Carnita Tacos

In this house, we do Taco Tuesday. Every Tuesday on my meal plan in either Taco’s or another Mexican cuisine inspired menu.

Do I claim to be authentic? No. But my recipes generally do the job to satisfy my family when that traditional Tuesday rolls around each week.

Here are my notes

THE MEAT

Carnita meat is pork, and it is traditionally a shoulder roast. A mama with a budget, I look for a different cut : Pork Loin Roast. I have two reasons:
1. A pork shoulder is going to create so much more meat than we need for one meal. And because I have a pre-planned 12 week meal plan, I’m probably not going to find a way to work in the leftovers for the rest of the week. A single pork loin roast is plenty of meat for us.
2.The pork loin roast at my grocery store comes in a two pack for about the same price as the shoulder roast. So I’ll use one for this meal and vacuum pack the second one for the freezer because in 12 short weeks, I’ll be making this recipe again and won’t have to buy another roast.

THE TORTILLAS

I honestly and not sure what kind of tortilla you are supposed to use for these traditionally. Maybe if someone out there knows you can leave a comment and tell me. Flour? Corn? I do know that they are a smaller tortilla, what we call ‘street taco’. In the photo: carb friendly tortillas from the grocery store (I have yet to master the art of making my own)

THE CITRUS

Over the years I have seen a lot of different recipe takes, usually orange, but sometimes lime. Most every recipe I’ve seen only calls for the juice. My preference: I use an orange. I’ll zest the entire peel and then peel the orange and separate the segments. I put both the zest and the segments into the pot. (compost the remaining part of the peel! It’s a great nitrogen source)

THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE

This dish could potentially be made in a crock pot, but to be perfectly honest with you I don’t use my crock pot much anymore. Maybe it just feels too 90s? I don’t know. I have been known to use the slow cook option on my Instant Pot a time or two, but, once I found the wonderful world of enamel coated dutch ovens….I’m hooked. My go to pot for almost every meal is either a 6 quart traditional dutch oven or my braiser. For this recipe, I actually use both. The dutch oven to slow cook the roast and the braised to braise that shredded meat into crispy perfection. A sheet pan will work nicely for the braising part if you prefer.

Meat Thermometer - I ALWAYS use a meat thermometer when I cook pork or chicken. This is a practice that is very important to do every time. Meat thermometers don't have to be fancy. We do have a fancy one that has smart features and all that, but I also sometimes just grab the cheap one out of the drawer and it does the same job.

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Carnita Tacos

( 0 reviews )

Yield: 10 Tacos

Author: Nichole Gibson

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 3 HourInactive time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 5 H & 50 M

Slow and steady is the way to bring this easy dish to perfection. Your family will love it and your guests will rave - this is a meal you'll happily rotate in your meal plan

IngredientsUSMetric

• 1/4 cup oil for searing
• 4-6 pounds of pork shoulder roast
• salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 orange, zested, peeled and sectioned
• 1 TBS chili powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 6-8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• Tortillas for serving

Instructions Fahrenheit Celsius

1. Cut the pork roast into large but manageable chunks. Season all sides with salt and pepper. Set aside
2. Prep the onion and garlic. Zest the entire orange, remove the remaining peel and separate the segments of the orange. Measure the spices.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy 6 quart dutch oven
4. Sear all sides of each roast chunks. Do this in sections if you need to. When all of the meat has been seared on each side, return each piece to the pot. and turn the heat down to a medium low heat
5. Add the onion, garlic, orange segments, spices, stock and then orange zest into the pot.
6. Bring the pot to a low boil, then reduce the heat to cook on low for 2 to 21/2 hours or until the center of the chunks reach 145 degrees F
7. Remove the roast pieces from the pot with tongs or a large slotted spoon. Let them rest on a cutting board until they are cool enough to handle.
8. Preheat the oven to 400F
9. Shred the meat with two forks and spread the meat out on a large baking sheet. Drizzle 1 cup of the cooking stock over the meat.
10. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Add another cup of the cooking stock over the meat and cook an additional 10 minutes.
11. When the edges are crispy is ready to serve and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Calories

282.92

Fat

15.88

Sat. Fat

3.95

Carbs

6.06

Fiber

0.82

Net carbs

5.25

Sugar

2.22

Protein

27.67

Sodium

818.69

Cholesterol

92.69

of course this information will vary depending on your type of ingredients. This is only an average of basic ingredients.

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carnita meat, pork, tacos, mexican, taco tuesday

dinner

Mexican