I can’t tell you how many times my husband has smoked a Boston Butt roast on our Big Green Egg and afterwards we are left with a huge pile of smoked pork. You know there is no way I am letting that go to waste. At my house, our favorite way to use up the leftovers is to turn them into Easy Pork Carnitas!
Since the pork is already cooked it only takes about an hour on the oven to infuse delicious Mexican flavors that become the base of some of the tastiest tacos.
Now, the recipe below uses pre-cooked shredded pork but you can just as easily use an uncooked Boston Butt Roast with the ingredients listed below. You will have to cook it a bit longer, but the results are the same – delicious!
Easy Pork Carnitas - Perfect Use For Leftover Shredded Pork
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Michelle
Serves: 6 - 8
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 orange, juiced
- 2 limes, juiced
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2½ - 3 cups shredded cooked pork
- 1 - 1½ cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a large Dutch oven and simmer for 1 hour until most of the liquid is absorbed. You want to have about ½ cup liquid left in bottom of pan
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Spread shredded meat and remaining juices on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until browned.
- Remove and serve on a corn tortilla with your favorite fixings...limes, cilantro, tomato, etc...
Notes
If you do not have precooked pork. You can mix your spices with a tablespoon of oil and rub all over a 3 pound Boston Butt Roast. Place in crockpot and add onion, jalapeño garlic and fruit juices. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low. Remove and shred pork using two forks. Once shredded you can place on a baking sheet and cook in oven to crisp the meat as described above.
Black Walnut Pound Cake
This is perfect! I have a ton of leftover shredded pork. Thank you.
I have to be honest. This comes off as excessively citrusy compared to the real deal. I think the various fruit juices need to be dialed back a LOT. Other than that, there’s a good base here.
Just made this and I agree — it definitely came out on the sour side. Still good, though. Next time I make it I think I will omit the lemon entirely and just go with the orange and lime.
hi love the site with the all the recipes. You had a recipe that had peanut butter noodles and chicken a while back , my daughter is asking for it but I can’t find it.Do still have it ?Could you send it to me ? THanks for all that you do.
Dee
i agree with an early comment; too much citrus for me. I would start by eliminating the lemon, or half all the juice.
I cut out the lemon and 1 lime. I added in the zest of one lime. It turned out perfect. Delicious!!!!!
We had a bunch of leftover pork roast to use up so I made this. I followed the advice of other commenters and reduced the amount of citrus: instead I squeezed a small fresh mandarin orange, added the same amount of lime juice, and then a little squirt of lemon juice. Did everything else per the recipe (except I had to lower the heat and add a splash of water half way through). Awesome. Family loved it. Will definitely have this on the menu on the days following pot-roast-day.
I mean: I used a clementine, not a mandarin, because it’s what I had on hand. I think about a 1/3 of an orange would work well too.
Try Sunny Delight too. Original or Tangy.
I made this for a birthday party. I used already shredded pulled pork from Costco. And followed your recipe it was a huge hit. So easy to make.
Great flavor, and great way to use leftovers. I served in flour tortillas with cheese, sour cream, black olives salsa, and mangos. Yum!
I agree with some of the other comments in regards to the juice. I cut the orange and lime juice in half and used just a squeeze of lemon and followed the rest of the recipe. It is great. Everyone liked it.
My husband smoked a Boston butt this weekend, and even after our large party, we still had so much left over. Followed the recipe exact and it was delicious! We didn’t taste the citrus at all. We made burrito bowls with cauliflower rice and black beans and you could still taste the smoke on the pork. Looking forward to making Carnitas tacos tomorrow night with the leftovers.
I’ve been making this recipe for years and we love it. I’ve never omitted anything and it’s perfect for my family everytime… definitely my go to!
Followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious!! I think because I used a leftover smoked pork shoulder which had a lot of fat and juices, the citrus cut the richness and balanced out the flavors. Served with radishes, cilantro, queso fresco, avocado, and white onion. Next time I might add two jalapeños to kick up the heat. But otherwise perfection!
******I used left over pork tenderloin, and did NOT use lemon, only used ONE half of lime for juice, one orange for juice, 1/2 jalapeno sliced, and ADDED the following: diced chiles (half a small can), 2 teaspoons of apple juice, and sprinkled brown sugar on top when I put in the oven. All other spices I added according to the recipe. Added a bit more chicken broth too. Was a 10+++!!! According to hubby and me! <3
I do one lime, one orange, and omit the lemon, and it’s perfect. (Agree that as written , it’s not ideal.). Having it again tonight!
I thought about trying to add pineapple. Anyone tried that?
I used what I had on hand: 1 blood orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime. I didn’t have garlic cloves so doubled the powered garlic. Didn’t have fresh onions and jalapeños so subbed those with crispy fried onions and crispy fried jalapeños leftover from Thanksgiving. It was delish.