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Change is good. And, this recipe for carnitas may just be the ticket to upgrading your next keto salad or taco in Mexican style! Given summertime is in full swing, these are super easy to make and couldn’t make throwing together leftovers any more simple when you’ve been out enjoying the long summer days! The trickiest part of this dish, if eaten as a taco, may be finding a low-carb grain-free tortilla you like, as this is where many of your carbs may come from. Otherwise, you might consider eating this while 16:8 intermittent fasting, incorporating it into a salad bowl, or eat it using a lettuce wrap (from romaine or other firm lettuce varieties).

If you’d like to make my version of a low-carb Mexican Rice to add to your Easy Summertime Carnitas meal, click here for the recipe where I also compare the carb count between typical low-carb and grain-free tortillas.

If you get a chance to make this, consider leaving a review. I’d love to hear your feedback!

Easy Summertime Carnitas

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by J. Irish, Ketolicious Eats Course: Lunch/DinnerCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time in the Crock-Pot

hours

Crisping in a pan (optional)

minutes

Serve up these easy pork carnitas at your next potluck, using simple ingredients and a 4-quart slow cooker, and enjoy the feast! The trickiest part of this dish, if eaten as a taco, may be finding a low-carb grain-free tortilla you like, as this is where many of your carbs may come from. Otherwise, you might consider eating this while 16:8 intermittent fasting, incorporating it into a salad bowl, or eat it using a lettuce wrap (from romaine or other firm lettuce varieties).

Approximate macros (from Cronometer) for one taco, including in the recipe 5 total limes, 1-1/2 onions, 1 cup of chopped cilantro topping, and coconut flour tortillas: 175 calories | 20.5g protein | 10.9 net carbs | 5.6g fat

Ingredients

2 pounds 2 humanely-raised pork tenderloin (Note: Carnitas are typically made with pork shoulder meat, but tenderloin is the most readily available at grocery stores.)
1 teaspoon 1 kosher salt (I like Diamond Crystal brand)
1 teaspoon 1 black pepper
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons 1-1/2 to 2 cumin powder
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons 1-1/2 to 2 dried oregano
1 tablespoon 1 avocado oil
4 4 garlic cloves, whole, peeled
3 to 5 limes 3 to 5 (3 small limes or one large lime) will juiced and put into the slow cooker; the remaining ones can be cut into quarters for squeezing over salads/tacos*
1 to 1-1/2 1 to 1-1/2 onion(s), 1/2 of it is sliced and put into the slow cooker, and the other half is diced for your cilantro-onion topping)
1/2 cup 1/2 organic chicken bone broth
1/2 tablespoon 1/2 monk fruit sweetener
1 cup 1 cilantro, chopped, for a topping/garnish with diced onions
grain-free tortillas–I like Sana Foods corn-like tortillas–approx. 7 net carbs per serving (formerly called The Real Coconut) or Egg Life Foods flour-like tortillas–1 net carb per serving (Note: I do not believe the Egg Life Foods tortillas are non-GMO.)**
1 1 avocado, cut into slices (or guacamole) for topping
butter, romaine or other firm leaf lettuce, optional, for eating these as a carnitas lettuce wrap
Optional Extras
jalapeños, diced with the remaining onions and cilantro, for extra heat

Directions

Set your slow cooker to low, and add the four whole garlic cloves and chicken bone broth.
In a casserole dish, mix together the cumin powder, oregano, kosher salt, and black pepper. *Then, remove from plastic packaging the cold pork tenderloin, and coat each loin(s) in this seasoned rub. The loin(s) should be completely covered in rub. Allow the loin(s) to come to room temperature (for more flavor) before adding to the slow cooker. Marinades and rubs absorb more readily into raw meat at room temperature.

*If possible, it is best to prepare the rub, coat the loin(s), and refrigerate covered the night before (for more added flavor) prior to adding it to the warmed slow cooker.
Add the loin(s) to slow cooker, if you haven’t already. Set your timer for 4 hours.
When meat is done, turn off the slow cooker, and shred the meat with a fork.
Now, with a large skillet on medium-high heat, add the avocado oil, and transfer half the shredded pork to your fry pan. (You can save the juice from the slow cooker to rehydrate the meat if you feel you’ve fried too much of the juice out of it in this step or to rehydrate the meat when making leftovers.) You don’t want to overly fill the fry pan so that these carnitas easily crisp up. Optional: Add about 1/4 cup sliced or diced onions to allow them to caramelize and deepen the color of the meat as they fry in the pan.
Allow meat mixture to fry for about 10 minutes, turning the meat from time to time, so the meat gets crispy on some edges but not completely dried out. Repeat steps #5 and #6 for the remaining meat. The meat will darken some as the juices evaporate out and parts of the meat get crisp.
When done, serve with your favorite grain-free tortillas, fresh-squeezed lime, diced onion, cilantro, guacomole, your favorite hot sauce, and enjoy!

Notes

* Carnitas are usually made with orange juice rather lime juice, but lime has been used as a lower-sugar substitute so you may consider adding a little bit of keto-friendly sweeter, if you prefer a sweeter taste.
** I have emailed Egg Life Foods to see if they are considering an organic version of these wraps that are so easy to use (just 1 net carb per tortilla), but I have not heard back from them yet.
I recommend using clean, organic ingredients whenever possible.