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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.
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.
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Notes
Nutritional information listed below is for the pork only – toppings and other serving suggestions are not included.
Find it online: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/whole30-pulled-pork-carnitas/
