Crispy and Juicy Carnitas Tacos

These crispy and juicy carnitas tacos with fresh crisp toppings like pico de gallo, red onion, and cilantro are quite simply irresistible.  And even better, you can use the slow cooker or the instant pot to do most of the heavy lifting for you, so taco Tuesday just became your favorite night of the week.  

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite HH recipes of all time!  This carnitas recipes is gold in so many ways and the one I keep turning back to again and again when I want to meal prep for the week or have guests.  It's epic and here's why: 

The Best Carnitas Tacos

Carnitas is a recipe that gives and just keeps on giving, and while I love burritos, salads, and more, nothing quite stands up to a juicy taco.  

• One bite, and you’ll swear you’re at a street taco stand in Mexico.  Seriously, this is one of those recipes that hit right every time.  The secret is to leave the lime in the slow cooker with the meat; trust me on that. 
• You can make a big batch of meat.  Whether you have a crowd to feed, want to meal prep, or even have some freezer leftovers, these carnitas tacos can do it all, sometimes a combo of all three, depending on how much meat you make.  This means you can have taco night any night of the week, or you can even skip cooking and defrost for tacos on Tuesday next week.  

Let's Talk Ingredients, Carnitas Tacos Ingredients

• Carnitas -  For my carnitas, fresh limes are essential.  Leaving the limes in the slow cooker or instant pot while you cook the meat will take it to the next level.  I also like to stuff a full head of garlic cloves into the meat while it's cooking and throw in a sliced onion.  For the seasonings, I use a blend of oregano, sugar, basil, paprika, chipotle chili powder, salt, and black pepper.  
• Tacos Toppings - I suggest a handful of cilantro and a toss of pico de gallo to be essential, but nothing is off the table.  Guac, homemade salsa, sour cream, avocado lime crema, diced red onion, green onion, and more limes are great too! 
• Tortillas - There are so many types of tortillas o the market now, I find myself to be like a tortilla connoisseur these days, I love to try new ones.  Right now, corn or Siete tortillas from Costco (get my healthy shopping Costco grocery list) are my favorites, but whatever you love or have will work! 

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Carnitas Tacos 

Season and prep the meat.  First, you'll season your meat by rubbing seasonings all over it.  Then, you'll want to fire up a skillet with a little oil and sear the meat on each side.  I know this is an annoying step, but I've done it both ways (with and without searing), and I can tell a big difference. Once you've seared it then you will cut 12 slits in the meat and stuff it with garlic.   

Choose your cooking method.  If you are short on time, you can use the instant pot to make the meat in about 90 minutes or so, depending on the cut of the meat.  If not, it takes about 8-10 hours in the slow cooker.   You'll add your meat to the instant pot or slow cooker with a sliced onion, water, and fresh limes/lime juice.  

Shred and broil your meat right before serving.  When done, the meat will basically fall apart.  Then, remove it from the crockpot, shred it with two forks, and broil it. This will make your meat crispy on the outside with a melt-in-your-mouth texture on the inside that can't be matched.  

Assemble tacos. Typically, I suggest warming the tortilla to make it pliable.  Since the oven is on already from broiling the meat, you could batch heat your tortillas in the oven at 350 for 3-5 minutes.  You can also char them in a pan or simply microwave them! Top with your favorite toppings.  I  suggest adding a pile of cilantro (if you aren't one of those people who hate cilantro), a few tablespoons of pico, and a squirt of lime.  

How to Freeze and Store Carnitas Tacos

I love how freezer-friendly carnitas are!  I actually have a whole post on freezing/defrosting these carnitas here.  Unfortunately, it's best to freeze the meat and buy fresh ingredients to build tacos when you are ready to eat the meat.  

Storing is a whole other scenario, though.  I made a bunch of tacos and put them in meal prep containers, then reheated them fine the next day.  I think a lot of that had to do with using a heartier corn/wheat blend tortilla, though!  The tortilla usually breaks down if you store and reheat it, so you may want to store toppings and tortillas separately from the meat.