This Pork Carnitas recipe is not that healthy, but boy, are they delicious. But, of course, it is not like we eat this every day, so a little bit of unhealthy does not hurt. Hello, cheat days!
Here are the ingredients and what I did. I hope that you enjoy it. You can pick up a large Dutch oven or a large pot for this recipe. I do not have a Dutch oven, so I made this in the largest pot I could find in the house.
Succulent Pork Carnitas
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil or less
- 4 pounds of pork shoulder
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt or less to your liking
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed or 1 teaspoon diced garlic
- 3 tablespoons of lime juice
- 1 tablespoon of chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne powder
- 4 to 6 cups of chicken broth
- 1 90-calorie can of Coke
Instructions
- First, you want to begin by heating the oil in a pot and cutting the pork shoulder/butt into several large pieces saving some of the fat. Season the pork with the salt and place in a pot, browning the sides for about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the fat pieces, onion, garlic, lime juice, chilli powder, oregano, cumin and cayenne. Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the Coke and reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until pork is very tender, for about 2 1/2 hours.
- When tender, take the pork out of the pot, mince it, place it in a dish and add juice from the pot to the dish. I added about 1 cup back to the shredded pieces.
- Now some people like to cook this after boiling. I think it was tender enough during the 2 1/2 hours, so I did not do this. If you would like to cool after boiling, I’d suggest heating the oven to 400 degrees, placing meat on a cookie sheet, and continually adding the juice for about 30 minutes.