I attempted this recipe for the first time last night, and it turned out SO GREAT that I just had to share it here will all of you!! First of all, it's INEXPENSIVE TO MAKE....AND...even my picky, picky 6 yr. old ate it and LOVED IT!!

I'd never even noticed before yesterday that this was sold in our meat dept. (of Walmart), and since there were instructions on how to make it right on the package I decided to give it a whirl. This will now be one of our families' FAVORITE MEALS from here on out!!

I bought two packages of carnitas, one at $2.86 and the other at $3.86, and made the larger package last night. I was surprised that it wasn't a whole piece of meat, and that it was chunks of pork instead!! On the package was the following instructions...

PREHEAT OVEN TO 325

Make a rub consisting of:

- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano (I just used regular oregano, crushed!)
- 1/2 tsp. dried cilantro leaves (I used 1 cube of cilantro - like you would put in soups- made by Knorr - found by the Mexican foods section of my Walmart...)
- 1/4 tsp. cumin

1. Rinse and arrange all pork pieces, in single layer, in 13X9X2 baking dish. (I drained my meat well before placing them in the dish..)

2. Sprinkle spice mix, a little at a time, evenly over pork, then rub into pieces. Turn pieces over and continue sprinkling and rubbing spices into meat until all is used. (I did not use all of the spice mix. Wasn't sure about all the black pepper, and if DD would think it was too "hot", so I used all but 2 tsp. of it, and it was perfect!!)

3. Cover tightly with foil, and bake at 325 for 1 to 1 -1/2 hrs., or until meat is very tender. (Or until 160 degrees internal temp.) Remove foil, then bake another 15 minutes to crisp the meat on the top. (I baked mine for 1 and 3/4 hrs., then removed foil for last 15 minutes. PERFECTLY TENDER!!)

I served this, pulled apart, with fresh lime juice and chopped, fresh cilantro on top (instead of lettce - gives the meat even MORE of a lime taste!! ) - in corn tortillas that I "fried" on each side, in a bit of oil in a skillet. DH topped his also with diced lime and cilantro-seasoned "mexican" tomatoes, and chopped onion.

MAN!! You should have smelled how GREAT this made my house smell!! And like I said, my very picky DD even ate these!! I can hardly wait to have more for lunch today!!

ENJOY!!

It does sound good. But what is a carnita, is it the meat? If not. what kind of meat did you use?

carnita means little meats in spanish...you could use cubed pork or prob even beef!!


This recipe looks awesome!!!! I am gonna have to try this one!!!!

and I believe ya...I bet the house did smell awesome!!!

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this sounds good. I'm gonna have to try it

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- Chantelle

Mommy to Roly (2000) and Elijah (2005) and Mikayla (2009)

Thanks you mommy2mercedes

Ooooooo....I bet BEEF would be awesome too!! I"ll have to try that next!!

see post below

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

I use steak, pork, chicken just about any meat will work but it is usually pork. I would suggest just heating the tortillas over the stove/griddle to soften them.

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

Oh, YUM! I am definitely going to have to try this!!! Carnitas are my favorite! We get these all the time when we go out of town. Thanks so much for posting!