Naturally low carb, gluten-free, and paleo, these are the best carnitas I have ever tasted. And I didn’t mind testing this recipe over, and over, and over. It’s a delicious keto recipe.
Carnitas. Delicious little pieces of braised pork that are somehow both juicy and crisp at the same time. I’ve been working behind the scenes here at All Day I Dream About Food to perfect my own low carb carnitas recipe and I have to say, it’s pretty close to perfect. It’s so good, I actually start to salivate just thinking about it. And we made a huge batch of it to serve to my sister and her family a few days before Christmas. It was a hit with everyone from the 3 year old to the 43 year old. We served it as healthy paleo carnitas bowls, skipping the tortillas in favour of putting it over my Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice. If I had to eat that meal every day for the rest of my life, well I wouldn’t be unhappy about that!
I did a lot of research before venturing out on my own with carnitas. I wanted to stay true to the nature of carnitas by cooking it in lard but good pasture-raised lard is expensive stuff. So I settled on using a 1/4 cup of the good lard and a pork shoulder roast (pork butt) with a good fat cap on it, to get the unctuous juiciness I was looking for. (And once, when I couldn’t get my hands on any good lard, I used duck fat in its place. Worked perfectly!). In my research, I came across a lot of crock pot and slow cooker carnitas recipes, but I wanted to brown my meat a bit for maximum flavour, so I settled for the more traditional dutch oven. This really didn’t take any more effort than a slow cooker would, as I could brown the pork and braise it all in the same pot.
Many recipes had you cutting the meat into chunks before cooking. So much added work and really unnecessary, in my opinion. Cooking a whole roast at low heat for a long time with plenty of liquid results in such succulent tenderness, it practically falls apart as you touch it. Other recipes I came across also discarded all the wonderful juices after the pork was cooked, and I simply couldn’t bear to do that. I reduced the juices while the shredded pork was broiling, to make a thick, juicy sauce.
There are a zillion carnitas recipes out there and I am sure many of them are very good. Great, even. But this is my take on it and I have to say, I think it’s some of the best carnitas I’ve ever tasted. I hope you think so too.
Try serving this with a nice big bowl of classic coleslaw from Barefeet In The Kitchen.
Love keto pork recipes?
Be sure to check out my Keto Smothered Pork Chops and my Slow Cooker Southwestern Pork Stew
- 4 lb boneless pork butt the fattier the better!
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup pure lard or duck fat or even bacon grease
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 orange cut into quarters
- 1 lime cut into quarters
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- Additional salt and pepper to taste
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Preheat oven to 300F. Season pork butt all over with salt and pepper.
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In a large dutch oven, melt lard or duck fat over medium heat. Once hot, add pork roast and brown well on all sides.
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Add water to the bottom of the pan. Hand squeeze the juice of the orange sections and lime sections into the pan and add the rind as well. Add cumin, oregano, chipotle, and garlic. Bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer the pot to the oven.
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Let cook 5 hours, until pork is tender and can easily be pierced with a fork. Remove from the liquids onto a foil lined cookie sheet and let stand until cook enough to shred with your hands (some bigger pieces are okay).
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Spread pork out over cookie sheet and set under the broiler for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to get pork pieces nice and crisp.
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Meanwhile, remove orange and lime rinds from the liquids in the pot. Set over medium high heat and bring a boil. Cook until liquids are reduced by half. Add crispy pork back into the liquids and toss to combine. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
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Serve over cauliflower rice and top with your favourite fixings like cheese, guacamole, and cilantro.
Serves 8 to 10*. For 8 servings, each serving has 1.97 g NET CARBS.
*It can be more servings than this easily, if you pair it with cauli rice, guacamole, cheese, etc. A half serving with all the trimmings was quite enough for me.
Food energy: 672kcal
Total fat: 43.92g
Calories from fat: 395
Cholesterol: 225mg
Carbohydrate: 2.57g
Total dietary fiber: 0.60g
Protein: 57.12g
Lin says
Sounds amazing.,I can’t wait to make it!
Marcia says
sounds divine – think I will make this next week!
janet says
Carnitas is a favorite with us, and you must use lard to get the right flavor, well done!
Dorothy says
Sounds wonderful, can’t wait to try it!
Do you have the recipe for the cauliflower rice also?
Carolyn says
Cauli rice: http://asweetlife.org/recipes/cilantro-lime-cauliflower-rice/
Erin M. says
Will definitely be trying this out soon. My husband is a huge carnitas fan and would gladly eat it every day. I’ve tried many recipes over the years but nothing has been perfect so I’m looking forward to trying yours out!
Carolyn says
Hope you love it!
Kate says
I love carnitas, and this recipe looks fabulous ! I’m going to get the roast this weekend and try it out ! I’ve actually made your Cilantro-Lime Cauli-Rice before and it’s seriously great. It would be perfect with this as a topper. I’m drooling already, LOL.
Carolyn says
Let me know what you think!
Elaine Markley says
Looks great! It would also be wonderful as tacos!
Carolyn says
It would indeed!
Cindy says
Do you think you could skip the oven and do this in the crock pot if you don’t have a dutch oven?
Carolyn says
Yes, that should be fine. If you can brown the meat in a pan first, it will be better.
Isis says
My boyfriend’s mom is a big fan of carnitas. She mentioned it once, and up until that point I had never heard of the dish; so I asked (stupidly), “what’s a carnita?” LOL!
