Pork Carnitas with Chipotle and Orange

Name: Pork Carnitas with Chipotle and Orange
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 300 min
Total time: 320 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 bone-in pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch thick slabs; 1 tbsp Salt; 1 tsp Black pepper; 2 tbsp Vegetable oil; 1 can Canned chipotles in adobo sauce; 1 head Garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped; 2 medium Onions, sliced; 2 cup Fresh squeezed orange juice; 4 bottle Mexican lager beer

Recipe GLPR3ecc8c5ec430d8

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Mexican

Main Course

320 min

1134 cal

Servings: 8

Oven

Stovetop

Tender, succulent pork shoulder braised low and slow with smoky chipotles, fresh orange juice, Mexican lager, caramelized onions, and roasted garlic. The meat becomes fall-apart tender and infused with deep, complex flavors of smoke, citrus, and spice. Serve as a main course with warm tortillas, or shred for tacos.

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Ingredients

1 bone-in pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch thick slabs

1 tbsp Salt

1 tsp Black pepper

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

1 can Canned chipotles in adobo sauce

1 head Garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

2 medium Onions, sliced

2 cup Fresh squeezed orange juice

4 bottle Mexican lager beer

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Pat the pork shoulder slabs dry with paper towels and generously season both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or braising pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding, sear the pork slabs for 3–4 minutes per side until they develop a deep golden-brown crust. Set the seared pork aside on a plate.
In the same pot, add the sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–7 minutes until they soften and begin to caramelize.
Stir in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Pour in the orange juice and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot, incorporating them into the liquid. Add the four beers to the pot.
Pour the entire can of chipotles in adobo sauce into the pot, including the sauce. Stir well to combine all ingredients.
Return the seared pork slabs to the pot, nestling them among the onions and submerging them as much as possible in the braising liquid. If needed, add a little water to ensure the meat is mostly covered.
Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and transfer it to the preheated 325°F oven. Braise for 4–5 hours, turning the pork pieces halfway through, until the meat is completely tender and falling apart easily when pierced with a fork.
Remove the pot from the oven. Carefully transfer the cooked pork to a serving platter and tent loosely with foil to keep warm. Pour the braising liquid and onions into a separate vessel.
Skim excess fat from the surface of the braising liquid if desired, or leave it for added richness. Spoon the braising liquid and caramelized onions over the pork and serve warm, directly from the bone or shredded, as desired.

Comments

Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff4.75

Pork carnitas checks every box for Charlotte: pork shoulder is cheap and widely available at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Walmart, and ALDI, and chipotles in adobo are standard in the Hispanic section of any major chain. The real time commitment is the five-hour braise, but the stated 320 minutes is honest about that slow-cook reality. At roughly $2–2.50 per serving for eight people, this is a genuinely affordable crowd-pleaser that reheats beautifully for tacos, sandwiches, or rice bowls. The caveat is that this is not a weeknight move—plan it for a day when you can let the oven run low and long—but the hands-on work is minimal, and leftovers freeze well.