This is the 4th recipe of Mexican Recipe Week, so far I’ve shared recipes for:
Today’s recipe is Carnitas.
Carnitas is basically just shredded pork that is seasoned in a carnitas flavor – it is also traditionally roasted at the end to get a carmelized edge to the meat along with being tender, but I do mine in the crock pot.
Once the meat is made, you can use it as the base for almost anything. Some options to consider include:
- Burrito
- Crunchy taco shells
- Tostadas
- Salad
I personally used the carnitas meat this past week to make a Mexican salad and it was delicious! The photo doesn’t do it justice. Basically just top lettuce with the carnitas meat, then add cheese, sour cream, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. No dressing ~ the juice from the meat is plenty.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of pork
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust for personal preference)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 lime
- 1 can of beer (or chicken broth if you don’t want to cook with alcohol)
- salt
Directions:
- Mix all of the ingredients (except the pork) together in the crock pot.
- Add the pork – try to get it spread around so most of the pork is submerged, cut into smaller portions if necessary.
- Cook on high for 6 to 8 hours (or longer) until meat is tender.
- Use two forks to shred the pork in the crock pot and then let it cook about another hour so the flavor gets on all the meat.
- Most of the water should be absorbed by the end.
Serve and Enjoy!
What’s your favorite pork recipe?
[...] Friday: Carnitas [...]