Marinated in citrus and slow cooked to perfection, these Carnitas will be the star of the table. The best part? Versatility. Served alone, atop a baked sweet potato or even in a taco salad, the possibilities are endless. Whip up a double batch to have leftovers and enjoy the options all week!
Carnitas
- 5.0 stars
- 30m
- 6h
- 6h 20m
Ingredients
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 orange
- 2 limes
- 5 lb pork shoulder or butt (with or without bone in)
- coarse sea salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 whole clove
- 5 c lard
- 1 avocado
Instructions
- Wash cilantro; peel and slice garlic cloves in half. Cut orange into eighths. Juice half the limes.
- Season the pork shoulder with lime juice, a generous sprinkling of sea salt, half the cilantro, bay leaves, garlic and whole cloves.
- Cover and refrigerate while rendering the lard for up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 285F.
- Warm rendered lard (if previously chilled to solid) until it is liquid.
- Place whole seasoned pork shoulder in a small Dutch oven (the smallest you have to fit the meat, but still cover with liquid).
- Shove orange slices around the sides of the pork.
- Pour the liquid lard over the pork and oranges until the meat is completely covered.
- Place the meat in the preheated oven with the lid on. Consider setting Dutch oven on a lipped tray to catch any overflow of fat.
- Cook for 4-6 hours or until meat falls apart easily when tested with a fork.
- Remove from the oven and lift the meat out onto a dish, taking care not to burn yourself with the fat.
- Pull apart the remaining meat into medium sized chunks, and fry in a large frying pan with the cooked oranges until desired crispiness is reached.
- You can reheat in a frying pan, and serve with a squeeze of lime, pinch of cilantro, and sprinkle of sea salt to taste. The fried oranges can be eaten rind and all.
- Slice avocados and serve with carnitas.
Nutrition
- 2843
- 41g
- 13g
- 5g
- 277g
- 111g
- 382mg
- 305mg
Tawnia
So good you forget it’s healthy. Everyone in my family devoured the Carnitas. I was unsure about some of the ingredients but followed the recipe as written and was so glad that I did! It was a definite make again!