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 don’t understand your response saying that you should not use pork tenderloin. I followed the recipe directly except added the juice of one lime because my oranges were dry. I cooked in my slow cooker for 5 and a half hours. It was not remotely dry and shredded nicely. I also did not have to skim any fast because of the lean cut.
Hi Lori! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I find tenderloin is not as fatty so doesn’t hold up as well for this recipe, but I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed it so much! N x
Have you tried your recipe using the pressure cooker? 🙂
Yes! Please see recipe notes for directions 🙂 N x
Apologies- I just saw your pressure cooker times. Has anyone tried both and found a difference? Thanks!
Slow cooking yields a slightly better end result because the meat has time to cook slowly and break down and the flavour penetrates better into the meat all the way through. But by the time it’s browned in a skillet with the juices, honestly I doubt most people could tell the difference! N x
I followed this recipe to the letter using a pressure cooker. It came out AMAZING!!! I also made a different recipe with beef and the pork blew it away by miles. Thank you so much and I guess I’ll start looking at your other stuff! You just gained a subscriber!
This looks amazing! I have a family pack of bone-in pork chops. About 4 pounds. Do you think I can use those?
Hi Jen! I haven’t tried but if they are juicy thick cut ones then I think they will work great 🙂 8 hours on low.
I wonder how this would work with Chimichurri sauce?
Any Reccomendations?
I wonder if red wine would be an OK substitute for the OJ?
My Diet does not allow sugar… including oranges.
As a sauce to serve the finished carnitas with – YES! For the OJ, just skip it and use a couple of limes instead 🙂
Trying it today. Happy 4th of July 🇱🇷
Happy 4th of July to you too! N xx
Wow!!!! This recipe was amazing. We marinated a pork shoulder in Goya mojo for 2 days and then followed the recipe and spiced it exactly as written. Browning the meat in cast iron with the juices took it over the top. Thank you for this delicious recipe and we will definitely be making this over and over.
Wow.
This recipe is incredible — to DIE for.
I’ve made so many dishes and never thought a recipe was worth going out my way and making a comment, but this one is the exception.
I tweaked it a bit and added lots of salt and pepper, an entire can of Coca-cola, more fresh orange juice, and cinnamon just to give it a bit more flavor and sweetness. Came out incredible.
I hosted a taco night at my house – went to the local Mexican market and got corn tortillas, tomatillos, jalapeños, avocados, made grilled corn salsa, grilled pineapple, and my own crema slaw. Incredible. I want to make this every week!
If I don’t have oranges can anything else be used as a substitute?
Pineapple juice, mango or other fruit juice 🙂 Or half the quantity of lime juice!
I made the pork yet want serve it in 48 hours so do I leave the char gilling part until few hours before? Also should I store in fridge with juices over it to keep moist?
Hi Bronwyn! Please see recipe notes for how to store 🙂 Yes, best to brown closer to serving time!
i have a 6.5lb bone in roast but i dont know how to change the recipe. How do you change the recipe?
Please see note 1 for cook times for different weights! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
I also have a Breville fast/slow cooker (part of the reason I find all your recipes so fantastic!) and was wondering if you cooked yours for six or ten hours as my fast slow cooker only has the six hour then eight hour selection?
Wow. I’m just going to start off by saying I’ve pulled recipes from all over the internet for different meals, your site is one I visit often but I rarely, very rarely, leave comments on recipes. I followed your directions to a T, got home, pulled the pork out of the crock, let it sit a few moments and started to shred it. I was happy with how easy it shredded. Both my husband and I tried a small piece and were disappointed with the lack of flavor, I thought I messed something up. But I continued with the instructions and started frying the shredded meat, then added the juices and tried another piece. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to get them into some corn tortilla shells.
My husband and I couldn’t stop eating. These were the most amazing tacos we’d ever had. I said I’d have to leave a comment on this recipe and my husband, who doesn’t care about things like that, insisted that I come here and tell you how amazing our food was. Then said “you better save that recipe, write it down on paper, we are making this for your dad”.
