Pork Carnitas

One of Ryan and I's favorite restaurants is a local Mexican restaurant called Fiesta, near his work. We particularly love this Fiesta Platter, which has lots of different meats served fajita style, including some delicious pork carnitas.

I decided a while ago to re-create the recipe at home. After much research, I realize why it tastes so good. Traditionally, the pork is roasted all day and then cooked in lard at the end to add that nice crunchiness. This doesn't surprise me--I often thought it was so good it must be bad for me!

Anyways, after inquiring, I found out traditionally the meat is cooked in either regular coke (for the sugar), or beer, with homemade salsa often mixed in.

I've made it before with the coke and salsa, it was excellent! I decided to experiment a little more this time.


Ryan agreed to sacrifice a beer, and I found this interesting interesting salsa called "tequila lime" which had lower sodium than some other brands:

Here's the recipe:

Buy a large pork roast (I choose a lean variety of pork loin, make sure to check your labels!) and place in crockpot with the beer and salsa. Cook on low about 7 to 9 hours.

To get that "crunchy" outside, here's the trick: Break up the pork into large pieces and place in a shallow roasting pan. Place in over at 400 degrees, and cook about 20 minutes, checking after 15.

I like to serve it with sauteed peppers and onions:

These are fabulous! Serve with tortillas, and whatever condiments you desire!