Recipe right at the top! Scroll down for tips.
Authentic California Carnitas recipe:
Authentic California Carnitas
If you don't have 10 lbs of lard, this is THE authentic California Carnitas recipe you need!
Ingredients
- 4 lbs pork shoulder bone in, or boneless
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 orange cut in half
- 1 bulb garlic peel garlic cloves
- 4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coriander ground
- 2 tsp cumin ground
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano or 1/4 tsp oregano
Instructions
-
Cut the pork shoulder into 3x3 inch portions. If using bone-in pork shoulder, cook the bone-in portion with the boneless meat.
-
Add pork and all seasonings to a large baking pan with high sides (a half-pan foil pan works best, and you will not have to scrub it).
-
Cover with foil, and cook in a 200 degree oven for 13 hours.
-
Serve carnitas with browned tortillas, avocado sauce, cabbage, and lime.
Note to readers: I don’t use pop-up ads or video ads, I don’t do sponsored posts, and I don’t want your email! I do use affiliate links to run All Day Mom. For Amazon links, your price is the same and I receive a commission from Amazon on any items you purchase when you shop at Amazon through my link. For other affiliate links (banks, credit cards, Disney tickets, etc.), you get a nice bonus and I receive a commission.
Real California carnitas is prepared by cooking pork shoulder (pork butt—same thing) in lard, over an open fire. Most people do not have access to 10 lbs of lard, or a huge pot in which to cook the carnitas over an open fire. This is the best Authentic California Carnitas recipe you can cook in the oven.
- NO, you CANNOT cook authentic carnitas in a crockpot, or in an Instant Pot. No. That is just “ok” pulled pork that has no flavor or crispyness.
- NO, you CANNOT cook authentic carnitas using “pork loin”, “pork tenderloin”, “country pork ribs”, or any pork that has less fat than a pork shoulder/pork butt. Pork shoulder and pork butt are the same thing. You need the fat of the pork shoulder/pork butt to pull this recipe off.
- You CAN make authentic carnitas without cutting the pork into 3×3 portions. If you cook carnitas with a whole pork shoulder, it will take more time. Stick a fork in it after 12 hours, and every hour after that, until it melts.
- You CAN make authentic carnitas if all you have is a pork shoulder, or pork butt, and you don’t have oranges, garlic, bay leaves, coriander, cumin, or even salt—pork is pretty salty as-is, and the extra ingredients just add about 10% better flavor.
- The extra ingredients and cutting the pork butt into smaller squares simply intensifies the fantastic flavor, but they are not necessary.
- To make the absolutely BEST, AUTHENTIC, CALIFORNIA CARNITAS RECIPE:
- Grill the pork shoulder (cubed into 3×3 portions) on a charcoal grill. *The fatty side will flare up; so be a pro griller and do not grill the fatty side if the charcoal grill is above 300 degrees so you don’t burn your face off because you set the pork on fire. Move the pork shoulder to a foil pan after browning and cover it with foil, and put it off to the cool side of the charcoal grill, for at least two hours, or until the grill is cool. This will fake-smoke the pork shoulder and increase the tenderness. You will still need to move the pork to the oven.
- Move the pork shoulder to the oven, set at 200 degrees, for at least 11 hours, but probably 13 hours.
- The carnitas at this point will be crispy on the outside, and very tender on the inside. To serve, :
- Browned corn or flour tortillas, preferably homemade.
- Lime squeezes
- Shredded cabbage
- Avocado sauce
- This carnitas recipe also works for pulled pork with barbecue sauce:
- Add one bottle of barbecue sauce (about 12 oz) per 4 lbs pork shoulder.
- If you don’t have time to grill/fake smoke the pork shoulder, put it in the oven, covered with foil, for 13 hours. You will get the same result of moist, tender carnitas with crispy edges; you will not get the smoky flavor of the charcoal grill. BUT, carnitas is not about smoke, it’s about crispy edges and super-moist meat, so the oven is a perfectly fine replacement for a lard-filled giant pot over an open fire.