Pork Carnitas Tacos from the Instant Pot

Name: Pork Carnitas Tacos
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of olive oil; 2 oranges; 3 limes; 1/2 cup of chicken stock; 1 pork shoulder roast (4 1/2 lbs. or so); 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons of salt; 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of black pepper; 1 yellow onion; 10 cloves of garlic; 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper powder; 1 tablespoon of dried oregano; 1 tablespoon of ground cumin; 3 bay leaves

Pork Carnitas Tacos from the Instant Pot

You might think that you can make better carnitas tacos than these carnitas tacos. But, you can’t. We’re not questioning your sincerity. You likely believe your claim. It’s just counterfactual. How do we know? Because, these tacos--the ones pictured above and below and all over this page--are the very best carnitas tacos.

Our secret? Eighty minutes in the Instant Pot then a quick broil to crisp up the pork. It comes out so succulent and tender, like meat candy.

Using an electric pressure cooker, like the Instant Pot, feels like sorcery. It develops the kind of flavor, rich and deep, that usually takes all day to build, while it eliminates or at least greatly reduces the risk of human error. That is, this method guards against drying out or burning food. Electric pressure cookers have become all of the rage. People love them. We bought our Instant Pot on Black Friday in 2015 and were hooked.

We do two things at the outset to make our pork carnitas unique. First, we cut the pork shoulder roast into three equal pieces and sear each piece on each side. If we were braising the pork, this would be imprudent. The divided-up meat would dry out during many hours in the oven, but that's no concern in the pressure cooker. Searing each of the three pieces forms a satisfying texture on a greater percentage of the meat's surface, which makes for more pleasant eating. Searing will also begin to melt collagen earlier in the process, resulting in greater flavor in the end. Second, we season the pork with salt and pepper beforehand. This helps create that desired sear. But, here's a pro tip: either season the meat more than 40 minutes before cooking or immediately before cooking--but not sometime in between the two.

You're going to love these pork carnitas, and this recipe makes plenty. You can either feed an army or munch on leftovers for days. We can’t help but eat much more than we should, and we devour it so quickly that we accidentally drop some bits, which the dog happily laps up. The dog loves this pork so much that he camps out on the kitchen floor hoping that someone—anyone—will come in and fumble a few more bits.

Pork Carnitas

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 oranges, juiced, or 4 ounces of orange juice
3 limes, juiced, or 1/3 cup of lime juice
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1 pork shoulder (Boston butt) roast, 4 1/2 lbs. or so
1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 yellow onion, chopped roughly
10 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
3 bay leaves

Directions

Turn the pressure cooker to the sauté function. Add olive oil. Cut pork shoulder roast into three equal pieces. Rub roast with mixture of 1 tablespoons of salt and 1 tablespoon of pepper.

When pressure cooker is hot, insert the pieces of pork into the pressure cooker, searing on all sides for 3 minutes per side. Remove pieces of pork, and set aside momentarily.

Pour in orange juice, lime juice and chicken stock. Reinsert pieces of pork. Add onion and garlic. Mix 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano and cumin together and add to pressure cooker. Place 3 bay leaves on top.

Close lid and cook on high pressure for 80 minutes. Let pressure naturally release. Open lid. Remove bay leaves

Turn oven to broil. With a slotted spoon, remove pieces of pork and place them in an oven-safe serving dish. Shred the pork using two forks—or we use these shredder claws, which work like a charm. Broil shredded pork until top becomes crisp. Remove from oven.