Side note, I get left overs for lunch today and I’m counting down the minutes.
Thanks for a perfectly delicious, perfectly savory, perfectly salted recipe. I made it tonight for my family who all loved it. Even our elderly neighbour enjoyed it and he’d never even heard of pulled pork 😉
As I was serving this to some little people who are still getting the hang of chewing meat, I decided not to crisp it up and it was still delicious. So much better than BBQ pulled pork recipes we have tried that tend to be too sweet.
Definitely making this again. Subtle and moreish.
Glad you enjoyed this Carly!!! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! N x
“but if you left them out something would be missing from the flavour 🙂 So it’s not that the flavour is unnoticeable as such, it is that you can’t taste it as an identifiable ingredient.”
Actually that makes perfect sense. I have all the ingredients ready, the pork is rubbed, and first thing in the morning it all goes in the crock pot, then I go to work and wait! Looking forward to these tacos tomorrow. I have fresh salsa ready and just plan to add a simple onion/cilantro topper and a little cheese.
Thanks for all your help. The oregano/cumin ratio makes the kitchen smell wonderful!
Thanks Nagi!
I’m home from work. I shredded my pork and it was fantastic!!! It did carry-over some cumin and oregano flavors which I LOVE.
What you call the “fat” I am calling the broth. Hint of citrus. It was remarkable. I mashed everything in the broth and strained it.
I’ll throw my rib bones in freeze bag and use them in chicken stock later.
Everything I was hoping this recipe to be worked out. Topped my expectations, thank you again. I’m off to brown!
Just curious why you can’t use a pork loin? What will be different?
Pork loin doesnt have enough fat in it. If you slow cook it, it will just dry up.
It’s going to be taco week for me, and this is the most non-fuss recipe for carnitas that’s I’ve ever seen. It’s not Veracruz or Oaxaca-style carnitas, but Mexico City, D.F. No lard, excellent. I’m intrigued.
I’m using pork ‘country style ribs’ which I know will be fine (it’s shoulder, basically).
This will be a Tuesday-morning-set-it-and-go-work dish.
I’m not changing your recipe but I only have a splash of OJ left. I will add fresh lemon and lime juice to that. I will also add cilantro stems to the crock pot. I also have some serranos around, no jalapeno. Really looking forward to this then browning in the cast iron. Love all your fresh ingredients. I hate to open a can or jar for any recipe and we don’t have to for this recipe…let me know about the herb taste. I may strengthen the cumin/oregano if it doesn’t make it to the finish line.
I’ve used your recipes before. Great site, please keep on keepin on!
I noticed you told one person the OJ/citrus taste will be un-noticeable. All this talk from me, sorry, but my question actually is: will the cumin/oregano rub be there? Or will it disappear? Just curious I hope those herb flavors make it to finished product.
Will post a followup after I make it.
Hi Brent! In the end result after all those hours of slow cooking, the flavours soften and meld so you can’t taste them individually or identify them separately, but if you left them out something would be missing from the flavour 🙂 So it’s not that the flavour is unnoticeable as such, it is that you can’t taste it as an identifiable ingredient. I hope that makes sense!! N xx
Hi! Tomorrow I’m excited to be making this recipe for family and friends. However, i purchased a 5 lb. pork loin roast and am wondering what adjustments do I need to make to the recipe to accomodate this particular cut of meat? Looking forward to hearing from you. Valerie
Hi Valerie – sorry to say this isn’t written for pork loin 🙁 I’m sorry!
Sounds like the perfect mix for our volleyball fundraiser- we want to make carnitas in large quantities (10+ roasts). We were going to have moms cook and shred meat ahead, and just add seasonings after… would you suggest a large-batch variation to pour over/mix in after cooking?
Thank you for the recipe, Nagi, I made it last night, and it was a bit hit with my family! The only change was to add a little lime into the OJ, otherwise, seasonings, timings and procedures were spot on. I look forward to seeing more recipes from you, and thank you again, it was delicious, and I plan to make it again very soon!