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¡Hola! ¿Cómo están? Did everyone enjoy the Super Bowl? I know I sure didn’t! But that’s cause I didn’t watch it. hehe
So today’s sixth recipe into the International Pressure Cooking theme is Carnitas Tacos. Si, es mucho bueno! Ok, I’m pretty sure I’m butchering the Spanish language so I’ll stop now.
(Note: I won’t be able to post a recipe next week because I will be out of town. I only have time to cook on the weekends since the rest of the week I have a day job and don’t get home until all the natural light is gone for my photos.)
Any who, what can I say about Mexican cuisine? I’ll bet I can write a giant tome of a book all about it. Mexican food is very prominent in Southern California. It ranges from authentic Mexican food to a little Sunny California tweaking variations. I like all types of cuisines, but I think Mexican probably ranges a bit high at about a 4. It’s not my favorite but I do enjoy it immensely. Lots of my friends have a Latin background, so it’s pretty hard to narrow down a good recipe. I originally wanted to make Cuban Pulled Pork sandwiches but realized I didn’t know anyone that was Cuban. I guess I could’ve dedicated the recipe to Ricky Ricardo, but hmmm………I don’t think so.
So let’s get cooking.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 (3-4 pound) boneless pork shoulder/rump roast (Have your butcher remove any bones and fat as much as possible)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cups chicken broth
Garnishes:
- Shredded Cheese (Not pictured)
- Small Tortillas (Not pictured)
- Limes
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Salsa Verde (Optional)
- Pico de Gallo (Optional)
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In a small bowl, mix up all the dry spice ingredients, except for the Chiles and bay leaves. Rub the roast with the mixture all over. I mean, seriously, rub it in good! Let it sit for about 2-3 minutes.
In the pressure cooker’s main cooking pot, pour in the chicken stock and bay leaves. Chop up the Serrano Chiles into small pieces and add it to the stock.
Now, for this recipe I actually decided to use a Trivet. It didn’t come with my pressure cooker, but I happened to have one that fit into it nicely. You can buy these anywhere.
I use the trivet to set the roast on so the meat doesn’t sit directly into the chicken stock liquid at the beginning because if it does, it has the tendency to rinse off all the spices you just rubbed into the roast. So the trivet is pretty handy to avoid that.
Set the trivet into the cooking pot and place the roast on top of it. Close the lid and turn it counter clock-wise to lock it. Turn the Pressure Valve to the Airtight position. Press the PRESSURE COOKING TIME button for 60-minutes and then press START. Yup, this is actually a recipe that will take more than an hour. But in a slow-cooker, it would’ve taken 8-10 hours.
While the pressure cooker is doing its thing, you can take this time to prepare the garnishes. Chop up the cilantro, slice up the limes and avocados, etc.
Once the 60-minute cook time has expired, turn the pressure valve to the Exhaust position to release all the pressure and open the lid. The roast may look done to you, but it’s not quite there yet. But the spices have cooked into the meat and have formed a nice looking yummy soft “crust”. Using a large fork and/or tongs, remove the pork and side aside. Then remove the trivet. Now put the pork roast back into the pot directly into the liquid. There’s no risk of the spices washing off now.
Close the lid again and turn it counter clock-wise to lock it. Turn the Pressure Valve to the Airtight position. Press the PRESSURE COOKING TIME button for 30-minutes and then press START. This extra cooking time will get the meat to the fall-apart stage.
Once the cooking time is complete, turn the pressure valve to the Exhaust position to release all the pressure and open the lid. Remove the roast to a large platter. Using a sharp knife and fork, start shredding the meat into small bite size carnita pieces. Discard any remaining fat. The meat is so juicy and tender, and all the spices make it smell heavenly! Put all the pieces onto a plate and spoon some of the leftover chicken stock over the meat and season with some salt and pepper.
Now you can use the carnitas to make anything you want, from tamales to burritos to whatever. I chose to make tacos. Small and light. Dainty and cute. Pile it high with all sorts of toppings or keep it simple. Now I’m going to go lay out in my hammock in the backyard. Where is my bottle of Corona?
**As a side note and completely optional, if you like my blog, I’d really appreciate it if you’d help me out by clicking on the few ads I have now on the site. It’s completely safe and no spam or malware, and totally free as well. But every click a reader makes, will earn me some extra $ to fund this blog. All you have to do is click on an ad you find interesting, and that’s it. Thanks!!!
[…] for breads of all kinds, bread and tortilla based main dishes, and desserts… Related BlogsMexican Carnitas Tacos {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe} « Share and […]
I think I could eat this all day long, because I love such delicious looking things 🙂
Great pics! We’d love for you to share this recipe with us over at dishfolio.com!
AHHH!! The Spanish instructor in me is cringing right now because of the missing accent marks and missing inverted exclamation and questions marks!! haha If you do not how to make those marks on your computer, I will just type them here, so that you can copy and paste them :D.
