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!
This is by far the best pulled pork recipe I have made (and I’ve tried dozens). I really appreciate your specificity as I want a go to I can rely on every time. Perfect texture, flavor and moisture level. Super easy to boot. This is the recipe I’ll memorize and use in a pinch, without a doubt, whether for my family or to entertain. This was my first of your recipes but will certainly not be the last.
Thanks for trying my recipe Robin! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know! N x
This recipe looks great. I will be trying this with tamales in the coming weeks (making chicken tamales this weekend…first tamale try). I’ll let you know how they turn out. The taco spread looks delicious!
Hope you do try it Matthew! It really is ridiculously delicious 🙂
Made it tonight. WOW! I accidentally skipped doing the rub, but added the cumin and oregano just after turning it on. Also used a couple of habenaroes along with the jalapeno. No deseeding. It wasn’t too spicy. Thanks for this recipe.
Woo hoo! Thanks for trying my recipe Matthew, so glad you enjoyed it! N x
I have already made a basic pulled pork recipe in the crockpot and now I’d like to turn it into Carnitas for tonight! How should I go about this?! Thanks!
Hi Jessi! What I would do is use all the other ingredients in this recipe and place them in a saucepan with the pork juices in your crockpot. Simmer to reduce down to 1 cup of liquid then follow this recipe to brown the pulled pork in a skillet and pour over juices 🙂
Thank you!! I’ll try that!!
Hi Nagi, I don’t have a slow cooker so made this in the oven at 120C, covered. It worked a treat and was texturally and taste wise, superb. Thank you. My husband wants to know why does’nt everyone cook pork like this. Margaret
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it Margaret! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
I made these with pork tenderloin and they were UNREAL! They did not dry out, were leaner, and a huge hit with my family! Also, there used to be a PICKLED RED ONION recipe attached to this which is not anymore, but which I am glad I saved, as topping the carnitas with them blew everyone’s minds! This receipe is absolutely scrumptious!
Hi. I want to make this for Super Bowl and I am really interested in the pickled red onion recipe. Would you mind sharing?
I made these with pork tenderloin and they were UNREAL! They did not dry out, were leaner, and a huge hit with my family!
I’m so thrilled to hear that Kimberly! I’m thinking perhaps your tenderloin has more fat than the ones we get here 🙂 N x
I have an 11 lb. pork shoulder w/ bone in. have to cook in the oven. so I will double the ingrediants but how long in the oven covered and uncovered?
Hi Marie! I haven’t made one that size in the oven but I’m guessing based on other slow roasts I’ve done that it will be 4 hours covered plus 1 – 1.5 uncovered (see note 2).N x
Marie, if you plan to use low temp cooking in your oven, set it to 130..150C, use a temp probe (close to the bone) and make sure you keep the meat at least 1 EXTRA hour in the oven after the temperature probe reads 68C. Expect this to take 6 hours for a 10cm thick shoulder. If your oven uses hot air, I would recommend not to cover the meat so it can brown. Pour the juices over it again and again and turn it around every 2 hours to brown it evenly. When finished, I usually heat the fat and juice in a skillet to fry the shredded pieces. The sugar in the juice caramelizes in the fat and gives the meat the typical fat/sugar taste that characterizes many Mexican dishes.
Just getting ready to prep this for Christmas Eve dinner…family request! Will serve with homemade pico de gallo, black beans, cilantro lime rice, and homemade guacamole….tortillas or bowls…either way, they wolf it down. ? I never have to remind my kids to bring containers for taking home leftovers; they hear ‘carnitas’ and the immediate response is “I want to take some home!” This is an absolutely fabulous recipe…so easy! I agree that the pan frying takes it over the top! I’ve lost count of the times I’ve made it; it comes out perfect every time. Thank you so much for posting it! Merry Christmas from Florida!
Sounds like an amazing taco spread! Merry Christmas Jeanne! N xx
I too am making this for Christmas in Florida! Hands down my favorite recipe. I make it at least once a month.
I had the recipe for awhile but made it tonight 12/22/16, my boyfriend said it is a ” home run.” The carnitas were delicious, from now on, this will be my “go to,” recipe. I have a “go to,” file and a lot of Nagi’s recipes are in my “go to” file. It is nice to have a recipe that you know you can always count on it turning out delicious.
Hi shirley, I’m so thrilled to hear that! Thank you for the compliment and for taking the time to come back and let me know!! N xx
So you sauté or brown after slow cooking? Sorry – just a bit confused and want to do it right ?
Hi Joanna! That’s no problems 🙂 You cook the pork then shred it THEN brown it. The ultimate way to get those gorgeous brown bits!!!
Excellent tacos! I serve mine with a mango salsa that is sold pre-made at Whole Foods. Just corn tortillas + mango salsa + sour cream = perfection! I’m making this again on Wednesday for my family as they descend on my home for the holidays. Delicious!
Fantastic!! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed it, thanks Anne! N x
Made this last night Best carnitas ever. Thank you Nagi.
HIGH FIVE! Thanks for letting me know Maria! N xx
I want to try this but when I hit print the page is all dark, no recipe. Any suggestions? Is this because it’s on Pinterest?
Hi Ruth, I’m sorry to hear that I just checked it and it was fine. If you email me, I can email a PDF of the recipe to you. 🙂
I also got a black page when I went to print.
Hi Nagi, can I do this in a pressure cooker? if so, can you send me the cooking time pls?
Hi Carolina! The steps in in Step #4 🙂
I tried this today and Am so impressed, it is unbelievable. Thank you do much.
Woo hoo! So glad you liked it Don! N x
I’ve been dying to make my own carnitas. I came across this recipe and used a 6lbs bone-in Boston pork butt – 6.5 hours in the crock pot on high. It was absolutely DELICIOUS!! Crisped up the pork before adding to the taco – to die for! Excited to eat this for the rest of the week. Thank you for sharing!
AWESOME! I’m so glad you loved it Kaitlyn, thanks for letting me know! N x
What if I don’t have any orange juice? Missed that when I was at the store.
Hi Diamond! Do you have pineapple or other fruit juice?
My first time making carnitas , don’t have a slow cooker so cooking in the oven . The house is smelling yummy
My only glitch is when I did the rub I forgot to rub w/ salt & pepper ( missed that in the directions )
So I added them to the the onion mix . Oops ! Will there be enough for the meat , I realize it’s helps w/ tenderizing
too. I don’t cook meat very often , hardly ever . Have you ever made this mistake?
Appreciate your input . Thanks Julie
I think it will work fine still Julie! It will season the meat when you pour the juice over the shredded pork 🙂
So for the oven, I add a cup of water to the pan with the oj? Looking forward to making this today!!
Yup that’s right! Please see note 2 🙂
I used a 7 lbs boneless pork shoulder butt, followed the directions , doubled the spices, should I increase the cook time in the slow cooker?
Yes, please add 2 extra hours 🙂 12 hours will be safe, though with most slow cookers 10 is probably fine. N x PS won’t dry out, butt is so fatty.