Pork carnitas
Braised then crisped, and the second step is the one people skip — shoulder cooked soft is pulled pork, and it only becomes carnitas when the shreds go back under a broiler and catch.
Cook it with Keto Tracker AI
See how it fits the carbs you have left today, log it in one tap when it’s on the plate, and send the ingredients to your shopping list. Free, with no account.
Ingredients
For the whole dish · serves 6
- Pork shoulder2¾ lb
- Lard1 oz
- Orange1½
- Garlic clovessix, whole and unpeeled
- Bay leavesthree for the pot
- Ground cumin and dried oreganotwo teaspoons of each
- Limethree, in wedges
- Cilantro and diced onionto serve
- Sea saltto taste
Served with
The side the app pairs with it. Tap Swap in the app for another that fits.
+3g net · 155 kcal · 15 min · together 5g net, 605 kcal
Method
6 steps · 220 minutes
- Cut the shoulder into large chunks and salt them well an hour ahead.
- Put them in a heavy pot with the lard, garlic, bay, spices and the squeezed orange halves, skins and all.
- Lid on, 300F, three hours. It makes its own liquid and needs no stock or water.
- Lift the meat out and boil the fat and juices down hard until only fat is left in the pot.
- Shred the pork coarsely, toss it in that fat, spread it on a sheet and broil 5 minutes until the edges blacken in places.
- Lime, raw onion and cilantro at the table. The acid is not a garnish here — it is what cuts three hours of fat.
Macros are per serving and are estimates worked out from the ingredients. Keto Tracker AI is a food logging tool and does not give medical advice; talk to a doctor before changing your diet.
All 507 recipes, free in the app.
Every one measured against what you have left today, and logged in one tap.