30 Minute Pork Tenderloin Carnitas

When you can’t wait 8-10 hours for a bowl of carnitas, try these 30 Minute Light Pork Carnitas. Juicy meat with authentic flavors that will tickle your tastebuds ASAP. That too without all the fat!

Late Friday night I decided to make taco salad cups for lunch on Saturday, and since pork tenderloin was the only meat I had in my freezer, that’s what I had to use. I needed to fill up quite a few cups though, so I decided to go with the carnitas way of cooking the meat and having it shredded up.

Went to bed and was so disappointed the next morning when I saw how long it would take to make carnitas. The quickest recipe out there would take 3-4 hours, and I just didn’t have the time.

Found some sort of recipe or post or something online – which I can’t seem to locate right now – and came up with this method.

Cut up the meat into smaller chunks, seasoned it right, and baked it at a low temperature to get that perfectly tender tenderloin.

The meat pulled apart like opposite ends of a magnet. Success indeed!

30 Minute Pork Tenderloin Carnitas

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Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Servings: 1 cup

Calories: 257kcal

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

When you can’t wait 8-10 hours for a bowl of carnitas, try these 30 Minute Light Pork Carnitas. Juicy meat with authentic flavors that will tickle your tastebuds ASAP.

Ingredients

• 7 oz Pork Tenderloin, 200g
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• ½ cup Chicken Broth
• 1 tsp Garlic, Minced
• 1½ tsp Chili Powder
• ½ tsp Cumin
• ½ tsp Paprika
• ¼ tsp Dried Oregano, or Italian Seasoning
• ¼ tsp Onion Powder
• ¼ tsp Garlic Powder

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 275°F.
• Trim off excess fat from pork, cut into 1½” pieces and season with salt and pepper.
• In an oven-safe bowl, combine chicken broth and spices.
• Add pork to bowl and cover with tin foil.
• Bake for 20 minutes, until meat is tender.
• Transfer most of the pork juices to a small skillet heated on medium, and let it thicken for about 2 minutes.
• Shred the pork in the remaining juices using 2 forks.
• Add the thickened juices and mix well.
• Serve with tortillas, salsa and some guacamole!

Notes

Nutrition:

• Servings: 1 cup | Serving size: 1 cup
• Calories: 257kcal
• Fat: 6.9g | Saturated fat: 2.7g
• Carbohydrates: 5.5g | Fiber: 1.9g | Sugar: 0.4g
• Protein: 44g