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The perfect pork carnitas recipe that is crispy on the edges and moist and flavorful on the inside.
Street Tacos
This pork reminds me of the yummy pork carnitas you get when you order street tacos. Crispy on the outside edges, but moist and flavorful on the inside.
Can I Make this in the slow cooker?
This pork is done in the oven on low head for about 5 hours, but could easily be done in the slower cooker too. It will take a few more hours to get the pork nice and tender in the slow cooker though. I also have this Instant Pot/Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas recipe.
Carnitas Ingredients
Pork. My local grocery store sells “pork carnitas” but you can also use a boneless pork shoulder, picnic or butt roast.
Lard. This recipe uses a pound, yes, a pound of Lard. Lard is not the same thing as Crisco but it is usually found in the baking aisle near the Crisco. The meat does not absorb the lard but it does give it great flavor. The lard is discarded at the end, it just helps create an amazingly tender and flavorful pork.
How to Make Pork Carnitas
- Place pork, cut into 2 inch pieces into a heavy roasting pan.
- Add in lard, oranges, limes, onion, garlic and seasoning.
- Cover and bake at bake at 275 degrees F for five hours.
- Remove the pork from pan and cut up or shred to the desired size.
- Place on a baking sheet in a single layer and place under the broiler to crisp up the edges. You can lightly baste the pork with olive oil but I usually don’t.
How to Serve Pork Carnitas
- Sprinkle with some cilantro and serve with a side of Za’atar Chicken and sliced avocado.
- We also loved in served as a taco on corn tortillas.
- You can also enjoy it in a burrito or enchilada.
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Pork Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2½ – 3 pound pork butt carnitas or shoulder cut into large pieces at least 2×2 inches in size
- 1 pound lard cut into pieces
- ½ orange skin on, quartered
- 1 lime skin on, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves skins removed and slightly smashed
- 1 medium onion skinned and quartered
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
- In a 9x11x2 casserole dish or large roasting pan, place all ingredients.
- Cover with parchment and foil and bake for five hours.
- Remove from oven and scoop out meat. Dispose of remaining liquids and solids.
- Place cooked pork on a foil-lined sheet pan and place under broiler for five minutes to crisp up the edges. Shred if desired.
- If the bottoms seem too wet, flip the pork and broil the other side for another minute or two. This step needs to be watched – you want the meat to caramelize without burning it or drying it out.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro
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Kirsten says
Just wondering if you think it could be cooked in a crockpot instead of the oven….
Leigh Anne says
Kristen, I did mention in the post that you could cook it in a crockpot but it might take a couple hours longer.
Kirsten says
Sorry! Skipped right to the recipe in this post:)
BRENDA says
Be sure to use lard that has not been partially hydrogenated!
Jennifer says
Just wondering about the lard. Do you cube it up and add it in with the other ingredients?