A meal using the Best Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Oven). Laid out on a marble countertop are three flour tortillas filled with pork carnitas, avocado slice, pickled red onion, jalapeños, verde sauce and cilantro. In the background are a bowl of sliced jalapeños, a bowl of carnitas, cilantro, limes and a whole jalapeño.

Best Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Oven) – Why the Best?

These best pork carnitas (instant pot, slow cooker or oven) are my new favorite easy dinner recipe. There are many reasons why I love them.

Pork Carnitas Leftovers – Large Quantity and Even Freezes Well!

First, it makes a lot of food. It’s truly a leftover lover’s dream! I use a bone-in pork shoulder. The smallest size I’ve been able to find is about 7.5 pounds, and very little of that is bone. That means this recipe makes about 7 pounds of meat! Sometimes I freeze half of the already-cooked meat because it’s a lot for two people to consume. Fortunately, it reheats well after being frozen.

Bone-In Pork: A Low Priced Meat

Tip: This cut of meat runs about $3 per pound (as of 2026 in Indiana) when it’s not on sale, but every few weeks, local grocery stores will have it on sale for 99 cents per pound. That is an incredible price for this volume of meat! Last time it went on sale, I purchased and made two pork shoulders, and I froze the meat from one of them.

Choose Your Own Adventure for the Best Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Oven)

You can make this recipe a variety of different ways—Instant Pot, slow cooker, or oven. I made it in the Instant Pot. You all know by now how much I love my Instant Pot.

A flour tortilla filled with the Best Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Oven) avocado slice, pickled red onion, jalapeños, verde sauce and cilantro. In the background are sliced jalapeños, cilantro and additional tacos.

Instant Pot Method

Why the Hate Alison Roman?

Recently, I was listening to a podcast with author and New York Times food columnist Alison Roman, and she dissed the Instant Pot. She said something like you don’t feel as connected to the food because you don’t spend all day smelling it and tending to it. And while I wish I had the time to do that with every meal I prepare, it isn’t feasible.

Why Such a Long Cooking Time?

Okay, so back to the recipe. I realize the cooking time seems like a really long time. You’ve probably never seen such a long Instant Pot cooking time. But keep in mind, this is a big piece of meat. And you want it to be super tender and fall off the bone. You could cut it up into smaller pieces, and it would cook quicker that way if you’re strapped for time. If you go that route, I would change the cooking time from two hours to about one hour.

How to Serve the Carnitas?

I like to serve these best pork carnitas (instant pot, slow cooker or oven) with pickled red onions and guacamole. If you need recipe for these, feel free to try out my best guacamole ever and my quick pickled red onion recipes.

Variations for Alternative Cooking Methods (Slow Cooker or Oven)

NOTE: If you don’t own an Instant Pot, here are options for alternate cooking methods. For a slow cooker, cook for about 8 hours on low or 5 hours on high. Remember, you want the meat to be super tender and fall off the bone. For the oven, roast it at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 4 1/2 hours.

Three flour tortillas lined up filled with the Best Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Oven) avocado slice, pickled red onion, jalapeños, verde sauce and cilantro. In the background are lime wedges, cilantro and a bowl of carnitas.

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Best Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Oven)

Recipe by Kylee Scales

Best pork carnitas (instant pot, slow cooker or oven) is a weeknight staple in our house. The pork falls off the bone and keeps as leftovers!

Print Recipe

Total Time2 hours 45 minutes
Yield25 servings (tacos) 1x

Ingredients

Scale

7–8 lb bone-in pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed off
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp paprika
2 oranges sliced in half
1 lime sliced in half

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Instructions

Prepping the Pork:

Combine garlic powder, cumin, oregano, chili powder, dried basil, ground coriander, and paprika in small bowl.
Rub spice mixture evenly over the pork and place in your cookware (Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Baking Sheet for the Oven)
Squeeze the juice from the oranges and the lime over the pork. Place the oranges and lime pulp side down on top of the meat.

For the Instant Pot Method:

Set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 2 hours.
Once it’s done cooking, allow the pressure to release naturally.

For the Slow Cooker Method:

Cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 5 hours

For the Oven Method:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
Cook for 4 hours 30 minutes

Finish the Pork:

Remove the pork and shred the meat using two forks.
Preheat an oven broiler. Arrange the meat in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place the meat under the broiler for about 3 to 5 minutes. Monitor it to make sure it doesn’t burn.
Pour the cooking juices into a pot and boil for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.
Pour the reduced cooking liquid over the pork and toss to coat.
Serve pork on tortillas with your favorite toppings, like pickled red onions and guacamole

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Category: Dinner
Method: Baking, Pressure Cooking, Slow Cooking
Cuisine: Mexican