My husband and I absolutely love tacos. They are little packages of huge flavor wrapped up in a delicious flour tortilla shell. Carnitas tacos are Marc’s absolute favorite, so that’s what I made when we were craving a taco night at home! They could not have been more simple or incredible. My trusty Dutch oven was the best for the job.
After that, it was all about assembling the carnitas tacos. The day before, I really went all out and made my own homemade tortillas just for this occasion. They were incredible and easy to make, but store bought tortillas work great too! I lightly toasted up those taco shells in a cast iron skillet and then filled them with the pork. For toppings I went with sliced avocado, shredded cheddar cheese and salsa. Then I served the carnitas tacos with lime and we were ready for our taco night in! I squeezed the fresh lime juice on my tacos and it really woke up all of the flavors. With a frosty beer to wash it down, it was an amazing and fun meal with my man! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did! xoxo
Carnitas tacos are simple and amazing bites of pure flavor! The pork is fall apart tender with soft flour shells and loads of toppings.
- 1 dash olive oil
- 1.5 pounds pork shoulder
- 1 whole onion peeled and diced
- 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary leaves finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 cup hard apple cider
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 dash worcestershire sauce
- 2 whole bay leaves
- 8 whole soft taco shells
- sliced avocado as needed
- extra sharp cheddar cheese as needed
- salsa as needed
- lime wedges as needed
- Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven over high heat. Sear the pork shoulder on all sides to let it brown. It does not need to be completely cooked through at this point, just brown on the outside. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary and cilantro and let them get fragrant for a minute. Then pour in the hard apple cider and chicken stock.
- Season the mixture with the chili powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt and pepper. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the bay leaves last. Let the mixture come to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Cover the dutch oven and let the pork cook for 2 hours to become fall apart tender and super flavorful. When it's done, remove the dutch oven from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then transfer it to a cutting board and discard the bones and fat back. Any remaining liquid can also be discarded, as well as the bay leaves. Shred the pork with two forks.
- Time to assemble the tacos! Warm up the taco shells in a dry cast iron skillet for just 30 seconds on each side. Fill each taco shell with the desired amount of carnitas. Then top them as desired with avocado, cheese and salsa. Serve them with lime wedges and squeeze the fresh lime juice onto the tacos to really wake them up. Enjoy!
