Delicious crispy on the edges Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas - my favourite pork recipe by far!!
Whenever I eat out at Chipotle or a local Mexican plate. I always go for the Carnitas bowl. It's one of my favourite dishes, but it has to be cooked right. I've had carnitas before that are dry and tasteless. But this amazing Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas comes packed with flavour and is juicy and tender while being slightly crisp on the edges. It's delicious!!
It's really an effortless dish too, throw all the ingredients into a slow cooker or pressure cooker and viola, a little while later, you have this tasty Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas dish.
Carnitas don't usually have pineapple juice added, but my kids love my recipe, the pineapple juice adds a subtle sweetness again the little kick from the cayenne.
I love cooking recipes in my slow cooker, but when I am rushed for time and want that deliciousness of slow cooked meat in a short time, my Instant Pot is a life saver. The meat is always so tender and literally falls apart.
An instant pot is basically a 7in1 cooker, which can slow cook, pressure cooks, sauté and has various settings for soup, chilli, rice, porridge and even makes yoghurt (I haven’t tried that yet). I tend to use manual high pressure the majority of the time, picking my own timings depending on what it is I am making.
If you love pressure cooker recipes, you must check out some of these:
- Spicy Sweet Potato and Lentils
- Easy Red Lentil Dhal
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken with Gravy
- Sloppy Joes (Stove Top and Instant Pot)
- Beef and Vegetable Casserole (Oven, Slow Cooker, Instant Pot)
- Instant Pot Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
- Vegetable and Pearl Barley Soup (Stove Top, Instant Pot)
- Coconut Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry (Instant Pot and Stove Top)
- Lentil Curry (Instant Pot and Stove Top recipe)
- Balsamic Braised Beef
or head on over to my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 800+ delicious Slimming Eats Recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients etc
The great think about this Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas is that they are versatile in a variety of different ways. Serve them in a healthy extra B choice wrap or pita, with salad, served with salad a Chips or you could even pair it with this Mexican Rice.
You can even throw some of the meat into an omelette or as a topper for some soup. But for a quick and easy dish, I like to go just for a simple salad - crisp lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, mashed avocado, coriander and some fresh lime slices.
How can I add a vegetables foods to this Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas?
If you don't fancy serving this with salad, some roasted peppers and onion, also pair really well with this. Another great option is roasted butternut squash instead of potatoes, or you could even try these Butternut Squash Fries.
What Kitchen Items do I need to make this Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas?
- Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker
- Kitchen Scales
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Wooden Spoon
- Santoku Knife (perfect knife for chopping veg)
- Chopping Board
- Baking Tray
I love to use little mini corn tortillas like these below. . I like to top the carnitas in the mini tacos with some chopped red onion and salsa.
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Pineapple Mexican Pork Carnitas (Pressure Cooker and Slow Cooker)
This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Whole30, Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly.
Ingredients
- 2lb of pork shoulder (remove visible fat) - sliced into large pieces
- 1 large onion, halved and sliced
- ¾ cup (180ml) of 100% Pure Pineapple Juice
- 2 tbs of lime juice
- 1 tablespoon of cumin
- ½ tablespoon of paprika (not smoked)
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder
- pinch of cayenne pepper (add more if you prefer more heat)
- cooking oil spray (I used avocado)
- to serve:
- Fresh Coriander and Lime Slices
Instructions
Instant Pot
- Add the pork, onion, pineapple juice, lime juice and seasonings to the instant pot
- Set to manual high pressure for 25 mins
- Once finished, let the pressure release naturally for approx 10 mins
- Spread out on a baking tray with the juice, spray over the top with cooking oil spray and place under the grill, medium heat, and grill till the edges crisp up and are slightly charred, rotate on the tray and place back under the grill and repeat.
- Serve sprinkled with fresh coriander, lime slices and your choice of sides
Slow Cooker:
- Add the pork, onion, pineapple juice, lime juice and seasonings to the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours
- Once cooked shred with a fork.
- Spread out on a baking tray with the juice, spray over the top with cooking oil spray and place under the grill, medium heat, and grill till the edges crisp up and are slightly charred rotate on the tray and place back under the grill and repeat.
- Serve sprinkled with fresh coriander, lime slices and your choice of sides
- Serve sprinkled with fresh coriander, lime slices and your choice of sides
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 205Total Fat 5.2gSaturated Fat 1.8gCholesterol 98mgSodium 464mgCarbohydrates 5.9gFiber 0.4gSugar 3.9gProtein 32g
Miriam says
Looks amazing! Bought pineapple juice this morning so I could make this in the slow cooker tomorrow but forgot to check for garlic powder! Could I just sub with garlic puree instead? And would you recommend chilli flakes or smoked paprika instead of the cayenne pepper (forgot that too!)?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Miriam, yes those should work okay. I would use chilli rather than the smoked paprika though.
Nina Bruton says
Another amazing recipe, thank you! Made this yesterday in the slow cooker for last nights dinner and it was a hit with the whole family, even those not following slimming world... yippee!!
Nia says
I have a pork tenderloin in the freezer - would this work ok instead of shoulder?
Alex H says
This looks amazing but according to my instant pot manual I need to add at least 500ml of liquid to any recipe? Do I need to add something extra?
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
no extra liquid needed, if you add anymore more liquid than stated on the recipe, it will be far too much. Don't forget the meat releases juices as it starts to cook, and you already have some liquid from the other ingredients added.
Sian Jones says
I tried this today (slow cooker method) but it doesnt look the same colour at all, the meat is grey and I tasted it and it just tastes like plain pork. Is there something used that gives the meat that lovely orange colour?
Thank you
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Did you use pork shoulder? Sounds like it could have been the pineapple juice you used maybe, make sure it's fresh and not diluted with water, you need the sugar from the pineapple juice. This is a regular rotation on my menu as its versatile in some many dishes, omelettes, pasta, with salad, on top of soup etc, so have no idea what went wrong - I recommend double-checking all your ingredients to ensure you didn't use anything diffrent. Did you finish off under the grill too, to char the edges? I always do that with this dish.
Gillian A says
When you shred the meat are you removing the onions first?
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
nope, no need to remove the onions, just shred it all up on the tray before putting under the grill.