Lean Pork Carnitas
Pork carnitas is traditionally made with a beautiful pork butt (shoulder). The texture from this cut of meat combined with the seasoning creates an absolutely delicious flavor. In my recipe, we unfortunately have to swap the shoulder for a tenderloin since we are trying to keep things low fat for your every day use. There are a few tricks we use in order to try and achieve the closest thing to an authentic carnitas. This recipe is super easy and fool proof so don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients as they are mostly just spices!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Lean pork tenderloin Make sure to trim the fat off
- 4 strips Orange zest
- 1 White onion
- 1 Jalapeno, deseeded
- 4 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1.5 tsp Oregano
- 1.5 tsp Thyme
- 1.5 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp Ancho Chili powder
- 1/8 tsp Ground cloves
- 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
Instructions
- Dice your white onion and add to a saute pan. Cook for about 10 minutes or until they become light brown and transparent.
- Combine oregano, thyme, cumin, salt, ancho chili and cloves. Pat your tenderloin dry with a paper towel and rub all over tenderloin.
- Place the tenderloin in slow cooker and combine all ingredients including onion. Combine well.
- Slow cook on low for 8-12 hours.
- Once the tenderloin has finished, let it cool down so it's safe to touch. Set the liquid aside(don't toss it!). Shred tenderloin using a fork. The pieces will be long so you will want to give it a rough chop to cut them in half.
- Once you have chopped all the pork a bit, heat up a large non stick pan and add your pork. Don't over crowd your pan. This should be done in several batches (3-4). Drizzle some of the juices over it and let it crisp up a little bit. This recipe isn't meant to be a crispy meat so don't let it get too crispy. We want it to remain juicy.
- Once you are ready to serve, add meat to your tortilla and drizzle some juice over it. Best served with some raw chopped onion on top!