Looking for a melt-in-your-mouth and make-you-moan-from-joy dish for your Cinco de Mayo party? Look no further – Pork Carnitas all the way baby! But, you need to plan to make this traditional Mexican dish of “little meats.” It will take all day to cook. The good news is you can eat them (and will want to) for days!

With a little help from my main man, we cooked our yummy pieces of shredded and charred beef in the oven. But, feel free to use a slow cooker. Either way, if you are serving them taco-style at a party, you’ll want to transfer to a slow-cooker or warming dish so guests can plop the savory and tender meat onto tacos and garnish with whatever toppings they want!

Planning a sit-down dinner? Serve with Mexican rice and perhaps roasted zucchini. Or prepare the tacos on a large serving tray and eat family-style at the dining room table.

We paired these lovingly made pork carnitas tacos with Casa Noble’s Reposado Tequila. Mia Andreoli crafted one pretty little margarita – The Rested Honeysuckle. Now, that’s a drink!

Ingredients

  • 4 Pounds pork shoulder
  • 1 Tablespoon dried cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 Tablespoon paprika
  • 2 Tablespoons sea salt
  • 1 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • Tablespoon of olive
  • 2 Tablespoons pork fat (finally, something to do with your bacon fat!)
  • 1 Chopped onion
  • 1 Chopped jalapeno with the seeds removed
  • 6 garlic minced garlic cloves
  • Juice from 2 limes
  • 1/4 cup of chicken broth
  • Corn Tortillas

FOR GARNISH – Cotija cheese, pickled onions, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro

Ingredients

  1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. In a dutch oven pan, combine all seasoning, add pork and roll those babies around so they get nice and coated.
  3. Add bacon fat and olive oil. Mix well.
  4. Put the meat on the stove burner and brown in the Dutch oven for about 5 minutes.
  5. Chop jalapenos, onions, and garlic and add to the mix!
  6. Cook for a few minutes making sure that everything mixes nicely.
  7. Cover your pot and put into the oven for 6 to 8 hours depending on your oven’s ambitiousness, as well as the thickness of the pork. The pork SHOULD NOT be fully submerged in juice.
  8. Take the pork out of the pot and shred it.
  9. Save the juice! If needed, add chicken broth.
  10. Turn the oven to broil.
  11. Put the pork in a shallow pan and back into the oven.
  12. Every 3-5 minutes add a little juice and stir meat. Put back under the broiler.
  13. Do this until a good portion of the meat has a few crispy edges.

Now you are ready for this labor of love! Enjoy with straight reposado or Mia’s beautiful margarita! Feel free to have fun with the garnishes – radishes, pickled garlic. Use whatever makes you happy.