Carnitas are on a pretty regular rotation around here. Maybe it’s because they present so many options. And it’s good to have options. Whether rolled into soft pillowy tortillas, dressed up in a bowl, topped with some fresh guacamole and made into nachos, these crispy pork shoulder carnitas are so satisfying.
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The best thing about these carnitas
You can’t mess them up. If you can cube meat and place it in a dutch oven filled with water and some seasoning, you can make carnitas. Read on and see how easy they actually are.
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I love making dutch oven recipes like carnitas because they are so easy to put together. Carnitas are essentially a braised dish and actually translates to “little meat”. A big cut of meat gets cubed into big pieces and is simmered on the stove with a sundry of spices, dried herbs and in this case, citrus, before finishing slowly in the oven on low heat.
Pile tender chunks of carnitas into a bowl of zippy cilantro rice, black beans and guacamole and I have a one pot dinner that’s a Sunday supper kind of meal for a crowd.
Look for boneless pork shoulder
This carnitas recipe starts with a boneless pork shoulder roast. To make extra authentic carnitas, you could use a bone-in pork shoulder. While buying the boneless cut is a tich more expensive, you aren’t paying for bones that you’re going to pitch.
Stovetop to broiler: easy carnitas step by step
A few prep tips
- I use a 5 1/2 qt dutch oven to make carnitas. Mine here is well-loved. That means the stains on it have been hard-earned like the wrinkles on my face.
- Cube the pork into 2″ large chunks. If you cut them too small, they’ll cook down and be too small to broil properly.
- Zest the orange before juicing it and the lime. If you happen to forget to zest first, rest the juiced orange on the juicer and hold it in place while you zest each half one at a time.
The secret to crispy carnitas
Pro tip
You’ll know that the cooking liquid is ready to toss with the carnitas when a spoon dragged through the pot leaves a trail revealing the pan.
Topping ideas for carnitas
In addition to the expected toppings and tortillas (traditionally flour), I love pairing carnitas with veggies like a spicy roasted delicata squash or caramelized tomatoes.
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Crispy Pork Shoulder Carnitas Recipe (Stovetop and Broiler)
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Equipment
- medium sized Dutch oven
- wire rack
- zester
Ingredients
- 4 lbs boneless pork shoulder roast, *see note below
- 1 orange
- 1 lime
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 2 cups water
Accessories:
- guacamole or sliced avocado, see below
- roasted or sauteed peppers and onions
- black beans
- brown or white rice
- tortillas
- cilantro
- lime wedges
Instructions
Cooking the Pork
- Preheat oven to 300˚.
- Trim fat cap on pork (the thick white part that is on the bottom of the roast.) You want to trim it so that 1/8" remains. Don't remove too much or you risk the pork being dry.
- Cube pork into 2" cubes. Place in Dutch oven or large pot that has a lid.
- Zest orange and then cut in half. Juice orange. You should have 1/3 cup of juice.
- Juice lime. You want about 2 tsp-1 Tbsp of lime juice. (FYI… 3 tsp= 1 TBSP)
- Add juices to pork in pot.
- Add spices and dried herbs to pot along with water.
- Cover pot and place on stove at medium high heat. Once the pork comes to a simmer, remove the pot and place in the oven. Cook pork for 2 hours.
Broiling the Pork
- Preheat broiler to 500˚ or low if you don't have a temperature setting.
- Once the 2 hours is up, remove the pot from the oven and place on the stove. Using tongs, a slotted spoon or skimmer, carefully remove the pork and place on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Also fish out the bay leaves and discard.
- Leaving the lid off, boil the remaining braising liquid for about 7-10 minutes until it reaches a syrupy consistency and a spatula dragged through the sauce leaves a trail.
- Add the meat to the syrupy sauce and lightly toss to coat.
- Remove the meat back to the wire rack/baking sheet combo.
- Broil the pork about 4-5" below the heating element until it is nice and crispy. Keep an eye on it as it could go from perfect to burnt pretty quickly!
Notes
- If you can’t find a boneless pork shoulder in the store, you can ask the butcher to remove a bone-in one for you. You can also braise it with the bone as well and remove it yourself after braising.
Making these today…already can’t wait for dinner!
Hi Karen! Can’t wait to hear how they came out! xox
I can attest to these being awesome. One of my ten favorite meals she makes.
I’ll take the compliment – you’re one tough customer xox😘