These Authentic Dutch Oven Carnitas are fall-apart tender and juicy, then broiled until golden and crispy. With lots of citrus tones and authentic flavors, this Mexican pulled pork makes the best tacos, burritos, bowls, and more. Plus it’s an amazing make-ahead or freezer meal!
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How many drool emojis are appropriate in one sentence? Because today’s recipe deserves a lot of them! Authentic Dutch Oven Carnitas are the pinnacle of all shredded meat. It’s tender Mexican pulled pork that’s moist and juicy, yet delightfully crispy all at the same time. It’s at the very top of my all-time favorite meals!
If you have never made pork carnitas you are in for a real treat. Our recipe is a slightly adapted version of Cook’s Illustrated Carnitas. Just as a heads up, it's a bit of a time consuming recipe… But it’s simple to make and SO worth the effort.
🏅 Why this recipe is great
- It's DELICIOUS. You cook the pork low and slow until it’s fall-apart tender, then you pop it under the broiler until it’s golden and crispy. 🤤 It’s so good you’ll eat it straight off the pan!
- Pork butt is a relatively inexpensive cut of meat (especially when you can get it on sale). The price makes it great for feeding a crowd but still making something over-the-top delicious.
- Leftover pork carnitas are BOMB. And they freeze beautifully. So you can do the work once and make the tastyness last!
🧅 Ingredients
A full list of the ingredients is in the recipe card below, but here are a few noteworthy tips:
Pork butt: The best cut of meat for making carnitas is a boneless or bone-in pork butt. This cut of meat gets super tender when cooked on a low heat for a long time. The boneless is faster and easier to cut, but either will make equally flavorful, juicy pulled pork. These roasts come in a variety of sizes, so feel free to 1.5 or double the recipe if all you can find is a larger size.
Citrus: The key to great flavor in this recipe is to use real citrus. Don’t use juice from the carton… it just won’t taste the same.
🔪 How to make Dutch Oven Carnitas
- Trim and cut the meat: To start, trim the thick fat cap on the meat to ⅛ inch thick, leaving the rest of the fat. (Yes, it is very fatty… don’t worry, we are going to cook the extra fat off later). Next, remove the bone from the meat (here is a good video on how to cut the bone out). Last, cut the meat into 2-inch chunks.
- Add to dutch oven: Add the pork, water, onion, lime juice, orange juice, oregano, cumin, bay leaves, salt, and pepper to a 6.5 qt or larger dutch oven. Add the spent orange halves on top. (We use this Tramontina Dutch Oven and love it, but any will do).
- Simmer: Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Cook in the oven: Once simmering, cover pot with lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours, or until the meat is tender and falls apart when prodded with a fork. At the 1 hour mark remove the pot from the oven and flip the pieces of meat, bringing the pieces from the bottom to the top and vice versa.
- Reduce the sauce: Once tender, remove the meat from the pot and onto a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves. Then place the pot with the remaining juices on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, syrupy, and a rubber spatula leaves a trail when dragged across the bottom of the pot (about 15-25 minutes). You should have about 1 cup of liquid remaining.
- Shred the meat: While the sauce is reducing, use two forks to shred each chunk into 3 pieces (2 pieces if the chunk is small).
- Toss meat and liquids: Toss the shredded meat with the reduced liquids until the meat is well coated. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
- Broil: Line a sheet pan with foil, then place a wire rack on top of the sheet pan. Line the meat across the wire rack (it will take up most of the rack). Then place on the middle rack in the oven and broil for 4-7 minutes, or until the edges are golden and crispy but not burned. Flip the meat and broil again for 4-7 minutes.
🍽 How to serve
Dutch Oven Carnitas make some of the best tacos, burritos, and Mexican bowls you’ll ever have. They’re also really tasty on nachos, in chimichangas, and in loaded quesadillas. If you’re looking for some good sides, try serving them with this cilantro lime rice, pineapple lime rice, or these refried beans. Then add some of this Pineapple Habanero Salsa for a spicy kick.
👨👩👧👦 For a crowd
Carnitas freeze really well or can be made ahead and stored in the fridge. So that makes them EXCELLENT for serving a crowd. Just follow the make-ahead or freezer instructions below. Note that if you are making a double or triple recipe, you will need a larger pot or two pots (a 6.5 qt pot will fit a max of 1.5 recipes).
🙋 Questions and Answers
To adapt dutch oven carnitas for a crockpot, add the ingredients to the slow cooker instead, making sure to only add enough liquid to just cover the meat (it may be slightly more or less liquid than originally called for). Then cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until the meat shreds easily when prodded with a fork.
Discard the bay leaves, then remove the meat and shred it on a cutting board. To reduce the sauce, just pour the liquids from the slow cooker into a pot on the stove and simmer as directed in the recipe card. From this point, continue with the recipe as written.
Definitely! You can make these up to the point of broiling. Shred the meat, mix it with the reduced sauce, then store in a zipper bag or container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When ready to eat, spread the meat onto a wire rack as directed. Heat in a 350° oven until warm (about 10-20 minutes depending on how much you are reheating). Once warm, broil as directed to get the edges nice and crispy.
