This Easy Carnitas Recipe makes amazing carnitas: rich, tender shredded pork with crispy, crunchy edges, perfect for tacos, burritos, or just eating by the forkful. The post includes step-by-step instructions and everything you ever wanted to know about making carnitas.
Okay, you all know that I love every recipe I share here, but there are some that I get extra excited about sharing. My Oven-roasted Tri-tip was one (and it has been incredibly pop
ular). My Freezer Meatballs were another (these have not been popular at all, people, go fall in love with them!!), and today I have another recipe I’m really excited about: carnitas!!!
Have you ever made carnitas? Have you ever eaten carnitas? Because, friend, They. Are. So. Good.
What are carnitas?
Carnitas translates literally as “little meats.” It’s a Mexican dish made by braising pork until it yields fall-apart tender meat which is then cooked over high heat to make the outside crispy and delicious.
The result is fantastically rich shredded pork that manages to be both tender and have all sorts of crispy, crunchy bits. It’s the type of meal you’re going to want to share, not just because it tastes great (and makes a ton), but because it makes you look like a genius cook.
You bring these carnitas to one potluck or serve them at one party, and I *guarantee* you will have people asking you for the recipe and talking wistfully about them months later.
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil: Traditional carnitas recipes use lard as their cooking fat, but we’ll use vegetable or canola oil today.
- Pork shoulder roast: The best cut of meat for carnitas is pork shoulder AKA pork butt AKA Boston butt because it is well-marbled with fat and cooks up incredibly tender with a long braise.
- Large onion: A yellow, white, or red onion all work here.
- Lime juice: Just a bit of lime juice gives the pork a slightly tangy flavor.
- Garlic and spices: Garlic and a mix of chili powder, oregano, and cumin help to flavor the pork as it braises.
- Chicken broth: Using chicken broth as our braising liquid instead of water also helps boost the flavor of the pork as it cooks.
A Note on Bone-in vs Boneless Pork Shoulder Roasts: You’ll probably find both bone-in and boneless pork shoulder roasts at your grocery store. Either one works just fine for carnitas, but if you have a choice between the two at a comparable price, go with the boneless roast. The bone-in roasts have a Y-shaped bone that is a bit of a pain to get out cleanly.
If you do end up with a bone-in roast, the good thing is that they are so large and inexpensive that you don’t have to worry too much about getting every single last piece of meat off the bone. Just use a sharp knife (a boning knife if you own one) and slice the meat away from the bone as best you can until you are able to remove it. Don’t stress too much about it. Here’s a good video of someone doing a much nicer job of removing the bone than I usually manage.
Preparing Pork Shoulder for Carnitas
As mentioned, pork shoulder is a pretty fatty piece of meat. Before cooking, you’ll want to remove the large fat cap (the thick layer of fat on one side of your roast) and cut away any silver skin (the thin, silvery blue membrane that sticks closely to the meat). Don’t worry about the smaller bits of fat marbled throughout the meat. Any fat that remains after braising can be picked out while shredding.
Then you just cut your roast into large chunks about the size of a lady’s fist, and you’re ready to start cooking.
PS: Don’t worry if your chunks don’t look pretty or are not completely even in size. You’re going to shred that pork so no one is ever going to know.
How to Make Carnitas
There are three stages to making carnitas. Stages two and three are pretty hands-off, but step one will require your full attention, so make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you begin.
- Salt and brown the meat. Depending on how large your roast and Dutch oven are (this is the Dutch oven I always use for carnitas), you might need to do this in batches. You’ll want to brown all sides of your meat, so don’t crowd the pan too much, and this may take up to 15 minutes.
- Long, slow cooking time. After your meat is browned, you’ll add the onions, garlic, spices, lime juice, and enough chicken broth to mostly cover the meat. That all simmers covered for about two and a half hours, until your meat is tender enough to pull apart with a fork.
- Make it crispy. This is my favorite part. Now that your meat is nice and tender, you get to make it crispy too. You shred the meat, transfer it to a sheet pan, and let it crisp up in the oven at a high temp for 30 minutes, occasionally adding a little cooking liquid to keep it from drying out. As soon as you’ve got enough crispy edges for your liking, it’s done and you get to eat!
FAQ
What to serve with pork carnitas?
Carnitas are super versatile. You can serve them in Carnitas Tacos, tostadas, or make sliders with them. Adding them to nachos, a salad, or made into Carnitas Enchiladas is also highly recommended.
