Tender Carnitas Recipes

Our Favorite Carnitas Recipes

Updated on July 16, 2023

carnitas and milk rolls — Photo: Photo by Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Jillian Knox

One of our favorite Mexican dishes, carnitas are made by braising or simmering meat in lard or oil until tender. Follow these recipes to make some delicious pressure cooker pork carnitas, flash-fried chicken carnitas, and even carnitas made with jackfruit and turkey, and get ready for your next sandwich or taco night.

01 of 07

Sweetened Condensed Milk Carnitas

A fragrant blend of dried herbs, spices, and garlic flavors this slow-cooked pork, which gets a touch of balancing sweetness and acidity from fresh orange juice. A surprising ingredient here, sweetened condensed milk, helps the pork caramelize during cooking. Source a well-marbled pork roast for this recipe; the extra fat doubles down on the rich pork flavor.

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02 of 07

Carnitas Sliders with Tomatillo-Avocado Sauce

Perfect for entertaining, these grab-and-go sliders star tender carnitas topped with a creamy tomatillo-avocado sauce sandwiched between pillowy homemade rolls.

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03 of 07

Turkey "Carnitas" with Green Mojo

Shredded cooked turkey replaces the more traditional shredded pork in this riff on carnitas tacos, using leftover roast turkey served with a sauce inspired by Cuban mojo.

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04 of 07

Carnitas Jackfruit Tacos

Jackfruit Carnitas Tacos — Photo by Caitlin Bensel / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell

For her jackfruit tacos recipe, Jocelyn Ramirez, cookbook author and chef at Todo Verde in Los Angeles, uses cumin, chile flakes, and salt to capitalize on the pulled-pork texture of jackfruit, transforming it into a plant-based taco filling that tastes like carnitas.

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05 of 07

Oven-Fried Pork Carnitas with Guacamole and Orange Salsa

Chef Richard Sandoval first tasted the moist, creamy, slightly sweet Spanish Requeson cheese used here during childhood trips to the market with his grandmother. In the U.S., Requeson is sold at Latin markets and some supermarkets. If you can't find it, substitute fresh whole-milk ricotta.

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06 of 07

Flash-Fried Chicken Carnitas

Chef Rocco DiSpirito is not ashamed to admit that he uses the microwave for this dish. He zaps chicken thighs before frying them so they spend less time in oil.

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07 of 07

Pork Carnitas with Garlic and Orange

The trick to these luscious carnitas is to pull the meat into successively smaller pieces as it roasts, exposing more and more surface to the oven's heat for crisping.

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