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
Categories
Dinner
Cuisine
Mexican
Steps
Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 300 degrees.
all the ingredients in a large Dutch oven, including the spent orange halves and juice.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1/12th
Calories: 365 calories
Carbohydrates: 2 g
Protein: 27 g
Fat: 27 g
Saturated Fat: 10 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 389 mg
Sugar: 1 g
Unsaturated Fat: 15 g
Reviews
Kathy Halter on 2024-08-28 (5 stars): I use a carrot peeler to peel the orange rind (like you would do to make a ‘twist’ for a cocktail). It releases the oil and adds a wonderful orange flavor without the bitterness of the pith. Peel BEFORE you juice. Then juice the pith wrapped orange for the recipe. Otherwise this recipe is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT.
Kathy on 2024-09-15 (3 stars): Recipe instructions don\'t say what to do with the thickened cooking liquid? Also, didn\'t say to add water or broth to instant pot, but they require at least 1 cup of liquid for a 6 quart instant pot. I added 1 cup chicken broth
Ross C Thompson on 2024-11-17 (5 stars): Made it in the crock pot. Broiled for 8 minutes after I removed from crock pot. Delicious!
kay on 2024-11-18 (5 stars): I see this serves 12 but approximately how many tortillas per person? Are these street size or taco size tortillas? Trying to figure out how much I’ll need to serve 9 people - three of those are guys that like to EAT! :D
Carol on 2025-01-12 (5 stars): This is an excellent carnitas recipe - we prepared ours with pork shoulder in a dutch oven, then refrigerated them overnight. Reheated them under the broiler today. They were a huge hit.
Stacy on 2025-02-11 (5 stars): Made this for dinner tonight for my family of 8. It was amazing. All of the kids even loved it. Thanks for sharing your recipes! Can’t wait to try more of them!
Dani on 2025-03-04 (3 stars): I really wish I hadn’t put the orange rind in the pan, it left a very bitter flavour to the sauce. Otherwise the recipe is great, just discard the peels.
Cindy on 2025-05-25 (5 stars): Great recipe! I cook this several times a year and every one raves! We live in a small town in Oregon with two Mexican restaurants but none make Carnitas as good as this recipe! Thank you so much! Cindy
