whole30 carnitas

Crispy pork carnitas that are absolutely delicious! They’re made with a few simple ingredients and can easily be made in a dutch oven or your slow cooker. The perfect recipe to make when you need to hit the easy button on dinner. This healthy recipe is also Paleo, Keto, and Whole30 compliant!

Crispy Pork Carnitas

AVOCADO OIL

pork shoulder,

garlic

bay leaves

CHICKEN BROTH

orange juice

lime juice

white onion

CUMIN

DRIED OREGANO

PAPRIKA

PINK HIMALAYAN SEA SALT

tsp RED PEPPER FLAKES (optional)

Heat a dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat. While the dutch oven is heating, sprinkle the pork pieces liberally with salt. Once the dutch oven is hot, add in a tablespoon of avocado oil and then add the pork. Sear for 4-5 minutes on each side until browned.

Add the garlic, onion, orange juice, lime juice, chicken broth, salt, bay leaves, and spices to the pot. Stir until well combined, cover with a lid, and the braise for 3 hours at 300 degrees.

If you are using a slow cooker, once the pork has been seared, remove it from the pan and add it to the slow cooker. Next, add the remaining ingredients and cook the carnitas on high for 4-6 hours or until the meat is fork tender.

Once the pork is tender and shreddable, remove it from your dutch oven or slow cooker and transfer the meat to a sheet pan. Use two forks to shred the meat and then pour the remaining braising liquid back over the meat. Broil the carnitas in the oven on high until browned and crispy. Serve and enjoy!

Looooooooved these!! I actually cooked the pork in an instant pot, but followed the other instructions and W. O. W. SOOO yummy! Huge hit in our house—this is going to be added to our regular rotation.

Soooooooooooo easy and delicious! Anything that can be a taco is my weakness, and this hit the spot. Good balance of flavors. Definitely making this again!

I was really intimidated by the idea of making carnitas, but these were so easy! Definitely worth the time. I made carnitas tacos and the whole family devoured them.

You did it again! Simple ingredients that come together to make an amazing dish! These carnitas are perfection.

I am a seasoned cook but always thought carnitas was laborious. I was wrong. This is such a easy recipe. I will say - check your meat 1.5 hours into the cook time. Mine was cooked through and am glad I checked. I didn’t want it to be dry. The sauce is so flavorful and the recommendation to broil should NOT be skipped. I love that Ashlea gives recommendations on how to serve too. I had this as taco bowls with rice and avocado. A quick tip - use your stand mixer with paddle attachment to shred this quickly! A must make!! 😋

Wow. I made these tonight for my boyfriend and I, and we can’t stop raving about them! I’m eating them over greens and I don’t miss the taco at all. They are super flavorful, and just the right amount of spicy for our tastes. Highly recommend taking out the onions and garlic and shredding those into the meat as well. We will definitely be making this again!

This is the best carnitas recipe! We had 10 pounds of pork shoulder and thought we would have leftovers to freeze.  Our family was staying with us and we ended up eating it all in two days! Can’t wait to make it again soon.

Delicious and easy! I’ve never made carnitas at home but my husband asked for this to be in our monthly rotation. Even my 2 year old wanted more. 

Super easy to make in the Dutch Oven and loved the broiler technique at the end to crisp it up a bit! 

I made a pineapple pico to go with our tacos and it paired great!

This recipe is delicious! If I am to double it (5 lb pork shoulder) how long should I cook for?

Another P E R F E C T recipe! Family absolutely loved it. Paired it with an avocado, tomato, cilantro, cucumber &amp; corn salad. SO good!!!   One question, the ingredients do not include bay leaf, but #3 in the directions does. I added one just to keep with the directions.  This is the 3rd recipe this week that I've made from Ashlea and every single one was delicious!! Thank you!!!

This recipe is delicious!! Our family loves it. My husband is from Chiapas, Mexico and he sat down to dinner the other night, took a bite, and instantly asked me how I knew how to prepare it so well. Ha! He loved it! So do I!

Yum! The flavor is delicious and broiling it was such a great tip I’d never thought to do before! Will definitely make this again!!

These are so good, and easy! I doubled the recipe since my roast was 6lbs, but also had a bone in. I also used the crockpot since I only have a small duty oven. It was perfect!

It was love at first sight when I saw these on Instagram. Wow, they’re incredible. I can’t believe I waited this long to make them. So flavorful it’s hard not to just eat them off the pan. I made mine into a burrito bowl. Definitely filing this one!