¡Hola! ¿Cómo están?
Whew! Okay, I’m better now. LOL.
Anyway, these tacos look fantastic. I have never heard of making carnitas in chicken broth. I learned from my (Mexican) ex-girlfriend’s mother to fry the pork in oil for a long period of time so that the outside gets crunchy and the inside stays soft and tender. That is also how I’ve seen it made on the streets in Mexico. Nevertheless, your tacos look so inviting. YUM!! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I wish I had a pressure cooker.
Thank you for the Spanish lesson. I was looking and looking for those inverted ! and ? marks and couldn’t figure them out. I will copy them over right now!!!
I know about the frying method as well, and technically I could have fried it a bit in the pressure cooker too, but it just seemed like unnecessary fat and calories added to an already rich dish. So I purposely discarded the fat from the meat and didn’t fry it.
Because frying pork in oil or lard is unhealthy. I cook pork in the pressure cooker, remove it when done and then place the pork under a broiler for 3-5 minutes. It is delicious!
Hi, we featured a few of your recipes on our 101 Pressure Cooker Recipes List on our Pressure Cooker Outlet blog: http://pressurecookeroutlet.blogspot.com/2011/02/101-pressure-cooker-meals.html
We hope that this is ok.
Amazing! Tried this recipe for tonights dinner and it turned out fabulous! So nice to find recipes for my electric pressure cooker, can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thanks!
Wow! This was crazy-good!
I was planning on using the left-overs, but there weren’t any after my guys got to them.
Glad to find your site- looking forward to trying some more things. Don’t have an electronic cooker, but it worked fine in my grandma’s old Mirro-Matic. 🙂
Thanks!
Ack, can’t seem to find the trivet. Where did you get yours?
if you can’t find a trivet you could try to use a vegetable steamer upside down.
Loved this recipe! Looking forward to trying some of your other recipies and using the pressure cooker more often! Thanks!
Looks awesome! We started eating Paleo, and pressure cookers seem to be a favorite preparation tool.
Audrey, you can find any size trivet to your heart’s desire at any Asian market 🙂
Do you cook it on the high pressure setting or lower pressure??
Thanks!
With the model I have, it only has one pressure setting.
I have made this a many times already. Its a huge hit. I make your recipes at least once a week. Quick, easy and delicious =)
-A
thank you so much for sharing this recipe. we love how the carnitas turned out. will be making this regularly, especially with the pressure cooker.
i didn’t have serranos, so i used jalapenos and it was still perfect 🙂
[…] Let me just say it again THE BEST! I am so glad I found http://peggyunderpressure.com/2011/02/carnitas/ through a pin on […]
Love, love, love this. Great with chicken too!
I let in marinate 30 min and then browned the meat in electric PC until nice brown crust. Seasoning stayed on meat and did not have to worry about using a trivet when broth was added. This worked for me
My mother in law just bought me an electric pressure cooker and I am so happy to find your blog! Can’t wait to try this recipe tonight. Keep up the good work 🙂
Hello, I’m nervous about making Carnitas in my electric pressure cooker, but I have canned many times, from jams to trout thanks for the help. Brad
I add chopped cabbage & radishes to my tacos for extra crunch..
please tell me why all of the recipes for pork shoulder are for boneless. i have canned chicken thighs with the bone, why not here?
thanks
I plan on trying this recipe, most definitely!
As for the trivet, a long piece of tin foil crumbled up and made into a ring shape will work too. That’s what I have always used in some crockpot recipes for foods that need to be raised up above liquids.
We tried it tonight and it was yummy! Thanks for a great recipe.
Yummy! I researched many pc carnitas recipes and this one looked the best. This is soooo good!. I did add a half rough chopped onion and the juice from half a large orange to the cooking broth, then strained out solids for second go in cooker. The spices were a perfect blend. Thanks so much. As my husband says ‘This is definitely a keeper’. Can’t wait to try some of the other recipes on your site!
how many peppers are used?
2-3 depending on the spice level you want.
Would this work with a 2lb boneless pork loin rib half?
I omitted the peppers, put all the spices in my food processor and drizzled a couple tablespoons of olive oil to create a paste. Then rubbed on the meat. I used a 4 pound boneless pork sirloin roast. I then let the meat marinade for 30 minutes and browned it in my pressure cooker until all sides were brown and crisp before adding the marinade. I also added the juice from a small orange to the chicken broth. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!!
[…] Mexican Carnitas Tacos-Peggy Under Pressure […]
I made this tonight to eat tomorrow. I used a bunch of trimming from some pork butts that we are using for a BBQ competition (3.5 lbs total). I was worried that it would be over cooked so I shortened the second cook to 20 minutes and it came out perfect!
Thanks for the recipe!