Homemade Carnitas
Instructions
These homemade Carnitas are my favorite dishes I use my Ninja Foodi, which I absolutely love and use for everything. Instead of traditionally cooking Carnitas by frying the pork in oil, I pressure cook the meat until it is tender and full of flavor, then finish it in a frying pan until it gets those delicious crispy edges. If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can cook in the oven for three hours at 350°. And follow the rest of the steps
5–6 pounds pork butt (pork shoulder), cut into large pieces
- Garlic powder, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 onion, chopped
- Fresh garlic, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- Water, enough for pressure cooking
- Beef or chicken bouillon, to taste
- Additional salt, as needed
1. Cut the Pork
- Cut the 5–6 pound pork butt into large pieces.
- I like to cut the pork into pieces rather than cooking the whole roast. This helps the meat cook more evenly and makes it easier to get tender, flavorful pieces when pressure cooking.
2. Sear the Pork
- Turn your Ninja Foodi to the Sear/Sauté setting.
- Place the pork pieces into the pot.
- Season generously with garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Sear the pork on all sides until it has a nice golden-brown color.
3. Pressure Cook
- Once the pork is nicely seared, switch the Ninja Foodi to Pressure Cook.
- Add:
- Chopped onion
- Chopped garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Water
- Beef or chicken bouillon
- A little additional salt, if needed
- Make sure there is enough liquid for the pressure cooker to come to pressure.
- Pressure cook on Low for 45 minutes.
I like using the low pressure setting because I don’t want to overcook the pork. I want it tender and juicy, but still full of texture and flavor.
4. Get Those Crispy Edges!
- Once the pressure cooking is finished, carefully release the pressure according to your Ninja Foodi’s instructions.
- Remove the pork from the cooking liquid.
- Save the cooking juices! This is where so much of the flavor is.
- Transfer the pork pieces to a large frying pan.
- Begin frying the pork over medium-high heat.
- As the pork starts to crisp up, add some of the reserved cooking juices to the pan.
- Continue cooking and turning the pork until it becomes golden, crispy, and delicious.
- Add more of the reserved juices and salt as needed while the Carnitas cook.
5. Serve & Enjoy!
Once your Carnitas are nice and crispy, they’re ready to serve!
I love serving them:
- 🌮 In tacos
- 🥖 On a torta
- 🌯 In burritos
- Or simply enjoying them straight from the pan!
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