How to Make the Best Pork Carnitas



Test cook Christie Morrison and host Julia Collin Davison make mouthwatering Pork Carnitas.

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43 Comments

  1. I have made this recipe 7 times now exactly as you showed using the same pot, cut of pork and seasoning and at NO point do my carnitas ever brown that good. You have obviously left out a step that browns them that nicely !!! Once the carnitas are cooked I drain 3/4 of the lard and place the pot back under the broiler to achieve the browning.

  2. Ok … so where is the huge bone that comes with a normal piece of pork shoulder? That bone is a major pain to extract, unless you extract it after cooking (which clearly you're not doing). Seriously … anybody got an answer?

  3. I have made this with jalapeño, Serrano, jalapeño and Serrano. Yum! Am now making with fresh tomatillos grilled on a charcoal grill along with a hatch chillies also grilled. I love cooking outside the lines.

  4. If you are ever near a "Laredo Taco Company", try the spicy carnitas! Some cooks dry them out too much, but they are served on a tortilla after being fried in lard and covered with sautéed jalapeños, plus whatever you want from the topping bar. 😋

  5. This looks delicious but enough with the cilantro. 40 years ago I had tex-mex or american mexican food and never heard of the stuff. For 20 years I would eat at various places or make dishes at home and never once heard of the stuff. Then in the late 90s/early 2000s everyone had to use cilantro in every recipe. There is cilantro in the salsa, why do you need more on top? Cilantro is a strong flavor that means you need to use less of it. Its like people who like hot sauce on every thing. Then you realize "oh, they like the hot sauce more than the flavor of the food they are eating".

    Then there is the issue that about 20 to 25% of people think cilantro tastes like soap. I don't have that. I kind of like it. As in there being nice undertones of it in a dish. Not the main player. Enough, please.

  6. You don't have to deep fry the pork in lard. You can cut it into cubes, toss it in spices and olive oil and roast it covered at 325 degrees for about 3 hours at 275. Then remove the foil and broil for a few minutes. Stir it and broil for another few minutes. It's takes longer but it's far more healthy and just as good.

  7. I tried this recipe! It was…meh. Potk was mostly tender. Very rich. Really felt flat though. It was just pork. No depth, no interesting flavor notes. The Tomatillo salsa was excellent and very necessary to give the pork interest. I used fresh tomatillos, not canned. I will make the salsa again but will go back to other recipes for the pork.

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