Our Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas has tender and super flavorful pulled pork served on a bed of lettuce and topped with guacamole, Pico de Gallo, pickled red onions, and fresh cilantro.
What is Whole30?
Like many people, Jack and I have tried lots of different diets – sometimes to lose weight and other times to just eat a little healthier. One of our favorites is Whole30 (you can read all about it here) which, very simplified, is a 30-day ‘reset’ where we eliminate sugar, dairy, soy, grains, legumes, gluten, and processed foods from our diet.
Eating protein-rich meals with lots of vegetables, plus some fruits and healthy fats for a month (and feeling great while doing so) always reminds us that some foods that we love to eat don’t always love us back!
To get through the month and not feel overly deprived, we still want to eat delicious food – and that’s where this Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas recipe comes in.
A delicious meal that anyone will love!
This pulled pork carnitas recipe is adapted from this Whole30 cookbook – but we’ve made some changes to suit our tastes and transform the dish into a delicious all-in-one meal that is easy to prepare and meets all the requirements for Whole30.
This easy recipe marries the best of two favorite pork recipes: Carnitas – which are chunks of pork, cooked in a fat with citrus and spices until tender, and Pulled Pork – which is not typically cooked in fat – but still cooks up super tender and is shredded for serving.
Why you'll love Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas
- The pork cooks up super tender and juicy with lots of flavor from oranges and spices. Fresh lime, scallions, and cilantro are added after it finishes cooking.
- Served over a bed of lettuce, this salad bowl is a healthy, filling meal.
- You don’t have to be following the Whole30 program to love this recipe!
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Boneless Pork Butt – Also sometimes called Boston Butt. Choose a four-to-five-pound pork butt for this recipe. Note that sometimes butchers will tie a few pieces together before packaging – but you won’t know that you just bought pieces instead of a whole roast until you get home. In this case, it doesn’t matter since you’ll be cutting the roast up into large cubes before cooking.
- Coconut Oil – Choose refined coconut oil for this recipe – if you use unrefined coconut oil, the finished pulled pork will taste and smell like coconut, whereas the refined will not add that flavor. Keep in mind that you will cook the pork in two full cups of coconut oil – but almost all that oil gets discarded after cooking. (See below to read more about the differences between the refined and unrefined coconut oil).
- Navel Oranges
- Yellow Onion
- Jalapeno
- Fresh Garlic
- Cinnamon Stick
- Salt & Pepper
- Chili Powder
- Cumin
- Scallions
- Fresh Lettuce – For serving
- Toppings: Fresh lime juice, cilantro, pickled red onion, Pico de Gallo, guacamole, and additional chopped scallions tops, for garnish.
- Optional and not Whole30 compliant – Flour or corn tortillas, if you prefer to serve the pork as tacos rather than a salad bowl.
What's the difference between refined and unrefined coconut oil?
Unrefined coconut oil is in a more natural state – with the coconut meat pressed to remove the oil and nothing else. You’ll still often smell and taste the coconut flavor. As well, the texture can sometimes feel a little gritty.
Refined coconut oil has been processed further to remove natural gums and fatty acids, and filtered to remove any coconut scent or flavor.
Refined coconut oil has a very mild flavor and is used most often in recipes where you wouldn’t want to introduce a coconut flavor. It can also last longer on the shelf.
Unrefined coconut oil is considered best for non-food purposes such as when it’s added to skin care products.
Special Tools Needed
- Large oven-proof pot with lid – A Dutch oven like this works great
- Cutting board and sharp knife
- Vegetable peeler
- Tongs
- Strainer
- Two forks – To pull the cooked meat
- Fat/Gravy Separator
How do I make Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas ?
- Cut the pork into large 2 ½ to 3-inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
- Melt coconut oil in pot and add seasoned pork with orange peel, orange sections, cut up onion, cut up jalapeno, fresh smashed garlic, cinnamon stick, chili powder, cumin and cut up scallion bottoms.
