Pork carnitas

My family loves Mexican-inspired food, and you know me, I’m all about simple and slow-cooking. These pork carnitas are another simple meal for Mama to prepare that fills the house with delicious aromas and makes for excellent leftovers that can be reinvented throughout the week. Usually I serve the carnitas over rice or we make homemade tortillas and guacamole for carnitas tacos – this is how my kids love them best. But, when Hubby wants something a little out of the box, I’ll make him carnitas nachos with all the works, go chilaquile-style by warming up the pork in a pan with crunchy tortilla strips and topping it with a fried egg, or even adding the pork to pre-packaged ramen along with a swirled egg for a really indulgent late-night snack. The possibilities are endless with these carnitas!

I use either bone-in or boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, whatever is on sale at the store. Slow-cooking is best with larger roasts, plus you might as well make a large batch so you can get creative with the leftovers as I previously mentioned. Additionally, these carnitas freeze so well, so if you’re only cooking for two or a small crowd, you can freeze the rest for another meal another day.

What makes carnitas different from other Mexican-inspired meats? It’s the unique combination of fresh orange, fresh lime, and warming aromatic spices. I season my pork roasts with lots of salt (pork tends to be a rather boring blank canvas), chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, garlic and onion (both fresh and powdered), smoked paprika, cilantro, jalapeno, scallions, and of course the fresh orange and lime. I add in the entire orange, including the peel, but for the lime, I just use the zest and juice, as the whole lime peel itself lends a bitter astringent taste to the dish that is rather unpleasant (I made this mistake once and will never do it again!). Some recipes call for tomatoes or tomato paste, but my family prefers this dish without tomatoes.

Pork Carnitas

4-5 lb. pork shoulder or pork butt, bone-in or boneless
1-2 fresh navel oranges
2 fresh limes, zest and juice
1 large onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
salt, to taste
3-4 Tbsp. chili powder
1-2 tsp. ground cumin
1-2 tsp. granulated onion
1-2 tsp. granulated garlic
2-3 tsp. smoked paprika
1-2 tsp. chipotle chili powder (omit if too spicy for your kids)
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced

In the bottom of a large crockpot, place the fresh onions, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, scallions, and lime zest and juice. Cut the oranges in half and squeeze in the juice then tear the peels with your hands and toss in the whole orange peels into the crockpot. Next, season the meat. Place the pork roast into the crockpot and season with all the spices, starting first with the salt. Be sure to coat the entire piece of meat thoroughly with each spice. Turn the crockpot setting to high and allow the roast to cook all day, or for at least 7-8 hours. Once the pork is done, it will be fork tender and be extremely easy to shred. Remove any bone if you used a bone-in piece of meat. Using two forks, gently shred the meat and mix it into all the juices and aromatics at the bottom. Serve with rice or tortillas and a green veggie.