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–+ servings
dutch oven carnitas bowl with slaw and sweet potato and a fork taking a bite out

Dutch Oven Carnitas Bowl Recipe

This Dutch Oven Carnitas Bowl recipe is full of delicious, Mexican-inspired pulled pork! It's easy to make, uses a dutch oven instead of a slow cooker, and doesn't require any fancy ingredients. The pork is melt-in-your mouth tender and so flavorful. Pair it with a simple slaw and roasted sweet potato for the perfect healthy dinner.
Servings 8 people
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Dutch Oven Carnitas:

  • 1 tbsp avocado oil
  • 3-3.5 lbs boneless pork shoulder / Boston Butt (or about 4.5 lbs bone-in)*
  • 2 tbsp chili powder **
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • kosher salt & black pepper to taste
  • 1 large yellow onion sliced
  • 5 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice (from about 2 oranges)
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
  • 2 bay leaves

For the Slaw:

  • 4 cups shredded red cabbage
  • 1 small jalapeno seeds removed & diced (optional)
  • ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
  • ¼ cup chopped red onion or shallot
  • 2-3 tbsp full-fat plain greek yogurt or mayo for dairy-free version
  • juice from 1 lime
  • kosher salt to taste

For the Air Fried Sweet Potato:

Instructions

For the Dutch Oven Carnitas:

  • Preheat your oven to 300F. Then, cut pork into large chunks - they don't all need to be perfectly the same size! Season all over with kosher salt & black pepper.
    3-3.5 lbs boneless pork shoulder / Boston Butt, kosher salt & black pepper
  • Bring a large dutch oven to medium-high heat. Once hot, add avocado oil. Then add some of the pork chunks, making sure not to overcrowd the pan - you will likely have to do this in 2 batches. Let the pork sear for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until a nice golden crisp has developed all around. Remove from the pot and repeat with the second round of pork.
    1 tbsp avocado oil
  • After all the pieces of pork are seared, remove them from the pan. At this point, you should have enough residual grease left in the pan, but if not feel free to add more avocado oil. Then, add sliced onion and saute, stirring occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.
    1 large yellow onion, 5 garlic cloves
  • Deglaze the pan with broth, scraping up all the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Then, add in the seasonings, orange juice, lime juice and bay leaves, and stir. Nestle seared pork into the pan, making sure it's mostly all covered by liquid.
    2 tbsp chili powder, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp oregano, 2 cups beef broth, ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice, ¼ cup fresh lime juice, 2 bay leaves
  • Cover the pot with a lid and transfer to the oven for 2.5 hours, or until the pork is fork tender. Remove pork from the pot and transfer it to a large bowl. Shred it with 2 forks - it should shred really easily!
  • OPTIONAL BUT ENCOURAGED: For crispy carnitas, turn your oven to broil. Transfer the shredded pork to a large parchment-lined baking sheet. Ladle a bit of the excess sauce from the pot onto the pork and toss to coat. Then, spread out evenly on the baking sheet. Broil for about 5 minutes, or until the edges are crispy.
  • When ready to serve, feel free to pour more of the reserved sauce over the carnitas! Enjoy :)

For the Air Fried Sweet Potato:

  • If you have extra time, allow your chopped sweet potato chunks to sit in a bowl of very cold water for 30+ minutes. Then, drain off the water and pat the sweet potato dry super well. This is totally optional, but will help them get even crispier!
    2 large sweet potatoes
  • Toss sweet potato chunks with a bit of avocado oil (or cooking spray) and season with kosher salt to taste. Transfer to an air fryer basket or tray and air fry at 400F for 10-15 minutes. Shake the basket or flip the sweet potatoes halfway through.
    avocado oil, kosher salt
  • If you don't own an air fryer, try oven roasting them at 425F for 25-35 minutes.

For the Slaw:

  • Add all slaw ingredients to a large bowl and toss until combined. Taste and adjust the amount of lime juice and salt to your liking.
    4 cups shredded red cabbage, ⅓ cup chopped cilantro, ¼ cup chopped red onion or shallot, 2-3 tbsp full-fat plain greek yogurt, juice from 1 lime, kosher salt, 1 small jalapeno

Video

Notes

*NOTE: You'll see many different names for pork shoulder at the grocery store - Boston Butt, Pork Butt, Picnic Shoulder, etc. Bone-in or boneless works just fine. If you can only find bone-in, cut the meat off the bone before proceeding with this recipe.
**NOTE: These are heavily-seasoned, slightly spicy carnitas so if you'd prefer something milder, feel free to reduce the amount of chili powder.
SERVING SIZE: This recipe makes a lot of carnitas - somewhere in the range of 6-9 servings, just depending how hungry you are! However, the slaw and sweet potatoes make closer to 4 servings, so consider doubling all ingredients if you want to serve more.
NUTRITION INFO: Nutrition info listed below is only an estimate and does NOT include the side of slaw and sweet potato.
Calories: 263kcal
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Diet: Gluten Free
Keyword: Carnitas, Dairy Free, Dutch Oven, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Mexican, Pork, Pulled Pork, Slaw, Slow Cooking, Sweet Potato

Nutrition

Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 102mg | Sodium: 350mg | Potassium: 803mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 650IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 3mg