Carnitas - In an Instant Pot

Hey Chile-Heads! Today I’m sharing with you my carnitas recipe. Carnitas is one of my favorite meals, but they can take all day to cook (that’s a long time to wait sometimes!). Today’s recipe was inspired by just that school of thought: I’m going to show you how to cook the carnitas in the instant pot on high pressure. Cooking the carnitas this way turns the meat tender in half the time it would using the oven or a crockpot. After the meat cooks in the instant pot, we’ll brown the meat in rendered pork fat; this is the key to getting that delicious carnitas flavor. We serve this up with some yummy guacamole, signature salsa and salsa verde. You can serve these carnitas taco style, as a bowl, or as a burrito – the possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Carnitas - In the Instant Pot

Ingredients: 

2 lbs. pork shoulder roast

1 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

½ cup - 1 cup orange juice

3 cloves of garlic, halved

1 tsp mexican oregano

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp green chile powder

Rendered pork fat, about ½-¾  cup

Directions: 

Cut the pork roast in half or fourths. Add 1 tsp salt evenly to all sides of the meat. Place it in the instapot and add ½ cup - 1 cup orange juice, 2 bay leaves, 3 garlic cloves cut in half, 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp green chile powder. Cook on high pressure for 2 hours. Once done, allow the instapot to release the pressure before opening the top and removing the roast. Add about 1/2 -¾ cup rendered pork fat (you can purchase this from your local butcher) to a cast iron pan and bring up the heat to medium high. As much as possible pat the meat dry so it doesn’t splash when you add it to the pan. Cook the pork until it is browned on all sides. Serve the carnitas taco style with guacamole, salsa verde, and some pickled onions. Enjoy!