This is by far one of my favorite recipes to make in my instant pot, it's so easy and has so much flavor. Also my kids love it and the leftovers are still a hit. Which in my house, I'm usually the only one eating leftovers.
You don't have to make all of the accompaniments but if you do, they pair so well together. Also, this makes enough for about 8 servings of tacos, you can freeze half this recipe and it saves really well.
For the Carnitas
3 lbs of pork shoulder, cubed. It needs to be cubed for the instant pot or it won't get as tender as quickly.
1 Cup of water
1 Tbsp of Salt
1 tsp of Mexican Oregano
1 cup of diced white onion
4 cloves of garlic
Juice of 2 oranges, approx 1/2 cup
Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in the instant pot, press the meat/stew button and once finished, let the instant pot finish letting steam out through natural release.
2. Once finished, you can reserve half and let it cool and keep in freezer if its a lot for your family.
3. Heat your oven to 450 degrees. You can put the rest, either in a large cast iron saute pan or spread out on a baking sheet. ladle 1/2 cup of the juices from the instant pot over the carnitas on the pan and place in the oven until the carnitas have a nice crisp, approx 15 minutes.
For the Pickled Red Onions
1 Red Onion Sliced
Juice of 3 limes
1 habanero chopped finely(you can omit this if you don't like spice)
1 tsp salt
Directions: combine all ingredients and let marinate for at least 30 minutes, longer if possible is better.
Jalapeño Salsa
3 Jalapeños
1/2 white onion
juice of 2 limes
1/4 bunch of cilantro
1/2 cup of avocado oil
salt to taste
Directions:
on a cast iron pan, char the jalapeños until they are cooked and the skin has blistered and become black, remove stems, you can leave seeds in if you like spice, otherwise remove them.. char the white onion slightly.
place all the ingredients except for the oil, in the food processor, once it is chopped well, slowly add in the oil so that it emulsifies. Once finished, add in the salt to taste.
Garnishes:
Guacamole or Avocado Slices, Pickled Red Onions, Limes, Cilantro, Salsa