Description
This fork-tender pork carnitas recipe is fantastic! You can make sliders or tacos for a crowd with all your favorite toppings! Easy to make then let it slow cook to perfection.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 5.37 pound boneless pork butt/Boston butt (around 5 pounds is fine)
- 9 whole, peeled cloves of garlic
- 1 medium onion, chopped in chunks
- 2 oranges, peel & juice (about 1/2 cup orange juice)
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt (or 1 tablespoon regular salt)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground Ras el Hanout (if you don’t have just double the cumin)
- 2 large bay leaves (or 4 small)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
NOTE: Don’t forget to watch my video with step-by-step instructions and to watch me eat a crazy taco I made!
Instructions
- Cut pork butt into uniform-sized pieces. As you are cutting the pork have your kitchen scissors ready to trim off hanging fat. We want some of that fat, but anything really thick or hanging off, cut it. Put all the pork pieces in a large baking pan and set aside to finish your prep.
- Peel oranges with a peeler tool. Try not to get too much of the white part from the orange since it can be bitter. Don’t press too hard on the peeler to get the best result.
- Peel your cloves of garlic and keep them whole.
- Cut oranges into smaller chunks to fit in a hand juicer.
- Rough chop one medium onion into chunks.
- Squeeze juice from oranges – should be around ½ cup total.
- Season pork with kosher salt (or regular salt – see ingredient list), cumin, ras el hanout, pepper, orange juice, garlic, orange peel, bay leaves, and onion. If you don’t have ras el hanout just double the cumin. Toss all ingredients to coat and well combine. Make sure ingredients like the garlic cloves and bay leaves are evenly distributed.
- Cover with heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap it as tight as possible. We’re steaming and slow cooking this to get it fork tender so we don’t want any air getting out. If you don’t have heavy duty foil, use a couple of layers of regular foil.
- Place the foil-covered pork in a preheated oven at 275 degrees and cook for 3 ½ hours until the pork is fork tender. Check it with a fork when you take it out of the oven.
- You can end the process right now and eat your pork. OR you can get it a little crispy on top like I do.
- Remove foil from pan and put all your pork in a bowl.
- Strain the juices, but don’t throw it away – save some.
- Transfer the pork back into the baking pan and pour some of the juice and fat over the pork.
- Move your oven rack up and put broiler on high. Broil pork for 5 minutes or until crispy. Keep watch on this so it doesn’t burn.
- Carnitas are done!! Make sliders or tacos for a crowd with this one. Toppings are endless – choose all your favorites. Watch my video to the end to see the slider and loaded taco I made. So delicious!