Denise S. says
I went off the beaten path and put all the ingredients you suggested (except I used coconut oil and banana pepper instead of a chipotle pepper) in a pressure cooker. At first I cooked it for 85 min. After trying it, it was still tough….so, I put the lid on and cooked it for another 60 minutes. After this, it was extremely tender with a great flavor of orange with just the right amount of heat. I really could put it under the broiler to get it to crisp a little. The meat is so tender and perfect. I’ve never heard of carnitas before and so glad I made it!
Bobbie says
What does one Chipotle pepper in adobo chopped mean?
Bobbie
Carolyn says
These are chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Take one out and chop it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00061DFEQ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00061DFEQ&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=PAEW5EPM2UA4V76V
Carol says
Great site! I want to try the carnitas soon and have printed it. But, in using the “Print” button, it didn’t come up “clean”. Is there a way to print without the extras? (e.g., the large blank space at top where it reads “advertisement”). I’d love a concise 1 or 2-page document as I’ve printed on some other sites; this one came up 3 pages. Have you heard of this issue before? Or is it me?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
I don’t print out my own recipes. Let me look into it. But there’s always cute and paste!
Carol says
thanks, carolyn! i tried to cut and paste but it pasted looking like code?????
Isis says
This recipe blew my mind. It was some of the absolute best pork I’ve ever eaten. In fact, it could possibly be the best pork I’ve EVER had. Served it with the Cilantro Lime Cauli-Rice as suggested. Beyond delicious!!! TRY THIS OUT, EVERYONE!!!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Christine | Mid-Life Croissant says
God that sounds incredible. Might be time to make carnitas!
R Franklin says
I made this shortly after you posted the recipe, but being the type to never ask where something is (I couldn’t figure out where they kept lard to save my life!) I went with bacon fat. It was delicious. Literally JUST finished making it a second time, but this time I used the lard (located in a non-refrigerated section of the market, where I would never have looked and found completely by accident) and the difference kind of out of this world. I mean it was good before but something magical is sitting on my stove and I had to let you know this one is yet another winner! Thanks so much for all you do!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them. Now I want to make them again…
Pam says
This sounds amazing!! Thank you. I just told my husband I found a recipe for carnitas. We are both so excited to try it. I love your blog. Thank you.
Carolyn says
Hope you love it!
Elaine Markley says
Could I substitute a dried chipotle that I’ve ground into a powder, or does the adobo add a different flavor? I have both.
Lori says
I made this last week and it was fabulous!! I can’t say enough about how delectable these carnitas were. My husband, who does not follow a low carb diet, also enjoyed them immensely. I made the Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice as a side dish and together with the carnitas it was a very delicious, satisfying meal. Thank you for this excellent recipe.
Samantha Hilliard says
Just made this…. Soooooo good! Made it in crock pot and used bacon grease instead of lard. Thank you for making my first attempt at carnitas so easy!
Ava says
Is this to spisy from the pepper or can you taste the orange/lime to much ? I have 5 kids can’t make it to spicy and my husband would not like the orange taste… So I can’t make all this meat and noone eats it ! ? So how is the taste ladies?
Carolyn says
It’s not spicy at all. You can leave out the orange if you like. Use more lime instead.
joanna schupp says
I made this yesterday and followed the directions to a T. Sadly, 5 hours was too long and my dutch oven was black when I opened it. The pork was okay but the surrounding ingredients were completely charred to the pot. So if you value your cookware, check after 3-4 hours!!
Carolyn says
I think it has more to do with the seal of your cookware lid. If it isn’t closed well and the liquid evaporates, yes that’s going to happen. But I’ve never had that complaint from any other reader so I suspect it’s your cookware or your oven.
joanna schupp says
The liquid did evaporate!! Thanks for the tip. I didn’t realize it was my cookware. This is one of those big red dutch ovens from Kohl’s. Not sure how good the quality is to be honest. I want to make this recipe again so my plan was to add more water this time but I might just need to cover my pot with foil instead.
Amber Weber says
Yum! About to make this for the second time for my friend (who just had a baby) and her family. <3
Jennifer Farley says
This is tomorrow’s dinner for sure!
gerry speirs says
Looks like perfection!!
Jennifer Blake says
Low and slow is always a winner… and fat = flavor… we all need a little of this in our lives!
Erin says
These are so tender and good. Carnitas are always a favorite when I make them!
Korene says
Could this be made with a bone in shoulder? Or would that change the cook time?
I usually make mine in a pressure cooker all chopped up, but you make this look & sound so good, I want to try your method!
Thanks
Carolyn says
It can but you will need to give it more time. At least 5 minutes, I would say. Then check the internal temp and cook longer if needed.
Gretchen says
I made this tonight with a 5lb bone in pork shoulder. Cooked it 6 hours on high. Cooked perfectly! However we could taste the bitterness from the orange and lime rinds. Next time I will just use the juice.
Niki says
Hi, once I sear the meat in an iron skillet, Can I transfer it into a slow cooker? How long will that have to cook for ? Asking coz I don’t have a Dutch oven and would like to put my slow cooker to good use!
Carolyn says
Hi Niki…you totally can and it should be slow cooked on low for 6 to 8 hours. If you can stick a fork easily into it and start shredding it, you’re good to go. But don’t skip the searing step, it really gives it the best flavor.
Ben says
I followed this recipe exactly.
After I pulled the pork out of the broiler, it was PERFECT. About the best carnitas I’ve ever had. Then I put them back into he Dutch oven with the sauce and the sauce completely ruined the meat. I think the chipotle had too much flavor. I tried everything to mask the flavor and I was unsuccessful. We couldn’t handle the after taste and we tossed it out.
I’m looking forward to trying this one more time. The Dutch oven is awesome.
Carolyn says
It might not be the chipotle… if your orange peel is really bitter (some are) that can affect the sauce too.