This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure policy here.
This tender and juicy carnitas verde is definitely a family favorite. This dish is quick and easy to put together in your crock pot for the perfect weeknight meal.
I think today’s recipe gets the award for the most cooked recipe by my college kids. I’ve had college kids since 2002 and my four kids have probably made this recipe more than any other one while they’ve been away at college.
Reasons we love Carnitas Verde
- Easy and it’s delicious! It is made in a slow cooker and
- Makes a nice big batch and they can eat all week long.
- It is very versatile. You can serve it as a taco, a burrito, on nachos, in a taquito, as enchiladas, etc. The meat is also great served over rice or with some potatoes.
How to Make Carnitas Verde
Remember how I said it was easy?
- Add pork, a jar of salsa verde, onion, chicken broth and seasonings into the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Remove the meat from the pan and use two forks to shred into pieces.
- Place the shredded meat on a cookie sheet and pop it into the oven at 400 degrees.
- Roast the meat to get the edges nice and brown and crispy.
- Put the leftover sauce into a pan and bring to a boil. Let it boil and reduce for about 10 minutes.
- After the meat is roasted put it in a bowl and add some of the reduced sauce back into the meat to help keep it moist and delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions
What king of pork should I use?
use either a pork shoulder roast, pork butt or a picnic roast. Always use a boneless roast.
Can I make this in an Instant Pot
Yes. Place the pork, onions, salsa, chicken stock, cumin, coriander and oregano into the Instant Pot. Put on lid, turn valve to sealing. Use Meat setting allow to come to pressure, auto setting will cook for 35 minutes. Do a 10 minute natural release.
Verde Pork Tacos
All that is left is to decide how to serve your salsa verde pork. You can use it in burritos and taquitos, but our favorite way to serve it is Verde Pork Tacos.
We like to add a little cabbage salad on top of our verde pork tacos. It gives some nice crisp crunch to the tacos. Toss the cabbage with some olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper.
I hope this will become a regular staple in your meal rotation and that you love it as much as we do.
Serve Verde Pork Tacos With:
For all of my other favorite kitchen products and tools visit my Amazon Store.
Did you know I wrote a cookbook? Check out the Holiday Slow Cooker Cookbook for 100 delicious recipes
Carnitas Verde
Ingredients
- 3½ pounds pork butt pork shoulder or pork carnitas
- 2 cups salsa verde bottled or canned
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano or 1 teas dried
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt
- 12 to 16 corn tortillas heated and softened
- ¼ head of cabbage very thinly sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp seasoned rice vinegar if you only have unseasoned, add ¼ teaspoon of sugar to it
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup crumbled Cotija Mexican farmer’s cheese or some grated Monterey Jack cheese
- Sour cream
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Trim off the excess fat from the roast.
- Place the meat in a heavy pan or Dutch oven.
- Add the salsa verde, onion, stock, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and oregano. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer.
- When the meat is very tender when pierced, about 3 hours it is done.
- Can also be cooked in oven at 300 for about 3 hours or just throw it all in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove meat from liquid in pot and put the meat into a roasting pan.
- With 2 forks, shred the meat into large pieces.
- Roast meat for 15 to 20 minutes until parts are brown and crispy.
- While the meat is roasting, remove the liquid in the casserole pan.
- Boil the juices, stirring, until reduced to 2½ cups, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Return the meat to the pan.
- Stir in chopped cilantro season with salt.
Seasoned Cabbage
- Thinly slice cabbage and place in a medium sized bowl.
- Sprinkle on olive oil, seasoned rice vinegar, salt and pepper.
- You can also use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in place of the rice vinegar.
- Sprinkle with a little sugar to balance out the acidity of the vinegar. Toss.
- Season to taste. Let sit for 10 minutes for the cabbage to absorb some of the dressing.
Instant Pot Directions
- Place the pork, onions, salsa, chicken stock, cumin, coriander and oregano into the Instant Pot.
- Put on lid, turn valve to sealing.
- Use Meat setting allow to come to pressure, auto setting will cook for 35 minutes. Do a 10 minute natural release.
Recommended Products
Nutrition Facts:
Jennifer says
Do you think this could be adapted to the instant pot? If so, how would you do it?
scolobey says
I learned to make a similar dish from my aunt a long time ago. She learned it from her mother in law and they always called it chili verde. Probably my favorite recipe. I’ve been poking around to see if there are any details I can tweak to improve my old recipe. https://craftlog.com/us/cooking/salsa-verde-carnitas-Sj2h
That record of it is still a work-in-progress for sure, but it gives the rough idea. What you do differently here that I find interesting is to separate the pork and the sauce processes. I’ve always treated this as a stew. But I’ve had some very good shoulder roasts in the past, and I’m thinking I might try something similar to what you do here in hopes of improving the texture of the dish.
Thank you for this post 😉
Emily says
OMG my mouth is watering! My husband is mexican, we eat this kind of food often. Best food in the world!!
Jen says
Hi Leigh Anne,
How do you soften the corn tortillas before you fill them with the meat and cabbage? Thanks so much – it sounds delicious!
Jen
Kate says
You can take them and drag them thru hot oil, place on a paper towel and cover. Keep stacking them. DO NOT over cook they will get crispy. You can also drag them thru the carnita juice, fill with meat and keep warm. Hope this helps.