Instant Pot Carnitas

There is some misunderstanding about what carnitas are, so for this purpose, the carnitas I’m talking about are shredded pork tacos.

I honestly don’t ever measure how much seasoning I use so I’m going to do my best to give some measurements, but you can always add more or take away based on your taste.  I know that I rarely follow a recipe as is :-).

We make these often when we have people over because it is so easy to make a larger batch.  I have two instant pots: an 8qt and a 6qt.  Typically I make the carnitas in one and beans in another.

I am lucky in that our store (HEB) has carnitas already cut up and easy to use.  I am able to easily layer this way.  You could use a pork roast just as easily, though, you can’t really layer with that.

These are the seasonings that I use.

Ingredients:

• 4lbs of pork roast (or carnita meat)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1-2 bell peppers, diced (I usually use red, yellow, and/or orange)
• 1 jalapeno, de-seeded and diced very fine
• About 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 orange, cut into fourths
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons chili powder (we use dark red)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 tablespoon cumin

Basically, I just layer them in the instant pot.  One layer of meat, one layer of seasoning, one layer of veggies, then repeat.  I top it by squeezing the orange over it and leaving the oranges in.

I then set it on high pressure for 55 minutes.

I usually let it natural pressure release for 10 minutes or so.

After it is finished, we shred it and eat!

My favorite tortillas are some that I buy from our local store.  They are basically homemade.  I also love the type that are a mixture of corn and flour.

Robert makes his “famous” guacamole and we also top them with cheese, sour cream, and maybe some more cilantro.