Authentic Pork Carnitas – Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

Name: Authentic Pork Carnitas - Mexican Slow Cooked Pulled Pork
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 45 min
Total time: 3 h
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 4 pound boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes; 1 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 tsp pepper; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 onion, peeled and halved; 2 bay leaves; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 Tb fresh lime juice; 2 C water; 1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

An Authentic Pork Carnitas Recipe that is completely addictive! First it cooks slowly in a crock pot, on the stove, or in your slow cooker before you put it into the oven to become crispy and caramelized. This Mexican pulled pork is the perfect filling for tacos, burritos or nachos. This is my most popular recipe for a reason my friends but don’t you dare skip the last step of this fabulous recipe….

Pork Carnitas Recipe - slow cooker carnitas

Well, we all survived another election season. Just in time to make us extra cranky for the holidays, right? Do your favorite food blogger a favor please? Pour all your frustrations, anger and crankiness from the election process/results into something productive. Like food 🙂

I promise you (and a real promise, not a politician-type promise) that this pork carnitas recipe will make you happy, mellow and in the greatest mood you have been in for months. These authentic carnitas will change how you view any meat you put in your tacos from now on.

While there are a few extra steps to these slow cooker carnitas recipe, none of them are hard or time consuming. The end result however is out of this world. I have made these twice already in a very short period of time and have the fixings in the fridge for Round #3. The meat is completely melt-in-your-mouth, while the caramelization on the outside multiplies that amazing flavors. We have a hard time not eating it all before we get the chance to stick some in a tortilla 🙂

How to Make the Best Carnitas

Use a fatty piece of meat – I get a lot of questions asking if you can use this same recipe and technique using a pork loin or chicken breasts and the answer is no. A pork butt is perfect because it has a lot of fat and sinew, which once it is slow cooked, becomes so tender it melts in your mouth. That will never happen with a low fat form of protein. If you want authentic carnitas, embrace the butt.
Cook your Mexican Pork low and slow – To create the perfect tender bite that is infused with flavor, this recipe calls for a slow cooking process using a cast iron dutch oven in the oven, but you can certainly use your crockpot or slow cooker. However, you will end up with a larger amount of liquid to reduce so just give yourself more time to create that thick liquid.
Use your broiler to concentrate the flavor – I know many of you will want to skip the last step of this recipe, but take a look at my photo. Do you see that gorgeous caramelization on the outside of the meat? That isn’t just for looks my friend! That is concentrated flavor so take the extra 3 minutes it takes to put the finished carnitas under the broiler.

Authentic Flour Tortilla Recipe | How to make Homemade Tortillas | VIDEO

If you want to go fully authentic, you have to go for my Soft Homemade Authentic Flour Tortilla recipe as well. They are the perfect vessel to serve this fabulous pork in.

Pork Carnitas Recipe VIDEO

Craving more than Carnitas? Subscribe to My Kitchen Escapades to get new recipes and a weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! You can also stay in touch on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube for all the latest updates.

Are You Part of Our Squad?

Our PRIVATE Facebook group is for anyone who is DONE with the stress and frustration with all aspects of getting dinner on the table every night! We got you covered for everything: planning, shopping, meal prep, cooking, and clean-up! Click here to join for free!