Deliciously spiced slow cooked shredded pork, fried to crispy perfection. You can use these pork carnitas in many ways, but I like to load them into a soft taco with onion and cilantro (cilantro) and serve it with a bowl of the most amazing cooking liquor for dipping.
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Even though these Mexican style carnitas are cooked in a slow cooker and fried, I still feel like this is more of a summer recipe.
I think it’s the simplicity and the fresh, easy toppings we use when we stuff this addictive carnitas meat into soft, hot tacos.
Of course you don’t have to fill the meat in tacos, there are lots of ways to use it.
- On top of nachos, served with GuacamoleSalsa and grated cheese
- Over pizza, salads and rice bowls
- stuffed into burritos and quesadillas
- in addition to Fried rice
- Stuffed with potato skins and topped with crumbled cheese – Cojita if you can find it in the UK, if not crumbled Wensleydale works well. Even better if you can find an aged Wensleydale (I like Hawes Reserve Special Reserve Wensleydale).
đź“‹ What do we need?
I use a Boneless rolled pork shoulder that I cut the skin (but I leave the fat).
The fat can be cooked on its own to make crackling (I’ve included some instructions in the comments section of the recipe card at the bottom of this post).
đź“ş Watch how it is prepared
Full recipe with detailed steps on the recipe card at End of this post.
👩‍🍳Professional tip You can fry all the shredded pork in one batch, in a large pan (frying pan) – just be sure to let it brown before moving it around the pan.
The simplest and most traditional way to serve these carnitas tacos is with thinly sliced ​​onions and fresh cilantro (cilantro). I like to add some avocado to mine as well.
It really doesn’t need more than that because there is so much flavor in the juicy meat!
🍽️ How to serve the carnitas in tacos
- Heat some soft flour tortillas and add the fried shredded pork, then load with additional toppings:
- Finely diced onion
- chopped cilantro (cilantro)
- Avocado cut into cubes
- Extra cooking liquor from the slow cooker – dip those tacos in!
I use a Bamboo taco holder (<<-Amazon Affiliate Link) to serve my tacos. Watch the recipe video (the video is in this post and further). YouTube).
🍲 More ways to fill tacos, wraps and flatbreads
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Pork carnitas
Deliciously seasoned slow cooked pulled pork, fried to crispy perfection and served in a soft taco with the most amazing cooking liquor for dipping!
Instructions
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Place the pork in the slow cooker, fat side up.
2-2.25 kg (4.4lb-5lb) rolled, boneless, pork shoulder.
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Add the onion and garlic around the sides of the pork, then pour the orange juice over it. It doesn’t look like a lot of liquid, but the pork will release liquid as it cooks.
1 medium onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 120 ml (½ cup) fresh orange juice
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Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, chili flakes, oregano and cumin.
2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon chili flakes, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 2 teaspoons cumin
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Cook on low for 9-10 hours or high for 7-8 hours.
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Remove the pork from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board (I use two sets of tongs).
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Shred the pork into pieces, discarding all large lumps of fat.
To fry the carnitas:
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Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
2 tablespoons of oil
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Add the shredded pork (use tongs and try to leave as much liquid behind as possible).
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Fry for 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally in the pan, until nice crispy pieces are obtained (don’t move too much or it won’t be crispy).
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Once the meat is browned and crispy, add a good ladle (about 240ml/1 cup) of the pork cooking juices to the pan, and let it bubble for a few minutes. This adds extra flavor and juiciness to the pork.
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Turn off the heat and serve the pork alongside a pitcher of the liquid left over from the slow cooker for basting. Go easy at first, because it’s quite salty.
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If you’re making carnitas tacos, top them with the pork, cilantro (cilantro), avocado, and chopped onion (see notes for more side dish ideas).
12 soft flour tortillas, 2 avocados, 1 bunch of fresh cilantro (cilantro), 1-2 fine onions
✎ Notes
Here is a link (it’s an Amazon affiliate link) to Bamboo taco holder I use video.
More ideas for addition:
- Sauces: Salsa, guacamole, sour cream, sweet chili sauce, hot pepper sauce, salsa verde, BBQ sauce
- cheese: grated cheddar or crumbled feta. If you can get hold of Cotija (a salty, crumbly Mexican cheese), it works really well, but it’s almost impossible to find in the UK.
- vegetables: Crunchy sliced ​​lettuce – like romaine or baby, chopped spring onion (green onion), thinly diced cucumber, chopped cherry tomatoes
- Chili/pickles: Sliced ​​fresh or pickled jalapenos, sliced ​​gherkins or gherkins, sliced ​​pickled red onions. Kimchi also works really well.
doing forward
- Make the pork carnitas in advance by cooking the pork in the slow cooker, then shredding.
- Cool quickly and place the shredded meat in an airtight container and the remaining cooking juices in a separate airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- When ready to heat, fry the grated carnitas in 2 tablespoons of oil for heating – until they are hot (and nice and crispy).
- Heat the cooking liquor in a pan or in the microwave and apply some or all of it on the carnitas as soon as they are crispy.
freezing
- Make the pork carnitas in advance by cooking the pork in the slow cooker, then shredding.
- Cool quickly and freeze the shredded meat in an airtight container and the remaining cooking juices in a separate airtight container.
- Thaw overnight at room temperature, then fry the grated carnitas in 2 tablespoons of heating oil – until they are hot (nice and crispy).
- Heat the cooking liquor in a pan or in the microwave and apply some or all of it on the carnitas as soon as they are crispy.
Don’t throw away the pigskin! Use it for pork crackling.
- Heat the oven to 200C/400F (fan).
- Place the skin on a cutting board and score the skin side of the pork skin in a cross/diamond pattern.
- Sprinkle over one tablespoon of table salt, then rub it into the skin.
- Transfer the skin to a rimmed baking sheet (you can place it on a wire rack on top of the baking sheet if you want, but I usually don’t, because it means more washing!)
- Put in the oven and roast for 40-50 minutes, until the skin is golden and there are small bubbles all over the body (the bubbling pieces are where it is the most crispy)
- Carefully remove from the oven (there will be a lot of hot liquid fat in the tray – you can keep it and use it for roasting potatoes).
- Use a set of tongs to transfer the skin to a cutting board.
- Carefully chop into bite-sized pieces and serve.
If not serving immediately, then cool the crackling pieces, transfer to a dish and place a lid. Place in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Reheat in the oven on a baking sheet at 200C/400F (fan) for 8-10 minutes, until they are crisp and warm again.
Source of the recipe:
This recipe is based on Nagy’s version From RecipeTin Eats (I think her recipe came from another source as well). I make some small changes to the ingredients and the cooking method.
The nutritional information is approximate, per full taco (this recipe makes 12), including the soft tortilla, cilantro (cilantro), avocado and onion.
- The approximate calorie content of pork carnitas meat after frying in oil is 3000 calories in total.
- Before frying (without the oil) it’s about 2750 calories in total.
diet
Calories: 399KKLCarbohydrates: 22Gprotein: 41GFat: 16GSaturated fat: 4GPolyunsaturated fat: 3GUnsaturated fat: 8Gtrans fat: 0.03GCholesterol: 100mgsodium: 706mgpotassium: 917mgfiber: 4GSugar: 3Gvitamin: 188IUVitamin C: 11mgcalcium: 81mgiron: 3mg
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