I cannot say enough about how easy and delicious this roast pork shoulder was. In the past I fussed and fussed over how to season, how long to cook, should I marinate? No, more fussing when it comes to roasting a pork shoulder in the oven! I simply decided to treat it the same way I cook the pork belly. Simple seasoning, high temperature, initially, and a good old meat thermometer. That is all you need. For the seasoning after it roasted, I grabbed some dry spices from cupboard and combined them with a tasty sour orange marinade that I love and have used in various recipes. Of course I could have used real garlic, onion, chipotles and oranges, but sometimes we cook on the fly as I call it, Lol! This is when you create your best recipes, also known as inspiration, ha, ha, ha! After sharing a portion of the roast with some friends, we literally enjoyed pork tacos and Cuban sandwiches for quite a few days. I am not saying that everyone should do this, but I had a very busy work week, and I needed easy meals. Next week, more salad and fish, lol! #foodieforlife #tacoseveryday #porkcarnitas
Hurry! Go to the end of the post to read a delicious variation on this easy recipe!
I cannot say enough about this tasty marinade. So fortunate that the local market carries it readily. I grew up with La Preferida brand of Mexican foods.
Scoring the skin is ideal, especially makes it easy to remove the crispy pork skin!
Just that mix of seasonings with the sour orange marinade and water was enought of flavor all of the pork.
The skin was so crunchy and delicious, I could not resist trying it and enjoting it!
To create the delicious carnitas flavor, simply add some of the cooked pork to a skillet with some of the broth. Cook at medium heat until the liquid evaporates. Continue cooking, turning as needed until the meat begins to caramelize, done!
Pico de Gallo is a must when it comes to pork carnitas tacos! Find the recipe on site!
Roast Pork Shoulder! Carnitas! Easy Recipe!
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 8-9 pound pork shoulder
- Kosher Salt
- Mojo
- 2 cups Naranja Agria Marinade La Preferida Brand
- Salt to taste
- 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano crushed
Instructions
Directions
- Place pork onto baking sheet and let it come to room temperature for 40 minutes. Score the skin on the pork shoulder.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Transfer pork to a roasting pan that has a rack insert. Sprinkle the pork skin generously with kosher salt all over.
- In a large bowl, mix the mojo marinade, all the spices, salt to taste and 4 cups of water. Pour this mixture to the bottom of roasting pan.
- Transfer to the oven on the middle rack and roast for 30 minutes to crisp up the skin.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F. and continue roasting for 4-5 hours or until internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F.
- Once you reach 175 degrees F, the skin should be extra crispy and ready to eat!! Remove it, if you like. If not, cover the pork as tight as you can with heavy foil paper and return to oven for another hour or until internal temperature reaches 195-200 degrees F.
- Remove pork from oven and let it rest for a good hour or more. Transfer pork back onto a baking sheet and remove all of the meat. Pull apart or shred as desired and place all the meat into a large dish. Take the broth and drippings from the pork and pour over the pork. Stir to distribute broth evenly. Ready to eat! Sooo delicious!
Updated Recipe using 30 cloves of fresh garlic, fresh orange, lime and double the dry spices! You will follow the recipe from above, but you will add these ingredients to the bottom of roasting pan.
30 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 6 oranges
Juice of 2 limes
2 cups store bought sour orange marinade(Naranja Agria)
4 cups water
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons fresh cracked pepper
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons chipotle powder or chile de arbol
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano, crushed
Served with tostones(fried green plantains) and cilantro lime rice.
Reader Interactions
Comments
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How much mojo do you use?
Yolanda, you can use as much or as little as you want to be honest. I tend to use a lot. Super flavorful!
Thank you, Sonia! I made this on Friday. It was phenomenal. I didn’t use the mojo, but I followed the secondary recipe in addition to the first part. So many compliments. I will use mojo next time for even more flavor. Thank you!
Oh! Good!!! I love to hear this Yolanda! I appreciate the feedback.
I love this. I used a can of pineapple chunks and some grapefruit juice. I also used all the spices plus some ground coriander. Roasting on a rack in the beginning is key, as is scoring the fat cap on the shoulder. The flavors are complex and every bite is succulent. This recipe is the perfect roadmap to the perfect meat, and it makes enough to share with all of your friends. If you don’t have all the ingredients, just read the recipe and make due! There’s salt, there’s acid, there’s spice, there’s umami. Use what you have and make it your own! It’s the perfect beginning to your own creation!