This recipe was delicious and makes a huge batch so it's perfect for lunches the rest of the week (or even with eggs for breakfast :)) Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Ashlea!!

OBSESSED!! I’ve made these 3 times each time they turned out perfect. So tender and easy and so. Much. Flavor. Highly recommend this recipe!

These are incredible! We’ve made them a few times now and the only tweaks I made were (1) dry brining the pork the day before cooking, (2) adding jalapeños in with the onions and (3) using my immersion blender to purée the onions and jalapeños into the juice &amp; cooking it down a liiiitle bit before adding to the meat to broil. Honestly it’s just personal preference—this recipe is GREAT as is. DONT SKIP THE BROILING!! It’s a game changer!

Oh my gosh this recipe is just delicious! We have made it so many times now and also used short ribs in place of pork a couple times. It works both ways and is just so tasty. We usually throw in a small can of green chiles as well just because we love them. Ashlea’s recipes have been a total game changer at our house! Thank you for everything you post and the hard work you put into your brand and business! Can’t wait to see what the New Year brings!

Y'all, these carnitas are SO good!! I've made them at least once a month since I found this recipe. So simple, delicious, and makes amazing leftovers too! After living in San Diego, I'm kind of a carnitas snob and these are IT! Juicy and crispy, what's not to love?!

These carnitas are so good! Before this recipe I had never made carnitas. Now, this is one of my go-to recipes either for dinner or to meal prep for a week of lunches. So yummy!

This. Is. Delicious. Made it today and it will be in regular rotation! The kids devoured!

These carnitas are delicious and easy to make! I actually used an instant pot and just pressure cooked the meat for about 40 minutes, it turned out great. I would definitely recommend trying these!

Simply the BEST carnitas I have ever made. Highly recommend the Dutch oven to really caramelize everything and send these flavors through the roof. Make sure you save the onions and mix them into your shredded meat - it’s just crazy how delicious this is! I will never need another carnitas recipe again, this is a keeper!

Thanks so much for this! First timer and it was so good. Broiling at the end a must. We made way too much so wondering if it can be frozen?

This recipe is amazing!!! It turned out so tender and flavorful; my family devoured it! We ate it with the cilantro lime rice and they were an awesome combo!

Wow this was amazing!! Pork has always seemed overwhelming to me- but this recipe was so easy and wonderful! I used a bone in pork butt and it was about double the size you called for so I doubled everything. This will definitely be on repeat in our house! I also can’t wait to eat the leftovers all week!

These are soooo good and so easy to make! This was the first recipe I tried from the site and I can’t wait to try more.

These are so flavorful and simple to make. My whole family loved these!

This dish is one of my all time favourite!
I find it extremely hard not to pile my plate high and not share with my family 🙈
It’s the best way to cook pork.... flavoursome, tender and everyone LOVES it ❤️

This has become a trusted go to and what I love is that we can do SO many things with the end product: spice it up for tacos or bowls, add some bbq sauce to it so much. The meat is flavorful and delicious.  It never disappoints!

Thank you for this delicious recipe!  I was just wondering if I should have drained some of the fat after browning the pork chunks.  There was quite a bit of fat in the braising liquid.  Also, I couldn’t quite crisp the pork under broiler...should I have only put some (not all) of the braising liquid on top of the shredded pork before broiling?  Please let me know what you think

Wow! These were fantastic! I loved how tender the meat turned out. Flavors, we're on point and I have leftovers too! Thank you 💛

Followed the recipe exactly as written. DELICIOUS!  I made mine in the oven. Used in enchiladas for the kids and ate it as is with vegetables for me and my husband.

Made for taco night.  My grandson loved them so much he had 4 tacos and leftovers for lunch today!   Thanks for the great recipe

Wow! I usually don't write reviews but I am sitting here, trying steaming hot carnitas straight out of the oven on a quick quesadilla and my mouth is watering. This is so good! And surprisingly easy! I have never made carnitas from scratch and assumed it would be a lot of work, but this was the easiest recipe! I followed the recipe exactly (except for adding a touch more seasoning when I seared the pork). The only recommendation I have would be to include what to do with the onion (cut into large chunks) and garlic (smash and leave whole) in the instructions. I had to scroll down to the comments to find and also referenced the picture to make sure I was doing this right. Will definitely be following your advice to have with eggs and on salad...if it even lasts that long to meal prep with. 5 stars!

