Easy Pork Carnitas Tacos

October 26, 2020 • 0 comments

This dish makes wonderful tacos in a different way than you may be familiar with. A 4-5 pound bone in roast should easily provide a family of five with enough meat for two meals with tacos. It is a great way to stretch that food dollar out and have left overs. It is also a healthy meal with no processed foods, lots of fresh vegetables, and is very easy to prepare and flexible. We use a cast iron, Dutch oven, but you can also use a slow cooker and instant pot. We added some instructions below to adapt it.

Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 5 hours
Servings: 20+

Ingredients

Boston Butt
(1/4 cup) Chili Powder
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
(1/4 cup) Cumin
(2-6 cloves) Garlic
(2-4 large onions) Onion
(2-4 sweet bell, hot peppers, or mix them) Peppers
Taco Shells or Tortillas
Lettuce
Shredded Cheese
Tomatoes
(1-3) Avocado

Directions

Carnitas Instructions

1. Cut onions and peppers and place them in the bottom of a lidded pot (I use a cast iron dutch oven)
2.     Smash garlic and put it in the cooking pot
3.     Season the pork roast with salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin. It is difficult to put too much seasoning on the roast. (Feel free to experiment with different seasonings!)
4.     Place the roast on the vegetables in the Dutch oven. If the roast has a fat cap on it (Boston butt), the fat cap should be up. Cover and bake in the oven at 275 degrees for 4 hours or until tender. You should be able to separate the muscle fibers with a fork.
5.     (Optional) To crisp and carmelize the outside edges of the roast, remove the lid and bake at 400 degrees for another 20-30 minutes.
6.     Let the roast rest for a few minutes, then pull the fibers of the roast apart with two forks.
7.     Place the pulled pork back in the pot with the onions, garlic, and vegetables. There will be liquid from the onions and the roast in the vegetables. Mix it all well.
8.     The meat is ready to go on tacos. It can also be used on a variety of other southwest dishes.

Use the meat as you would with regular, seasoned meat for tacos. Here are some suggestions for tacos, but feel free to use your own here.

Tacos Instructions

1.     Was and cut lettuce into small pieces or strips.
2.     Shred Cheese
3.     Peel and pit the avacoda. You can make quacamole with it or slice thing pieces to go on tacos
4.     Dice tomatoes and any other vegetables that you want to use
5.     Prepare taco shells or tortillas per instructions on package
6.     Place the meat, lettuce, cheese, avacodo, and other vegetables on the tacos and enjoy!
7.     Alternatively, you can make a taco salad with tortillas chips and these same ingredients.

Alternative Instrutions for Preparing the Roast

1.     Slow Cooker: Prepare the onions, garlic, and peppers as suggested. Place in bottom of slow cooker with a ¼ of water. Season the roast as instructed above. Place roast on vegetables. Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high. If you want, you can pull the pork apart with forks and place it on a pan and broil it in the oven to crisp the outside edges of the meat. Once the meat is pulled apart mix with liquid and vegetables in the bottom of the crock pot.
2.     Instant Pot: Follow instructions above placing vegetable in the bottom of the pot. Add a cup of water. Place meat in the instant pot. Pressure cook on high for 60-90 minutes. Pull the pork apart with two forks. Brown in oven if you wish. Mix with liquid and vegetable in the bottom of the instant pot.

by Rob Dowdle