Carnitas. So delicious! And, until recently, I had no idea how easy it is to make carnitas. This tasty mexican pork roast dish is so flavorful, I imagined there was a long list of ingredients and really long cooking times. I was right about the cooking time. When I asked my co-worker how she makes her carnitas, she recited her recipe and followed it up with “cook it until it’s done”. So I asked her “how long is that?”, wanting to make sure I didn’t mess it up. “You know. Until it’s done.”

Ahhh. One of those recipes. Just like my great grandmother’s hand written recipes. “Cook in the oven until it’s done”. No temperature. No estimated time. Just….until it’s done. Ha!

Since carnitas is usually cooked in the oven using a dry roast method for a long period of time, you probably wouldn’t make this on a week night. So I adapted the recipe for the pressure cooker, and wouldn’t you know it. You can have carnitas any day of the week you want! My recipe is a cross between a traditional carnitas recipe and a Portuguese pork roast recipe, since I couldn’t leave well-enough alone. I wanted to add some spice to the carnitas, but I didn’t want to set my toddler’s mouth on fire, so I held back a little. If your family members like some extra kick, then feel free to add even more japapeno to the recipe.

My advice on the size of the roast, don’t go over three pounds. I bought a 4 pounder and it was almost too big for my pressure cooker, and it also added more cook time on than I would have liked. Three pounds would have been perfect. Serve your canritas how ever you like! Make tacos, burritos, nachos, sope. And the leftovers freeze just fine!

Pressure Cooker Carnitas

3 lb pork shoulder roast (remove strings and ties, if it has any)

2 TBSP vegetable oil

6 cloves of garlic, peeled and cracked

1 white onion, roughly chopped

2 jalapeno (or more to taste), cut length wise and seeded

1 TBSP ground cumin

Enough chicken broth to come half way up the pork roast in the pressure cooker (I used about 3 cups)

Salt and pepper to taste

garnish of your choice (we made tacos and went with salsa verde, cilantro and lime)

Click over to see full recipe.

*Notes from the kitchen: Save the broth!! The broth will be really flavorful, and would make a great starter for chili verdi later on. The broth can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months.