The Best Ever Carnitas

This was very good...and I had so much meat left I cleaned it the following day (wearing Nitrile gloves makes this much quicker, easier and efficient...and less yucky!). I took some of the congealed broth, and a pan and heated it up in the skillet until the meat was brown and crispy. It just went from very good to frickin' awesome! I highly recommend this as a make ahead and heat it up in a skillet...wow!

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This was very good and real easy to make.

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Can anyone give me advice? Thank you for this DELISH recipe, but I think I may have messed up on something. When I brown the pork in the fat, I then added the marinade to the same pot. Whilst it tasted fantastic, it seemed really oily. Am I supposed to brown in another pot, and then add to a new pot with the marinade? Regardless, it was still delicious. Thank you.

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This recipe was PERFECT! It was my first time making Carnitas and it was a hit at my house. The seasoning is perfect! I made some black beans and pico de gallo and served them alongside. Really amazing dish. I will say that it seems you can press the seasoning on before browning. I deglazed the pan with a little more pepsi and red wine to get that flavor out of the pan. Good job!

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I was a little skeptical on this recipe, as the ingredients didn't sound right--pineapple juice and soy sauce for carnitas? However, I tried it because I love Mean Chef's recipes. I'm so glad I did! One thing to note when you make this is that the marinade and fuego spice mix actually make WAY more than you need for the 3 lbs of pork. Next time I make this, I plan to use 8-9 lbs of meat & triple the other ingredients in the FIRST section of the recipe so I don't waste anything (and have lots of yummy leftovers to freeze). I also don't plan to coat the meat pieces with seasoning before I marinate. I plan to add most of the spices (reserving some) to the Aqua Negra marinade. Coating them seemed like a waste of time since immediately you throw them in liquid. I will use some of the reserved spices to throw in the oil when I fry the pork before cooking. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe. The layering of flavors is fabulous!

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YUM YUM !!! Thank you for this great recipe! So tasty and so easy! I must admit I speeded it up. Marinated for 30 min, then pressed seasoning onto meat browned and simmered until fork tender. It was GREAT!!!!

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Fabulous. EAsier to just throw it all together as one marinade and cook as instructed. Comes out great!

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I made this over the weekend and it was fabulous. I did minus a little bit of the Paprika :) Try this and you too can be a hit at the party.

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Taste ok, but this is not carnitas.

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This wasn't terrible but it was not what I expected. It was very spicy. I was hoping for a more authentic carnitas flavor.

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this recipe is good, definitely NOT carnitas though!!! it's more like shredded porkin a spicy Mole sauce. the seasoning is very, very strong - it ovewhelmed the flavors of the meat (not too spicy strong - i love it hot & spicy!)

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I thought ths was excellent! I used all of the dry ingredients, I dredged all sides of the meat pieces in it. I also used half the liquid marinade the night before, and then the other half the next day to simmer it in. I also ended up using a whole liter of cola, I used Shasta (cheaper). I also used about a 6 lb. pork shoulder. I also chose to shred the meat after it was done. Topped it with Queso Fresco crumbled cheese, fresh cilantro, chopped onion and green salsa verde. Simply delicious!

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This is really delicious. I added a couple tablespoons of brown sugar to the simmering meat and I might cut down the soy sauce just a little next time.

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This is really is The Best Ever Carnitas, it was very easy to make and once you do it will soon become one of your favorites - real authentic taste!

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Odd. A distinct disappointment

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This recipe is great! I was skeptical at first...pepsi?...but it worked out well and I like that the ingredients were easy to find because not everyone has a Mexican market around the corner! I cooked it for about 4 hours and then shredded it instead of cutting it, but it just fell apart...SUPER YUM!

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I didn't have time to marinate over night, and the only "butt" roast at the store was too large. I purchased 3 pounds of pork stew meat instead. At least it was already cut up for me :) I dumped the whole cup of Fuego Spice Mix in a gallon baggie with all of the pork and then put in the orange/garlic/cumin/pepper/Pepsi and 1 cup of the Agua Negra and let it sit for about 15 minutes. I pulled the pork pieces out to fry and pulled the orange rinds out to await the next step. After frying, I put the pork into the crock pot and added the following: poured the liquid it was still in the baggie and the remaining Agua Negra that had been sitting aside and tossed in the orange rind. I topped it off with Pepsi to make sure the pork was covered and let cook for the next 4 hours on High. I pulled the pork out to cool and rest, then pulled it apart with a fork. To serve: two warmed white corn tortillas, mound of pork, minced onion, chopped cilantro, squeeze of lime, drizzle of sauce (that was still in the crock pot) and YUM!!!

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Love these carnitas! I only used about half of the orange's juice and didn't add the peel as I don't like much of a citrus flavor on my carnitas. I used manteca (lard) for the oil/shortening. I also brushed with a little milk and broiled to crisp up some before serving. Will make again!

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This was a delicious and interesting recipe. I used to make the Renaldo's carnitas (one of the other recipe's on this site)- but my husband wanted to try a different type of flavor and this was a great pick. It was a little more work and definatley more ingredients but so worth it!! Very flavorful and saved well!! (i'm noticing that a lot of the recipes from the Mean Chef are awesome:)

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