Oven Braised Pork Carnitas
Tender pork meat, braised in spices, citrus, and onion, and then broiled to crisp perfection! This carnitas meat is perfect for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, burrito bowls, or nachos.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 309kcal
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork shoulder or butt cut into chunks
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounce lager beer
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 1 jalapeno sliced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 limes juiced
- 1 orange juiced
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
- Cut the pork shoulder or butt into 3-4 pieces. This time mine had a bone in it, so I only did 3 pieces, however typically I do 4. Either works!
- Heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 2 minutes to get it hot.
- Add the oil and then the pork pieces, browning on each side for 4-5 minutes, until there is a nice brown crust.
- Remove from the heat and add the beer, broth, onion, jalapeno, garlic, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt, lime juice, and orange juice.
- With tongs, give it a little stir to tuck the pork into the liquid and get the spices distributed.
- Cover with Dutch oven lid and place in the oven.
- Braise for 2 ½-3 hours. The pork meat should be super tender and easy to pull apart with a fork.
- Remove the pork from the liquid and place on a baking sheet. Using two forks, shred the pork.
- Scoop out the onion and jalapeños from the liquid and place the Dutch oven over medium heat, cooking for 15 minutes to reduce the liquid by about half.
- Turn the oven onto broil.
- Pour the liquid over the shredded pork, toss it to combine well, and then broil for 5-7 minutes. The meat should be crispy on top but still super tender.
- Serve in tacos, quesadillas, burritos, rice bowls, nachos, or however you like!
Notes
Storage - store leftover carnitas in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. To get the meat crispy again, you can broil it, or air fry it for a couple of minutes.
Serving Suggestions - this meat is amazing in tacos, quesadillas, burritos, burrito bowls, and nachos!
Nutrition
Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 981mg | Potassium: 644mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 508IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 3mg