carnitas
(1 rating)
Crispy,juicy roasted pork chunks. Great on tacos, for fajitas or eaten atop rice. So good! Authentic carnitas are usually made with pork shoulder(or butt), but I like to use a loin roast. It's much leaner and when I cook them with this method, they're NEVER dry and they have tons of flavor even without the extra fat.
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(1 rating)
yield
8 serving(s)
prep time
20 Min
cook time
3 Hr 30 Min
Ingredients For carnitas
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2 Tbspoil
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1 1/2 tspcoarse salt(or slightly less table salt)
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3-4 lbpork roast, cut into 4-5inch. chunks
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juice of one orange(optional)
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1 tspchili powder
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1 tspcumin
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2 Tbspdried cilantro(or 1/4c fresh, minced)
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ground pepper to taste
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1medium onion, cut in wedges
How To Make carnitas
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1Preheat oven to 350F
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2Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the chunks of meat all over with salt. Place the chunks of meat in the hot oil, then squeeze the juice of the orange over the meat. Brown well on all sides. This will take several minutes per side. Don't skip this step, or they will NOT turn out as well!
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3Remove the meat to a platter and pour about a cup of water into the pot to deglaze, scraping up the browned bits off the bottom and stirring into the liquid. Remove from heat. Return the meat to the pot and sprinkle all of the seasonings on top.
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4Carefully pour water into the pot(without washing all the spices off the meat) until a little over halfway up the sides of the meat. Stick the onion wedges in amongst the meat chunks.
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5Pop it in the oven and roast, uncovered for about three hours. If meat starts looking too dry, you can occasionally baste with the juices. After about 3 hrs. remove the pot from the oven and using a fork, break the meat down into smaller, bite-sized chunks. Stir into the juices. At this point if there is more than about 1/2 in. of liquid left in the pot, put it over med-high heat and cook and stir until liquid is slightly reduced and meat has crisped up on the edges.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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