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Easy Carnitas, Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven

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Easy Carnitas, Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven
Had I known carnitas was this easy, I would have made this meal years ago.

Carnitas means little meats. This carnitas is pork braised in broth for at least 3 hours, then pulled apart, crisped up and caramelized in the juices under the broiler or in the oven. I usually double this recipe and braise the meat in this 7 quart cast iron dutch oven.

You can only imagine how exciting the last part of the cooking is.

One of my favorite ways to eat pork tacos is with this red cabbage slaw.

I also love to have my carnitas with salsa verde, recipe found here.

We did this dinner for a recent birthday, because it’s a great crowd pleaser and doesn’t take a lot of time to put together. You can braise in a cast iron dutch oven, which is what I did, or make it in a slow cooker.

Pork Carnitas, Brasied in Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven then Baked to Crispy

You will need to use the oven for the final twenty minutes, when the shredded pork cooks away in its juices and gets crispy on the ends. I was lucky enough to find a orange chipotle salt at Whole Foods, a new addition to their spices. It added that extra kick, but I didn’t include it in the recipe, because not everyone would have access to it.

Easy Carnitas from spinach tiger

My husband’s famous guacamole or sliced avocados are a must.

Easy Carnitas, Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven

Perfect for a Cinco de Maya party, serve carnitas, which can be made ahead, even frozen.

Pair with Homemade Fresh Citrus Margaritas or strawberry lime basil sangria.

Best Margarita with Fresh CitrusRoasted Salsa Verde

Pico de Gallo

Avocado Margarita from Spinach TIger

Make a Corn Tomato Salad as a Side.

Enjoy these easy Carnitas and let me know how the recipe works out. It’s one of my  “go to” crowd pleasers.

More Mexican Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Pork Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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4.6 from 5 reviews
Easy Carnitas, Slow Cooker or Dutch Oven
 
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 8
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
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Easy Carnitas with tortillas.
Ingredients
  • 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder
  • sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 jalapeno, seeded and ribs removed, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 1 orange, cut in half
  • 4 limes, divided
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 teaspoon chile powder
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2-4 cups beef broth (or water)
  • tortillas
  • 2 red onions diced (to serve with carnitas)
  • handful cilantro
  • guacamole or sliced avocado
Instructions
  1. Trim excess fat from pork shoulder. Cut into 4 separate pieces.
  2. Salt liberally.
  3. Heat oil in dutch oven and brown pork pieces on all sides. Remove.
  4. Add onions, pepper to pan. Cook for two minutes. Add garlic. Cook for one minute.
  5. Add in juice of orange and orange pieces, juice of lime. I refrain from adding in lime pieces; they tend to add a bitterness.
  6. Add pork back in.
  7. Add in just enough water or broth to cover ⅔ of the meat. Add cinnamon Stick.
  8. Cover and braise for 3½ hours.
  9. You place in slow cooker on high for 4 hours, or low for 10 hours. (You may need to add in a little more water. Check hourly if you are using dutch oven. ). I put my dutch oven in a 300 degrees F. oven with lid.
  10. Remove from oven. Take pork out, reserve broth. Pull pork into pieces. Add in a baking pan. Strain the broth. Pour over the pork. Carnitas can dry out if there is not enough broth.
  11. Bake in oven at 375 for approximately twenty minutes until most of the broth is gone and the meat is has crispy crackling edges.
  12. Serve with tortillas, chopped red onion, cilantro, sliced avocado, lime slices

Comments

  6. Given the majority of the world uses Celsius to indicate temperature, 300 degrees seems very high for this recipe. This makes me wonder if you mean 300 Fahrenheit. Could you please amend your recipe to make that clear?

    Reply

  8. I followed this recipe exactly & it turned out awful! I had to throw the whole thing away. I think it was the peel from the limes that made it so bitter. Would have been good I think if I just added the juice from the fruit and not the fruit itself. I thought that was odd when I read directions, but went with it anyway. Oh well, I guess they can’t all be winners. Bummer though, for sure.

    Reply

  11. I love carnitas…so awesome. Yours look fantastic!! Just wanted to let you know that I made one of your recipes for SRC…I made your parmesan honey biscuits and LOVED them…they were so good! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂

    Reply

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