Mexican Pork Carnitas
September 11, 2025 • 0 comments
The prep for this recipe takes only minutes. The pork cooks low and slow for hours, then it's crisped and browned in a skillet & finally simmered in it's flavorful juices. **DO NOT skip the Crisping step! It adds lots of flavor and a beautiful brown color.
This recipe is from Nagi Maehashi from a website called Recipe-tin-eats. It is wonderful and everyone loves it!
This recipe is for a crockpot/slow cooker with Instant Pot and Oven directions at the end.
Do not use a frozen roast and do not use a pork tenderloin, as it's too lean.
I usually double the recipe (a tight fit in my crockpot) but it freezes very well.
We love it best for carnitas tacos, and it's great for nachos, quesadillas, sliders, and in a Mexican rice bowl. Enjoy🌶️
Ingredients
- 4 lb pork shoulder roast (pork butt, picnic roast, not the loin) boneless or bone-in
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- RUB:
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1+ tbsp olive oil
- SERVE WITH:
- Corn tortillas, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, diced white onions, sour cream, authentic salsa
Directions
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. (see bottom for Instant Pot and oven roasting)
- Pork should be tender enough to shred. Remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly. Then shred using two forks.
- 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 olive 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.
- I put the shredded meat back in the crockpot to simmer or just before serving, drizzle over more juices and serve hot or warm.
TO SERVE
We serve it with warm corn tortillas, chopped cilantro, lime wedges, diced white onions, sour cream, and a good authentic salsa.
INSTANT POT
Cook 1 h 30 minutes on high. Let pressure release naturally. 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.