For sides, as with something like Beef Stroganoff or Braised Short Ribs, Carnitas are so rich that you probably want to stick to sides that aren’t too heavy. Something like Cilantro Rice, Skillet Mexican Zucchini, Mexican Coleslaw, Corn and Black Bean Salad or Mexican Street Corn Salad would be perfect. And when in doubt, you can never go wrong with simple universal sides like Green Beans or Steamed Broccoli.
What to do with leftover carnitas?
Store leftover carnitas in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Drizzle with a couple extra tablespoons of the cooking liquid to help keep them moist before storing. Reheat in the microwave. Second-day carnitas are fantastic in quesadillas, burritos, and burrito bowls.
And not going to lie, it’s also pretty satisfying to stand in the refrigerator and eat cold carnitas leftovers plain the day after a party (they get better on day two!).
Can I freeze carnitas?
Yes! Because carnitas are a real time commitment and the cut of meat you need comes as a pretty large roast, even if you’re part of a small household and not cooking for guests, I still recommend making the full-size carnitas recipe rather than trying to cut it down because carnitas freeze really well.
Just freeze meal-sized batches with a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquid in freezer-safe plastic bags. When you’re ready for more carnitas, defrost in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave until warm or spread on a baking sheet and bake, loosely covered with foil at 350°F until heated through (usually 10-15 minutes).
Remove the foil and broil on high for just a minute or two until the edges are crisp. (Heads up: If you’ve just cleaned your oven, you might want to skip this step. The carnitas pop and sizzle quite a bit as they broil.)
What kind of meat are carnitas?
Pork! Carnitas are made from nice, marbled (with fat) chunks of pork shoulder, which when braised over a long period of time become incredibly tender.
The nice thing about pork shoulder is that it’s readily available, and it’s usually very cheap. Here is Southern California, I often see it as low .99/ pound. So for parties, feeding a crowd, or even stocking your freezer with leftovers, this is a very low-cost meal option.
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Carnitas Recipe Notes
If you’re making carnitas for an event, make sure to give yourself enough time to cook them. Between prepping the meat (especially if it’s bone-in), browning, the long, low simmer, and crisping time, carnitas always take longer than you expect, so allow yourself that time.
Easy Carnitas Recipe
Ingredients
Special Equipment
Carnitas
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4-6 pound pork shoulder roast boneless or bone-in, trimmed of fat cap and cut into fist-sized chunks
- Salt and pepper
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 6-8 cups (3-4 14.5 ounce cans) chicken broth
Instructions
- Pre-measure all your ingredients, dice your onion, and prep your garlic. Once you get started cooking, things move fast.
- Generously salt and pepper pork chunks on all sides.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, brown meat on all sides, in batches if necessary. This will take 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add onion, garlic, lime juice, chili powder, oregano, cumin, and enough chicken broth so the meat is mostly covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until meat is tender and can be easily pulled apart with a fork.
- Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with foil for easier cleanup. Use a large slotted spoon to transfer meat to a cutting board (reserve the broth) and use two forks to shred the meat. Transfer shredded meat to the baking sheet and spread it in an even layer over the surface. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid over the meat, sprinkle with salt, and bake for 10 minutes.
- Drizzle a little more broth over the meat, cook 10 minutes more, and repeat for a total of 30 minutes, until edges are crispy and browned.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Recipe Adapted From AllRecipes
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Julie says
OMG! I have just mastered carnitas. I have tried several recipes, as I absolutely love good Carnitas. This is it guys!! I ended up putting mine in the slow cooker after frying because all the pork wouldn’t fit in my cast iron. I slow cooked for 4 hours on high. Perfection!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you baking mischief!
♥️♥️♥️
Tracy says
Thank you, Julie!!!
Devon says
Just a quick question after step one do I need to dump the oil out or do I just leave it in the Dutch oven and add the other ingredients
Tracy says
No need to dump it. Just add the other ingredients right over the meat once it’s browned. Hope you enjoy the carnitas!!
Deann says
I never leave reviews, but I just have to say… These are fabulous!! They taste just like the carnitas from my local Mexican deli that I love. I am so glad to have this recipe. Served simply in corn tortillas with cilantro, onion and a squeeze of lime. To die for!! Thank you!!
Tracy says
This makes me so happy to hear!! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know!
Ivett Gaona says
Loved this recipe. My daughter is half mexican,half Panamanian . I try to make different types of food for her. Since she likes mexican restaurant ,she likes my food better. She talked me into making carnitas for her. Found this recipe .OMG everyone loved it,added bay leaves and orange to it . So awesome .
