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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 (505g) Recipe makes 6 servings
Calories 814
Calories from Fat 560		(68%)
Amount Per Serving		%DV
	Total Fat 62.3g	95%
	Saturated Fat 21.5g	107%
	Monounsaturated Fat 27.7g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 6.8g
	Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 214mg		71%
Sodium 718mg		29%
Potassium 1112mg		31%
Total Carbohydrate 5.7g		1%
	Dietary Fiber 0.7g	2%
	Sugars 2.1g
Protein 54.5g		108%
detailed view... how is this calculated?

Carnitas (Authentic)

Recipe #127058 | 5¼ hours | 15 min prep | add private note

⁽¹⁷⁾ RATE IT NOW Print Recipe

By: babygirl65
Jun 22, 2005

Carnitas is a very famous Mexican dish. It does involve a lot of cooking time, so I make it when I have time. Serve with fresh homemade corn tortillas, guacamole, cheese and pico de gallo with cilantro.....yum.

SERVES 6 -8 (change servings and units)

Ingredients

4 lbs boneless pork shoulder
2 (16 ounce) cans chicken broth
5-6 garlic cloves, grounded in a mortar
1 tablespoon cumin seed, ground in a mortar
2 onions, quartered
1/2 bunch cilantro

Directions

1
Cut pork meat into chunks and discard the big pieces of fat. (I leave some fat as it adds flavor).
2
Add pork chunks, broth, garlic*, comino*, onion* and cilantro* to a dutch oven. If necessary, add water so that the meat is covered.
3
Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 3 -4 hours or until meat is very soft and pulls apart easily. (Be careful not to shred meat, needs to stay in chunks).
4
Remove the meat carefully from pot and place in a roasting pan. Discard onion and broth. Break the meat apart into smaller chunks (don't shred, it needs to stay in chunks).
5
Bake in the oven at 450°F for about 20 minutes or until the meat is brown and crispy.
6
Heat (or make homemade) corn tortillas, serve with desired toppings.
7
(You may have to adjust garlic, comino, onion and cilantro to your liking, everyone's taste is different. You can add salt and pepper if you like too, I use Nature's seasonings, personal preference).

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Featured Reviews for This Recipe

From: Corn Maiden

On Nov 12, 2009

This turned out great! On Diners, Drive-ins and Dives a Mexican restaurant made carnitas with evaporated milk. So I used 2 cans of evaporated mik seasoned with chicken bouillon instead of the broth. I put everything in the crock-pot for 9 hours, then I crisped it up in the oven according to the recipe. I drained the broth and reduced it down to a thick gravy, brushed it on the browned meat and let it bake a little longer. It was crispy on the outside and very tender on the inside. Next time I will add a jalapeno pepper and touch of allspice. We had three different meals during the week. One with rice, beans, flour tortillas and fresh salsa. We had carnitas soft tacos and also carintas burritos served enchilada style. Will be making this again!

0 people found this review helpful

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From: MarkB in Palm Desert

On Jul 9, 2009

outstanding and delicious!

1 person found this review helpful

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From: Chef #531353

On Nov 14, 2007

I made this without making sure I had the proper ingredients. I did not have enough chicken stock and I was worried about losing flavor, so I researched some of the other carnitas recipes on this website and I found one that had you add orange juice and orange zest. I added 1/3 c. orange juice and 2 TBS orange zest to the stock. It did not taste orangey at all but it did taste delicious. On day 2 I threw the meat in a fry pan with some rice and extra cilantro. It was even better day 2.

3 people found this review helpful

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From: Chef #1250728

On Apr 26, 2009

This is very good, although not really authentic (not fried in lard). It is healthier, though. I put all the ingredients in a crock-pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. When I'm ready to brown it in the oven, I pour green chile enchilada sauce over the meat prior to baking. It's not as dry this way. Leftovers are excellent!

2 people found this review helpful

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