Beer Braised Carnitas are an incredibly easy main dish that can be served alongside tortillas for a taco feast! Although this recipe calls for a pork shoulder roast, you can substitute a beef shoulder roast without any changes to the recipe.
What to buy for your Carnitas Taco Feast!
Once you select the type of meat you will use for your Beer Braised Carnitas, you can then assemble the rest of your taco feast. While you are at the supermarket, you may want to pick up the following ingredients:
Corn or Flour Tortillas
Avocados
Onions
Radishes
Tomatoes
Lettuce
Cabbage
Shredded cheese
Cilantro
Canned pickled jalapeños
Fresh chiles
You don’t have to get everything on this list. Simply choose the taco toppings and tortillas that are your preference. As for salsa, I uses Sriracha sauce in the video. However, you can make Roasted Tomato Salsa or Salsa Verde, which are easy and delicious! Pickled Onions are excellent also!
When buying the beer, look for a full-bodied beer for the best flavor. Light beers don’t add enough flavor in my opinion. But if light beer is what you have on hand, then definitely use it! An ale or dark beer might be a bit too heavy and syrupy for braising. Again, if that is what you like, then try it!
Insta-pot, Slow cooker, or Stove?
There are lots of slow braised carnitas recipes for the Insta-Pot or slow cooker, but I prefer to use a good ol’ fashioned pan on the stove. Because I have a gas stove, the heat is higher and the meat sears better. In my book, you just can’t get that deeply caramelized braised texture and flavor in a slow cooker. If you like, you can sear your roast on the stove, and then transfer to a slow cooker or Insta-pot for the long cooking time, but then you will have more washing up to do afterwards.
Beer Braised Carnitas is something I make quite often as it is delicious, savory and easy. And BEER, y’all! It’s what ‘s for dinner!
Beer Braised Carnitas
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Ingredients
2–3 tbls. olive oil (30ml-45ml)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 lb pork or beef shoulder roast (1.5kg)
Salt and pepper to taste
24 oz full bodied beer (710ml)
2 cups water (480ml)
Instructions
Heat a large pan with a lid or Dutch oven on the stove. Add the olive oil and allow to heat briefly. Add the chopped onions and allow to sauté until deeply brown.
Place the shoulder roast in the heated pan and allow to sear until well browned, about 3 minutes per side. You can sear on one or both sides, as desired. Add chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Add beer and water and cover with a lid. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 2 hours, or until the carnitas are tender when pierced with a fork.
When the roast is tender, shred into carnitas by pulling the meat apart with two forks.
Notes
I prefer bone-in shoulder roasts as they have more flavor, but boneless is fine too.
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