Authentic Mexican Carnitas. Whether you're throwing a fiesta-style party or amping up taco night, you can't go wrong with Pork Carnitas!. Succulent, mouth-watering, Tacos de Carnitas features full-flavored, bite-sized pieces of tender pork with gorgeous crispy edges, packed into a warm tortilla. Top your tacos with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and your favorite taco toppings for an authentic taste of Mexico at home!

Authentic Carnitas at Home: Authentic Carnitas animate your home with the zesty flavor of Mexican tradition. The trick is to simmer the pork shoulder with the orange juice just right, so that the citrus infuses the carnitas with a surprising bite. This authentic Mexican carnitas is made the traditional way by first braising pork shoulder pieces with onions, garlic, orange, oregano, and bay leaf then frying until tender. You can have Authentic Mexican Carnitas using 10 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Authentic Mexican Carnitas

Prepare 355 ml of bottled Mexican Coca-Cola. Note: American Coca-Cola will.
Prepare 6 lb of bone in pork shoulder or pork butt sliced into 4inch slices.
You need 1 of sliced up orange with peel.
It's 2 of cinnamon sticks.
It's 2 1/2 lb of Manteca "lard".
Prepare 1 cup of water.
Prepare 4 of dry bay leaves.
You need 1/2 can (7 ounces) of sweetend condensed milk.
You need 1 1/2 tbsp of sea salt.
It's 4 of whole fresh cloves of garlic.

Slow-cooker and Instant Pot carnitas variations. For authentic Mexican carnitas tacos, I shred the meat up into small, bite-sized pieces, then crisp it up either on a pan on the stove, or on a baking sheet under the broiler. For just a couple of servings, the pan works just fine. Add a little oil and heat on high.

Authentic Mexican Carnitas step by step

On your stove top range, bring temperature of lard to 375°F in a large cooking pot or dutch oven..
Add your slices of pork to the 375°F lard, and allow pork to sear until brown, stirring frequently as to not let the pork stick to the pot..
Add cinnamon sticks, then add oranges by squeezing juice into cooking pot, and then drop in squeezed oranges peel and all. let cook frequently stirring for half an hour..
Now it's time to bring down the temperature to 230°F by reducing the heat to medium and adding a cup of water to the boiling lard. don't worry the lard will not boil over or explode. cook until water evaporates, about 30 minutes, you'll know this when the level of lard has reduced due to cooking..
Add by stirring in the bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola, cloves of garlic, half can (7 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk, dry bay leaves, and sea salt. cook for another hour over medium heat..
Carefully remove carnitas and place on paper towel. Then carefully cut carnitas into 2 inch cubes..
In a large skillet over medium heat, fry carnitas frequently turning until crispy to your liking..
Enjoy with warm tortillas, avocado, cilantro, etc....

Cover with salsa verde and onions. Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil. I served this authentic carnitas recipe with warmed up flour tortillas, my grandma's recipe for refried beans and her special chili sauce which is very similar to this Mexican restaurant salsa. Cooking the pork slowly in lard, water and milk. Today's recipe is a classic old-school rendition of carnitas prepared traditionally: cooked slowly in lard.