- Bring to a boil, cover then cook for three hours in a 300-degree F oven until tender.
- Remove cooked pork with tongs to a platter or large bowl and pull apart with two forks.
- Remove and discard remaining solids from the pot. Strain liquid into a fat/gravy separator and retain the juices but discard the fat. Pour juices over shredded meat. (This particular separator is perfect for this job because the bottom release makes it easy to pour out the juices.)
- Stir in chopped cilantro, scallion tops and fresh squeezed lime juice.
- Serve over a bowl of lettuce such as Romaine, Boston Bibb lettuce or fresh curly lettuce and top with your favorite toppings such as Pico De Gallo, guacamole or pickled red onions.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas ahead of time? Yes, in fact we would suggest making it the day before then reheating as needed.
- How do I store leftovers? Store pork covered and refrigerated for up to three days
- How do I reheat leftovers? Leftovers are best reheated in a pan with a little of the juices, or microwaved.
- Can I freeze the cooked meat? Yes, the carnitas meat freezes well. Freeze in zipper seal bags with all air squeezed out. Try to flatten the bags as you squeeze out the air to make it easier to stack in the freezer and the evenly thaw when ready to use.
You might like these other Whole30 Recipes:
Click here for more delicious Pork Recipes!
Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas
Our Whole30 Pulled Pork Carnitas has tender and super flavorful pulled pork served on a bed of lettuce and topped with guacamole, Pico de Gallo, pickled red onions, and fresh cilantro.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: entree
- Method: braise
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
5 pounds boneless pork butt
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups refined coconut oil
1 navel orange
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium jalapeno
2 large garlic cloves
1 small bunch of scallions
1 cinnamon stick
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 lime
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
For Serving
Fresh curly lettuce of your choice
Pickled red onions (prepared without sugar to be Whole30 compliant)
Optional
Flour or corn tortillas (not Whole 30 compliant but an option if you aren’t following a Whole30)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Cut pork into 2 ½ to 3-inch cubes. Do not cut off any of the pork fat, however. The fat will help in cooking and will be rendered and strained off at the end of cooking.
- Season all sides of the pork with the salt and pepper. If you use kosher salt instead of sea salt, use 1 ½ teaspoons.
- In a large oven proof pot with a lid, melt the two cups of refined coconut oil then add the seasoned pork.
- Peel the orange without peeling the white pith. Put the peels in the pot. Then cut off the white pith and discard. Finally cut the orange into sections and add to the pot.
- Peel and cut the onion into quarters and add to the pot.
- Stem and seed the jalapeno, cut into pieces, and add to the pot. If you like things hot, leave the seeds in.
- Smash the peeled garlic cloves and add to the pot.
- Slice the scallions and add the white bottoms to the pot and save the tops as garnish.
- Add the cinnamon stick, chili powder and cumin and bring the pot to a boil.
- Once boiling, remove from heat, cover, and place in the preheated oven for three hours.
- If serving with toppings, (guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and pickled red onion) prepare those now.
- After three hours, use tongs to pick out the cubes of cooked pork and place onto a platter or into a large bowl. Use two forks to pull the pork into large shreds. Try not to shred too fine, some nice chunks left intact is good.
- Pour what is left in the pot into a strainer and save the liquid but discard all the solids.
- Separate the fat from the liquid (the fat will float). Discard all the fat and pour the remaining liquid over the pork.
- Stir in the juice from one lime, the chopped cilantro, and the scallion tops, saving a few to garnish individual portions.
- To serve, place hot pulled pork carnitas over a bed of curly lettuce and top with guacamole, Pico de Gallo, and pickled red onion. Sprinkle chopped scallion tops of each portion before serving.
- Optionally, and not Whole 30 compliant, you could make soft tacos using flour or corn tortillas.
Notes
Nutritional information listed below is for the pork only – toppings and other serving suggestions are not included.
