These keto carnitas slow-cook themselves into tender, shreddable pork, then go under the broiler for the crispy caramelized edges that make real carnitas, all for about 1 gram of net carbs. Pile them into lettuce for skinny tacos and you have a Mexican dinner that needs no tortilla.
I love Mexican food and just because I live a low carb lifestyle doesn't mean that I can't still enjoy it. The great thing about this recipe, like so many slow cooker recipes, is that you can set it up in the morning and come home to a warm perfectly cooked meal. These Carnitas are low in fat and are great on a salad or on their own. In our home we love to make "skinny tacos". Today I used hydroponic baby romaine lettuce as the shell, but you can also use butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce. The most important aspect to this recipe is spices, spices and more spices! The healthiest and easiest way to add flavor any meal is to spice it up. I tend to use dried spices because they stay fresh forever if stored in a airtight container. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do.
What real carnitas are, and the crispy-edge fix
Carnitas come from Michoacan, where pork shoulder and belly are slowly confit in lard, manteca, in a big copper cazo until the meat is tender with crispy, caramelized edges. The locals chop the pork rather than pull it, so every bite has some crisp shards and some soft strings, and that contrast is the whole point. My slow-cooker version is leaner, pork loin in broth instead of fatty pork in lard, which makes it lighter but skips the crisp the fat would give. The fix is the last step in the recipe: once the pork is shredded, spread it on a sheet pan, drizzle on a little of the cooking liquid, and run it under the broiler for a few minutes until the edges char. That gets you the crispy carnitas texture without the bath of lard.
Net carbs and skinny tacos
Pork and spices are essentially carb-free, so this lands around 1 gram of net carbs a serving, one of the lowest mains you can make. Cook the pork to a safe 145 degrees F with a rest, the USDA mark, though slow-cooked for eight hours it goes well past that and stays safe. Serve it in lettuce leaves as skinny tacos, the way I do, or over a taco salad, or rolled into lettuce wraps. It is one of the slow-cooker mains in my low carb comfort food dinners guide.
Sources
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, safe minimum temperature for pork.
Michoacan carnitas references, on the lard-confit method and crispy edges.
Sugarfreechic test kitchen, low-carb Mexican notes.
