With only three ingredients, this caramel pie is simple to create.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 55 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless pork butt (shoulder)
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 orange, juiced, orange parts of peel removed and sliced into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves, torn in half
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
- Remove fat from pork; cut meat into 2-inch cubes and roughly chop fat.
- Mix together pork meat and fat with garlic, olive oil, orange peel, orange juice, salt, bay leaves, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, and 5-spice powder in a large bowl until pork is coated completely. Transfer mixture to a 9×13-inch baking dish. Cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil, then place on a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until pork is fork tender, about 3 1/2 hours.
- Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven’s broiler.
- Remove garlic, orange peel, and bay leaves from the baking dish. Transfer pork to a colander set in a bowl. Pour accumulated juices from the baking dish over pork. Return pork to the baking dish and drizzle with some accumulated juices.
- Cook under the preheated broiler for 3 minutes. Drizzle more accumulated juices over pork and continue broiling until crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork to a serving plate and drizzle with remaining accumulated juices.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 317 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 89 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 1036 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 23 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This is hands down the best carnitas recipe I have ever found. I’ve made this at least 10 times and it comes out great every time and don’t forget the pickled onions to go on top!!
Followed reciepe except for bay leaves since I didn’t have any and they are now very expensive. Came out great and the family loved it!
I have made this about 5 times and amazing every time. I generally go with the exact recipe and everyone loves it. Making it again tomorrow for a group. The flavors are amazing I think the cinnamon and 5 spice are the key. Make it like it’s on the recipe and you will be very happy.
Usually, I love Chef John’s recipes and no matter the recipe, I make it as written the first time. I did take the reviews into account this time and used 1/4 t cinnamon and 1/8 t Chinese five spice. It didn’t work for us. It was okay and we ate it, but the cinnamon was simply overpowering. You have to really like cinnamon (which I thought I did) to love this. I’m going to save the technique because they were so tender and we loved the crispiness, but use more traditional seasoning next time.
After years of trying various carnitas recipes, we’ve settled on this one as the best. We double the cumin and substitute Italian seasoning for the Chinese spice. I also substitute wine in place of the o.j. and omit the cinnamon which smothers the other flavors and seems not to belong.
I followed this recipe exactly and it was VERY GOOD!!! I probably could have taken it out of the oven after three hours, as my oven runs hot but the meat was falling apart and delicious! Making it again tomorrow!
I pretty much followed the directions verbatim and it was just superb really really good
This recipe was delicious, although my family prefers it without the Chinese Five Spice and Cinnamon, substituting some chili powder instead. It’s definitely a recipe that you need to plan in advance for, but it is SO worth it! My house smelled absolutely amazing when I made it the first time and everyone was salivating by the time dinner time came around. I’ve also pressure cooked it in my Instant Pot when I’m in a hurry (actually doing that now, as it’s too late in the day to cook in the oven), and it’s been tender and delicious…but definitely not crispy unless I throw it in the oven afterward. I highly recommend you try this recipe, but if you don’t like the taste of cinnamon or clove, you might want to substitute it, as I did.
Yum! I followed all of the other comments and skipped the orange juice, cinnamon, and five spice. I added a little oregano, thyme, and smoked paprika. It was delicious, but I would cut back on the salt next time. Really, all it needs is salt and pepper. The roasted garlic is delicious, so don’t toss it. The cooking method was fantastic.
I made this for an assignment, it was cooking and reviewing a dish from the Spanish-speaking part of the world. And it turned out amazing! I did a few things differently to make it a little more authentic; I took the cinnamon and the Chinese 5 spice powder out completely and replaced it with some adobo seasoning, and I replaced the orange and orange peel slices with 1 squeezed lime. I also altered step six. All I did was drain the meat and removed the bay leaves and garlic cloves. Then I drizzled the meat like it calls for. Other than that, this was an incredible recipe! The whole family loved the pork. ¡Muchas gracias!
This was OUTSTANDING! My only deviation was we used a pork loin we had from a warehouse club, not a pork shoulder. It was flavorful, tender, succulent, moist – everything I wanted in a slow roasted meat. We make a lot of pulled pork, with a more paprika forward rub. This replaces it hands down. We used aluminum steamer pans with lids to cook it in and it worked beautifully. Watch the broil part, we did have one get a touch extra crispy. But once shredded you could not tell the difference.
This is by far one of our family’s favorite meals. I would never think to use cinnamon, but to me, that is what makes this dish! I couldn’t find the 5-spice, and I do leave out the garlic (for dietary reasons), but it is still a hit!
very good even better the next day
This was incredible!!!! I’ve made carnitas in the instant pot before, but these are sooo much better! So crispy, juicy and delicious! I’ll definitely be making it more often –especially with the Costco size pork butt…
This recipe is absolutely delicious. All of the ingredients combined work so well together. The only thing I did different is that after I trimmed some of the fat, I cut into 4 large pieces and cooked it in the crockpot on low for about 8 hours. I then shredded the meat and placed in a shallow dish. I reserved some of the juice and drizzled on top. I broiled on high for about 5-10 minutes until pieces were crispy.
Loved this. I had to make a few changes as I’d initially planned on using a recipe that took 2 hours, then decided it was too bland. Once I found this recipe, it was too late to cook it for over 3 hours. So I cut the meat up in smaller chunks and cooked it at 375 for 1.5 hours then 350 for 30 minutes, then used the broiler per the recipe. I did not include all the fat for health reasons. I didn’t have Chinese 5 spice, nor the components to make it, and in consideration of the comments about cinnamon in several other reviews, after putting the dish together in the pan, I sprinkled cinnamon, fennel seed, and cloves on top very lightly. I will definitely make this one again.
Love this recipe! It is true to the authenticity of carnitas and I’ve made this several times. I do cut back on the cinnamon just a bit. I’ve cooked this per the re pie and I’ve cooked this in my insta pot and finish under the broiler. Fantastic!
I have made this many times, always scarfed up.Always follow the recipe but this time (today)took out some fat and added bacon grease from this morning.Comments were “this better than ever”.TY Chef John ,the Bob Ross of cooking
I was beginning to think these were a figment of my imagination!!! Years ago I had a couple bites of my dates cubed pork carnitas and I have been looking for them ever since – all I could find is shredded pork and I just can’t with shreddid anything…Thank you Chef John for confirming I have not, indeed, lost my mind! Made 100% according to recipe – so crispy, so moisty. Yum!
Loved loved loved it! Making again today for my son and his family
Since I’m technically rating a recipe, I can only give two stars. My husband is from Mexico so I’m always trying to recreate his favorites. He told me not to use cinnamon but I convinced him that we should try it so that we can adjust next time, if need be. He was right. So right. I’m not sure why it’s added in this recipe. It was pretty disappointing. The other flavors were great, but the cinnamon is unnecessary and not authentic. If you’re a big fan of cinnamon, maybe you’ll love it. I love cinnamon in many things, but this isn’t one of them. Skip the cinnamon, in our opinion.