Authentic Mexican Pork Chili 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

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Description

Authentic Mexican pulled pork carnitas recipe are my most popular recipe for a reason! Because they are the best 🙂

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

Prep: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice.
Braise: Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it simmers, cover pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook until the meat falls apart when prodded with a fork, about 2 hours. You can also complete this step in a crock pot set on high for 6-7 hours. You will have more liquid to reduce in the next step however.
Reduce: Remove the pot from the oven and turn on the broiler. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a large foil-lined jelly roll pan. Remove and discard everything from the pot except for the cooking liquid. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until it thickens and syrupy, about 20 – 30 minutes. You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.
Shred: While the liquid is reducing, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces. Once the liquid has reduced, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.
Broil: Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the jelly roll pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/12th
Calories: 365
Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 389 mg
Fat: 27 g
Saturated Fat: 10 g
Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 2 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 27 g
Cholesterol: 0 g

Keywords: authentic pork carnitas recipe, pork taco meat

How to Make Authentic Pork Carnitas – Step by Step

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