Pork slow-confit in its own fat with orange and bay until meltingly tender, then crisped — Michoacán’s Sunday-market glory.

Where does Carnitas come from?

Carnitas is a Mexican (Michoacán) dish from Michoacán, Mexico.

Can Carnitas be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Carnitas recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Carnitas take to make?

About 165 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 150 minutes cooking), serving 6.

Recipe

Name: Carnitas
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 165 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Mexican (Michoacán)
Ingredients: 3.5 lbs pork shoulder, large chunks; 1 cup lard (or neutral oil for the plant version); 1 orange, halved; 1 head garlic; 1 onion; 3 bay; 1 tsp cumin; 1 tsp Mexican oregano; 1/2 cup a splash of milk or Mexican cola (for browning); a full spread corn tortillas + onion + cilantro + lime + salsa, to serve

North America → 🇲🇽 Mexico → Michoacán

Carnitas

Mexican (Michoacán) · medium · serves 6

prep 15 min · cook 150 min

~1109 cal · 77g protein · 30g carbs · 75g fat (estimated, per serving)

🍽️

Crispy-tender shredded pork with tortillas and lime

🇲🇽 Michoacán

Michoacán is the homeland of carnitas, cooked in giant copper cazos where pork simmers in lard for hours before the final crisping. The orange and a splash of Mexican cola (or milk) are the town-square secrets that make it caramelize just right.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 6 —

•

3.5 lbs pork shoulder, large chunks

•

1 cup lard (or neutral oil for the plant version)

•

1 orange, halved

•

1 head garlic

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1 onion

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3 bay

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1 tsp cumin

•

1 tsp Mexican oregano

•

1/2 cup a splash of milk or Mexican cola (for browning)

•

a full spread corn tortillas + onion + cilantro + lime + salsa, to serve

Instructions

Cover the pork (or jackfruit and mushrooms) with the lard/oil in a heavy pot; add the squeezed orange halves, garlic, onion, bay, cumin, and oregano.

Simmer very gently, half-submerged, 2 hours (45 minutes for the plant version) until fork-tender.

Add the milk/cola and raise the heat; let the liquid cook off so the pork begins to fry and caramelize in the fat.

Crisp the edges, then shred coarsely — you want soft strands with crunchy bits.

Pile onto warm tortillas with onion, cilantro, lime, and salsa. Sunday, solved.

Michoacán copper-pot tradition.

Ratings & reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Michoacán. The copper-pot heartland of slow-fried carnitas.

🗺️

Mexico. A UNESCO-recognized cuisine older than any border.

🌍

North America. A collision of Indigenous, colonial, and immigrant tables.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →