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 onion, peeled and halved; 2 bay leaves; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 Tb fresh lime juice; 2 C water; 1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

12 servings

servings

15 minutes

active time

3 hours

total time

Start Cooking

Ingredients

4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 onion, peeled and halved

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried oregano

2 Tb fresh lime juice

2 C water

1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

Directions

Prep

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees.

Combine

all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice.

Braise

Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours. You can also complete this step in a crock pot set on high for 6-7 hours. You will have more liquid to reduce in the next step however.

Reduce

Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan.

Remove

and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until it thickens and syrupy, about 20 – 30 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.

Shred

While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has reduced, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.

Broil

Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.

Nutrition

Serving Size

1/12th

Calories

365

Total Fat

27 g

Saturated Fat

10 g

Unsaturated Fat

15 g

Trans Fat

0 g

Cholesterol

0 g

Sodium

389 mg

Total Carbohydrate

2 g

Dietary Fiber

1 g

Total Sugars

1 g

Protein