Pork Carnitas Tacos - Easy Mexican Pulled Pork Recipe! (2024)

Juicy pork is seasoned with citrus and spices to create ultra-flavorful Mexican inspired pulled pork, or Pork Carnitas! Make pork carnitas tacos for a quick dinner, or throw it in a burrito bowl for an easy lunch!

Pork Tacos Recipe

This Pork Carnitas recipe will absolutely thrill you! This Mexican-inspired pork recipe has a flavor like you would not believe. Pork tenderloin is seasoned with salt and pepper, brown sugar, chili powder, orange juice, lime juice, and more. To summarize, these crispy, juicy pork shreds are sweet, a tad tangy, a little spicy, and 200% delicious. Yes, that’s double delicious.

Most of the time, when I make pork carnitas, I pack the meat into soft flour tortillas to make pork carnitas tacos. They are unbelievable – no words can describe the incredible flavors and textures. And when you pile some sour cream, sliced avocado, and diced tomatoes on top? Flavor. Explosion. Pork carnitas is also great in burrito bowls, regular burritos, salads, etc. It doesn’t matter what you put it in as long as you experience the amazingness! If you’re not into pork, make my Instant Pot Chicken Carnitas!

What Are Carnitas?

Carnitas is basically shredded or pulled pork. Or, in this case, it’s pork cut up in small pieces because we want it done quickly, and we want it done now! The pork is marinated or braised with seasonings, resulting in tender, juicy, flavorful shreds of – or small chunks – of meat. Typically pork shoulder or pork butt is used to make this dish, but today we’re going to use pork tenderloin because it’s quick.

Ingredients For Pork Carnitas

• Pork: You’ll need about 1.5 pounds of pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Seasoning: Salt and fresh ground black pepper (to taste), oregano, ancho chili powder, and ground cumin.
• Cooking Oil: I generally use avocado oil or olive oil.
• Onion: Grab a small yellow onion, finely diced.
• Garlic: Minced.
• Sugar: Round up some light brown sugar before starting.
• Citrus: You’ll need some orange juice and the juice of a small lime.
• Optional: Flour tortillas (for tacos), diced avocado, pico de gallo, and cilantro (for garnish).

How to Make Quick Pork Carnitas Tacos

It won’t take you more than 30 minutes to put these pork tacos together, and everybody will love them.

1. Season the Pork: Cut up the pork tenderloin and season with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. Cook the Onion: Heat olive oil in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add onions to the oil and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 15 seconds, or just until fragrant.
3. Add Pork to the Skillet: Season with brown sugar, chili powder, and cumin. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, or until pork is cooked through.
4. Stir in Orange Juice: Continue to stir and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add lime juice and continue to cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust accordingly.

Tips for Success

• What If I Don’t Have Pork Tenderloin? That’s alright. You can use pork shoulder (butt), or really any other cut of pork. Keep in mind, depending on the cut of pork, you may have to adjust the cooking time if using something other than pork tenderloin.
• Don’t Overcook the Pork: Easy to say, but not always easy to do! You want the pork to be juicy and tender, though, and not tough and dry. The best way to gauge if pork is done is to use a meat thermometer, and make sure the pork reaches 145˚Fahrenheit.
• Alternative Cooking Method: Season the pork tenderloin with all of the spices before cutting it into bite-size pieces, and then cook until done. Then, shred the pork with two forks, or cut it with a knife, and add it back to the skillet to cook in the orange juice as described.

Serving Suggestions

I already touched on how to serve pork carnitas a little bit, but let’s go more in-depth! Here are some of my favorite ways to use up this pork recipe:

• In Tacos or Burritos: Pork carnitas tacos are really good! Dice up some tomatoes, slice up an avocado, find some corn kernels, and grab some salsa and sour cream. Then, build yourself a delicious pork taco, and dig in! You can do virtually the same thing but in burrito form.
• Over Rice: If you want to keep things simple, serve your flavorful shredded pork over a bed of white or brown rice. Quinoa will work, too.
• In Salads: Another way to keep things simple is to add the pork carnitas to an easy cobb salad – or make a bed of lettuce, dice up some extra veggies, add the pork, and voila! Lunch or dinner.
• In Quesadillas: A pulled pork quesadilla? Yes, please! Cheesy shredded pork is so, so good.

How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Leftovers

• Store any leftover pork carnitas in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. It may lose some of its juiciness, but it will still taste great.
• To reheat pork carnitas, put the pork back in the skillet on the stovetop over medium heat. Cook until warmed through. You may need to add a little extra liquid – possibly some orange juice or some cooking oil.
• Freeze your leftover pork carnitas in an airtight container, once it has cooled completely. It will last for 2 to 3 months in the freezer. When you want to make more tacos or dig into some pulled pork, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat.

More Pork Recipes to Try

• Honey Soy Grilled Pork Chops
• Pork Chop Suey
• Creamy Pork Marsala
• Slow Cooker Pork Loin Chile Verde
• Instant Pot Garlic Pork Tenderloin