Carnita Rice Bowl

4.75 from 4 votes

These carnitas bowls are our favorite way to eat carnitas pork. They are naturally gluten free without tortillas, you can control the carbs with how much rice you choose and they are so fresh, simple, nutritious and delicious.

Course Main

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 3

Total Time 3 20

Servings bowls

Calories 687kcal

Author Julie & Debbie

Ingredients

FOR THE CARNITAS

1-2 kg pork butt roast (shoulder)
2 tbsp salt and pepper each
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp coconut oil or other oil with a high smoke point
1 small onion , cut into quarters or eighths
5 cloves garlic , smashed
1 bottle beer (whatever you have)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 oranges , juiced
2 limes , juiced
2 tbsp palm (or brown) sugar
1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce

FOR THE FRESH SALSA

2 large tomatoes , roughly chopped
1 dried Mexican chili , rehydrated in water
½ medium onion , roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 handful fresh cilantro chopped
1 large lime juiced
1 tsp salt

FOR THE SPICY MAYO

1/2 cup mayo
1 lime , juiced
1 tbsp siracha sauce (or other hot sauce)

FOR THE CILANTRO LIME RICE

1 1/2 cups white or brown rice
2 cups water
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

FOR THE BOWLS

1/2 cup cilantro lime rice
1/3 cup carnita meat
1/2 tomato chopped
1/2 avocado , chopped
1/8 cup black beans
2-3 tbsp fresh salsa
2 tbsp cojita cheese or use feta
1 tbsp spicy mayo or more drizzled on top

Instructions

MAKE THE CARNITAS

Turn your oven on to 350 degrees.
Rinse your pork roast quite well and pat dry. Season the roast with salt, pepper and the cumin all over. Be generous with the salt and pepper.
Get out a big oven proof pot with a lid and put it on med-high heat on the stove. Add the coconut oil, let it get hot, and then brown the roast well on all sides. Turn the heat off.
Add the onion, garlic, and chipotle pepper to the pot. Pour in the beer, apple cider vinegar and squeeze in the lime and orange juice. You can put in the peel as well, but I found that the lime peel gave a tiny hint of a bitter flavor that I didn’t care for.
Cover the pot with the lid and slide it in the oven. Cook for 3 hours or until the roast is fall apart tender.
When its ready, remove the roast from the pot, let it cool for a bit and shred the meat, removing most of the fat at the same time. Place the shredded meat on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Turn your oven on to broil and when its nice and hot, place the tray of meat under the broiler until the meat starts to get crispy and caramelized in some places. If your tray is quite full, you might want to stir the meat a bit so that some other parts can get crispy. Make sure to watch it closely and don't let it burn.
Set the meat aside or store in a big container with a lid.

MAKE THE FRESH SALSA

Place all the ingredients for the salsa in a blender or food processor and whiz it up good till it becomes a thick sauce. Give it a taste and make sure it doesn’t need more salt, lime, or cilantro. Set aside or store in a mason jar or other container.

MAKE THE SPICY MAYO

Mix the mayo , lime juice and hot sauce in a bowl or shake it in a jar. Add a little more lime if it needs to get a little thinner consistency. I like to keep it in a squeeze bottle so its easy to squirt on the tacos.

MAKE THE CILANTRO LIME RICE

Bring the water and lime juice to a boil in a medium pot. When its boiling add the rice, cover and turn down the heat to low.
Cook until the rice is almost cooked but the water is not quite absorbed yet. Add the chopped cilantro and give it a stir. Cover the rice again and cook until the rice absorbs all the water and rice is nice and fluffy.
Remove from the heat and let it sit covered until you are ready to put the rice bowls together.

ASSEMBLE THE BOWLS

Chop up the tomatoes, open and drain the black beans, peel and dice your avocado.
Place your desired amount of rice in a bowl, add some carnitas meat, tomato, black beans and avocado. Pour a few spoonfuls of salsa on top followed by a sprinkle of cheese and cilantro. Finish with a drizzle of spicy mayo on top.Serve!

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