These spicy orange beef carnitas are an easy one pot meal that makes tons of leftovers to eat throughout the week.
And the carnitas love lives on….
Guess what I found out?
My beloved carnitas pizza recipe that I’ve made at least 10 times has a whole bunch of sugary corn syrup in those cans of Goya nectar.
That’s some bs, isn’t it?
I see the word “nectar” and I just assume fruit.
Why would you need to add freakin’ corn syrup to fruit, Goya?
Have you never eaten a pineapple on it’s own to realize it’s already sweet?!
I’m literally restraining my fingers from typing a nice long rant against Monsanto and our government right now.
It’s Friday, that kind of thing seems better suited for Mondays.
So I threw Goya out and got to work on my own rendition sans the life blood of America corn syrup.
And guess what?
I like these spicy orange beef carnitas even better.
I added fresh orange zest and more spices to the dry rub, fresh orange and lime juice and some chili peppers for spice.
Good ‘ol chuck did it’s thing for 3 hours in the oven and came out just as tender with the perfect amount of reduced fruit juice to toss the caramelized pulled beef back into.
If you don’t have a chuck roast on hand, tri-tip can be used in its place.
I got the same awesome sweetness to each bite but this time with a good bit of spice and heat and without the government subsidized crap.
Oops, I mean corn syrup.
Making good carnitas is really quite simple. It’s just seasoned meat that’s seared on the stove top and then simmered in a small amount of liquid for a few hours until fall-apart tender.
It’s called braising and it’s the same method that makes this braised leg of lamb so amazingly delicious.
When a recipe is this simple it’s important to have quality meat and quality liquid. The two sort of play off each other imparting their flavors in both directions while cooking.
So choose wisely on the ingredients and the outcome is sure to be delicious!
Spicy Orange Beef Carnitas
Ingredients
- 3-4 pound chuck roast
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, I use a hot version
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- zest of 1 orange
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- juice of 3 oranges
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 small green chili peppers, minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Combine spices and orange zest in a small bowl and mix together.
- Rub spice mixture on both sides of the roast.
- Heat a large dutch oven to high heat with the olive oil.
- Once hot, add the roast and brown (about 3 minutes). Flip and brown on the other side.
- Once all sides are browned, add the orange and lime juice and the chili peppers.
- Cover with lid and transfer to the oven for 3 hours.
- Remove from oven and pull beef apart with 2 forks.
- Transfer the pulled beef back into the dutch oven to absorb all the remaining juices.
- Serve garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I made this with venison instead of beef and it was delicious!
Love that twist!
I may try this, but instead of the oven, I am going to try the slow cooker on low 8-10 hours. I have 3 oranges left from a fruit basket sent to my husband post-surgery, so this is perfect. Thanks!
This recipe was perfect- I loved it! I forgot to buy the chilis at the store, but I added ~2 Tbsp of sriracha and a couple good shakes of red pepper flakes and it turned out really well. Next time I’ll try it with the chilis.
Gina,
Thanks for giving me the link to include in my upcoming Band Fruit Fundraiser Recipe Round Up! It will be published on 12/4/2013!
Made this for dinner tonight. It turned out great!!!
Could you cook this in a crackpot instead of the oven? If so would you change anything? Looks really good!
I’m sure you could, although I have not tried. I’ve done other carnitas recipes in the slow cooker and have to say I prefer the oven. The meat caramelizes better in the oven. If you did the crockpot, I’d still definitely brown the meat stove top before cooking.
Thank you. Sounds really good. Have a great day!
Shut up – what the hell the Goya nectar from the carnitas has corn syrup?!!? Wind out of sails! Heaven forbid we get actual fruit in our fruit nectar! Also – Monsanto can unkindly go eff itself.
On a much happier note – I love these carnitas. I haven’t made some since PW Wednesdays, that has to change.
Yum! I love the addition of orange!!
HAHA I love the rant. Why is our world so complicated? Did you know most of our vitamin c supplements are derived from GMO corn (unless specified they’re organic vitamins)……. I know, right?!
seriously?! wtf? Now I’m going to check the bottle of vitamins I just broke out (after getting sick for the 4th time this year!)