If you are taking the time to make pork carnitas, you might as well make extra and freeze it! Cook and shred the meat as directed, then reduce the sauce. Combine the shredded meat and sauce, but skip the broiling. Freeze the meat just like that for up to 3 months.
When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter until thaw. Spread on a wire rack as directed and heat in a 350° oven until warm (about 10-20 minutes depending on how much you are reheating). Once warm, broil as directed to get the edges crispy. Then serve and enjoy!
Leftover carnitas are my dream come true. They make amazing leftover tacos, bowls, quesadillas, or salads. Pro-tip for reheating: Warm them in a hot cast iron skillet to restore the crispy edges! Or warm in the microwave, then pop under the broiler for a few minutes. The golden crispy bits make it well worth the extra minute of heating time.
👨🏼🍳 Tips & Tricks
- Cut the cubes of meat into equal sizes. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but they should be similar so that they cook evenly.
- Pork butt rarely comes in exactly the right size… if yours is just a little too large, just add a sprinkle of extra spices and a bit more water until it covers the meat. It doesn’t have to be exact - this recipe is very forgiving!
- Make sure to cook the meat until it is truly tender. If it doesn't shred or start falling apart when prodded with a fork you need to cook it longer. Don’t worry, it is hard to overcook this meat.
📖 Other Mexican food recipes
- Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Fajitas have that restaurant-style char and amazing flavor!
- Our Grilled Taco Marinade makes chicken or steak that you’ll want to eat straight off the grill. The only taco marinade we use!
- This next-level Cooked Salsa has a deep Mexican flavor that you just can’t get without cooking it. So tasty!
👋🏻 Connect with us!
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and star rating to let us know how it is! We’d also love to connect with you on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Tag @borrowedbites or hashtag #borrowedbites to show us your food!
📋 Recipe
Authentic Dutch Oven Carnitas
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 (3.5-4 lb) boneless pork butt or 5-6 lb bone-in pork butt
- 2 cups water
- 1 onion peeled and halved
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 oranges juiced and spent halves saved
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper plus more to taste
Optional for Tacos
- 18 corn tortillas warmed
- Lime wedges
- Red onion diced
- Cilantro chopped
- Salsa of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°
- Trim and cut the meat: Trim the thick fat cap on the meat to ⅛ inch thick, leaving the rest of the fat. (Yes, it is very fatty… don’t worry, we are going to cook the extra fat off later). Remove the bone from the meat if needed, then cut the meat into 2-inch chunks.
- Add to Dutch Oven: Add the pork, water, onion, lime juice, orange juice, oregano, cumin, bay leaves, salt, and pepper to a 6.5 qt or larger dutch oven. Add the spent orange halves on top.
- Simmer: Place the pot on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Cook in the oven: Once simmering, cover pot with lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours, or until the meat is tender and falls apart when prodded with a fork. At the 1 hour mark remove the pot from the oven and flip the pieces of meat, bringing the pieces from the bottom to the top and vice versa.
- Reduce the sauce: Once tender, remove the meat from the pot and onto a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves. Then place the pot with the remaining juices on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, syrupy, and a rubber spatula leaves a trail when dragged across the bottom of the pot (about 15-25 minutes). You should have about 1 cup of liquid remaining.
- Shred the meat: While the sauce is reducing, use two forks to shred each chunk into 3 pieces (2 pieces if the chunk is small).
- Toss meat and liquids: Toss the shredded meat with the reduced liquids until the meat is well coated. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
- Broil: Line a sheet pan with foil, then place a wire rack on top of the sheet pan. Line the meat across the wire rack (it will take up most of the rack). Then place on the middle rack in the oven and broil for 4-7 minutes, or until the edges are golden and crispy but not burned. Flip the meat and broil again for 4-7 minutes.
- Serve: Serve while hot with warm tortillas and toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
- Cut the cubes of meat into equal sizes. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but they should be similar so that they cook evenly.
- Pork butt rarely comes in exactly the right size… if yours is just a little too large, just add a sprinkle of extra spices and a bit more water until it covers the meat. It doesn’t have to be exact - this recipe is very forgiving!
- Make sure to cook the meat until it is truly tender. If it doesn't shred or start falling apart when prodded with a fork you need to cook it longer. Don’t worry, it is hard to overcook this meat.
Add Your Own Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition information is provided by a third party and is an estimate only. Use your own nutritional calculator for more specific measurements.
Jennie says
Great carnita recipe! In addition to all the ingredients, added 3 smashed garlic cloves, 1.5 cinnamon sticks, and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Made this easy meal next level!
Danielle says
Thanks so much for letting us know! Sounds delicious!
Russell says
Hands-down the best-pulled pork recipe out there. I sub the sea salt for a smoked chipotle salt & tend to leave my pork in the brine overnight for cooking the next day. I've made this recipe countless times & everyone asks for the recipe. It is spot on.
Misty says
Thank you for taking the time to share! We're so happy you enjoy it. We make this one regularly and truly love it!
Cassie says
Looks delicious! How do you suggest I adapt the recipe for a 4 qt dutch oven?
Danielle says
I do not have much experience with a 4 qt dutch oven, but I imagine that you would need to cut the recipe in half. Other than that I think it should be pretty similar. Just watch the cooking times as those might vary a little bit. If you end up trying it we would love to hear about your experience. Hope that helps!