Abby B says
Could I use mandarins? I am making the recipe now and it smells amazing in my house
Tracy says
They should work!
Cutedeb2003 says
While I appreciate all the detailed info & I can’t wait to try this amazing sounding recipe, I do have to ask one pertinent question (to me, anyway) before I begin to undertake this recipe. One of the ingredients listed is simply “One Large Onion, Diced” Precisely what type of onion goes best with this particular recipe? Red? White? Sweet? Brown? I doubt the recipe calls for green onion, so I can eliminate that one, I think? Your preferences as to what type of “large onion” works best would be greatly appreciated. Thank You
Tracy says
You can really use whatever (large) onion you have on hand and like best. I typically use yellow or white onions, but I’ve used reds before when I had one I needed to use up, and they all turn out great.
Bridgett Walters says
I can’t wait to make this tonight. My family loves carnitas.
Tracy says
I hope they enjoyed it, Bridgett!!
Barbara Simard says
I’ve tried several carnitas recipes, they’re all pretty complicated. And hours and hours of marinating and then cooking. I tried this with a little change in the juices. I didn’t have limes or chicken broth. So I did worcestershire, soy sauce and diluted a little. Other than that I followed everything else. The flavor is ridiculous, the smell while it’s cooking. Unbelievable. 5 stars which I never give…
Tracy says
Yay, so happy you enjoyed it and that you were able to find some substitutions that worked for you, Barbara! Thanks for reporting back!
Kelly says
Hi! I have made these before and love them. My husband is bringing them to a work potluck. I was planning on having him warm them up in a crockpot. Since I am making them the night before do you think they will get dried out?
Thanks!
Tracy says
Hi, Kelly, I’ve never tried this, but I don’t think they would get dried out. I’d just retain a cup or two of the cooking liquid and add it in with the meat (not enough to cover it, just enough to keep things moist) and stir once or twice while it’s reheating. If you do try it, please let me know how it turns out!
Molly Franks says
I have made this twice now. I even bought a Dutch oven after my first batch. It is incredibly good. Thank you!
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed it, Molly!
Tyra B says
Oh my goodness!
This recipe cooked up sooooo of delicious!!!!
I’m telling you ~ if it wasn’t for your incredible tutorial I don’t think I could have ever cooked the amazing dinner I made yesterday.
Sooooo yummy.
I followed your tutorial to a tee/ I didn’t make any recipe changes.
My family said
“it’s a definite 10+”
I said
“you can only give 5 stars,”
They said
“It’s not enough,
because these are even better than the restaurant tacos. You have to make this again & next time please make more than you did this time! ”
Thank you Tracy,
I m telling you
I’m not a cook.
New to cooking.
Sooo green, with many dumb questions & a fear of cooking
But so far
All of the recipes I’ve tried
have turned out delicious because explainyour recioes so clearly.
I can’t believe I made those carnitas!
Boy,
I woke up today wishing I had made more … lol
because I wish there were leftovers to dive into right now…lol.
Thank you again.
You’re the bomb!
Tracy says
LOL, so happy you and the family enjoyed them!! Thank you, Tyra!!
Doug says
Good review, I’m trying these tonight. House smells so good right now they’re braising in the oven.
Thanks
Neha says
Excellent tips on freezing Carnitas Tracy! Plus they look super delicious and tender.
Tracy says
Thanks, Neha!
Cindy @ The Sweet Nerd says
So smart giving us so much detail on the pork. It’s great to be educated. 🙂 These look fantastic.
Tracy says
Thanks, Cindy!
Claudia Lamascolo says
I have eaten this out many times and never had the recipe I am so glad to stumble on this recipe so I can make it myself and I know it will be amazing over anything in any restaurant!
Tracy says
Thanks, Claudia!
Sara says
This would be awesome for dinner this week. I always order carnitas but have never made them at home!
Tracy says
Thanks, Sara! I was in the same boat until a few months ago, but once I made them at home the first time, I just couldn’t stop. 😉
Annemarie says
I love carnitas! I need to try this cooking method for our next taco night.
Tracy says
I hope you enjoy them!!
Josh says
This recipe makes delicious carnitas!!
Tracy says
Thanks, Josh!
Corina salazar says
I’ve always do dated how to make carnitas. Thank you for sharing this taster recipe. I have to make them now that I have a good easy recipe.
Tracy says
Hope you enjoy them, Corina!!
Liz says
Just in time for taco season! 😉 My husband loves carnitas so I can’t wait to make this!
Tracy says
Taco season is the best season. 😉 Hope the hubs likes them!