A great recipe that is both easy and so much flavor. I loved the crispy bits from broiling. Will be going in the permanent rotation. The flavor combo in the marinade is just perfect for the pork.

This recipe is so great! We added BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches and it was a big hit with the whole family! Kids loved it and even my husband who normally doesn't like shredded meat said it was great and I needed to make it again!

Now I understand why everyone LOVES this recipe! So good, and so so easy to prepare! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing staple recipe, Ashley!!

Amazing recipe!!! Meat was so tender in less than four hours and full of amazing flavor. I am obsessed with this recipe and have been telling all of my friends about it! So so SO good.

Absolutely delicious &amp; bursting with flavor. The pork done in the Dutch oven is so unbelievably tender, it just melts in your mouth. New favorite!

This recipe was SO easy and delicious. DO NOT skip the broiling step - it truly makes this a 5+ star dish. Thank you Ashlea!

LOVE this recipe!!! It has become a staple in our household. It is just so easy and delicious, we literally make it almost every other week! Makes plenty for several meals so is a wonderful meal prep option

These Pork Carnitas have been made multiple times at my house. I cook them in the slow cooker and then broil them as recommended. We LOVE them in tacos, burrito bowls and simple nachos with fresh pico de gallo.

Made these for dinner last night and I think my husband wanted to marry me all over again. Haha! Seriously delicious and made enough for the two of us to be set for dinner tonight too. We did spanish rice with a salad last night, and tonight we are going to use it in a carnita bowl! 

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I love how the flavors all mingle after slow cooking for 5 hours!

These carnitas are soooo amazing! This is a go-to recipe in our house. I have loved every recipe I've ever tried of yours, but I'd say this one is at the top of the list!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/TGRDk8Xa.mp4

These Paleo and Whole30 Instant Pot shredded pork carnitas are super tender, juicy and flavorful! Plus, we have 25 other Paleo Instant Pot recipes including dinner recipes, soups and side dishes!

Paleo Instant Pot Recipes: Carnitas

lbs pork shoulder

onion,

garlic,

orange juice ((about 2 oranges))

lime juice ((about 2 limes))

tbsp cumin

tbsp chili powder

oregano

tsp salt

chipotle powder

tbsp ghee ((or other cooking oil))

romaine lettuce ((or sub Siete Tortillas

cilantro

avocado

jalapenos, sliced

lime wedges

Cut pork into cubes and set aside. Prep onion and garlic as noted.

Combine orange juice, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and chipotle powder in a bowl or jar and mix well.

Press the sauté button on the instant pot and add ghee. Once hot, add in the pork and brown it on all sides. Press cancel on the instant pot once the pork is browned.

Pour the juice/seasoning mixture all over the pork cubes and add in the diced onion and garlic.

Secure the lid on the instant pot and close the pressure valve. Press the "manual" button (or "pressure cook" button) and set the time to cook for 30 minutes at high pressure. Once the time is up, let the pressure naturally release on its own for 20 minutes.

Manually release any remaining pressure and remove the lid. Shred the pork with two forks.

Serve carnitas in lettuce wedges or tortillas with your favorite toppings.

For the Instant Pot

Follow the first 2 steps in the recipe above. Then, heat a pan on the stove over medium heat and add ghee. Once hot, add in the pork and brown it on all sides.

Once the pork is browned, add it to the slow cooker. Pour the juice/seasoning mixture all over the pork cubes and add in the diced onion and garlic.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Shred the pork with two forks. Serve carnitas in lettuce wedges or tortillas with your favorite toppings.

For the Slow Cooker

Set your oven to broil.

After shredding the pork, use a slotted spoon to remove the pork and onions from the instant pot and place on a large sheet pan. Spoon some of the juices from the instant pot over the top of the pork in the sheet pan.

Place in the oven to broil for 6-8 minutes, until the pork begins to develop some brown and crispy edges. Watch carefully and cook to your preference.

Alternatively, you can simply transfer some of the pork to a skillet over medium heat and cook it until it's crispy, stirring occasionally. This method is easiest if you are re-heating the pork leftovers from the fridge.

Top 2 whole30 carnitas recipes from across the web

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Crispy Pork Carnitas

Paleo Instant Pot Recipes: Carnitas

Top 2 whole30 carnitas recipes from across the web

The most viewed whole30 carnitas recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Crispy Pork Carnitas

Paleo Instant Pot Recipes: Carnitas

The most viewed whole30 carnitas recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine