Chicken Carnitas

Mireille · 11/04/2018 at 10:34 pm

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Serve with tacos, enchilada, or burritos. You can’t go wrong with this recipe! Chicken carnitas prepared in a pressure cooker is on the menu today and it will make you happy. The chicken is tender and crispy. So, are you ready to learn how to make pressure cooker chicken carnitas? Let’s get started!

What You Need For This Recipe

To make this easy chicken carnitas recipe you need to get the following ingredients. Put them on your grocery shopping list and have them ready when you start:

Chicken breast
Garlic
Onion
Taco seasoning
Lime
Orange juice
Beer
Tomato salsa

Note that the full ingredients list, including measurements, can be found in the recipe card below.

How To Make Pressure Cooker Chicken Carnitas

To make this chicken recipe start with finely chopping the onion and garlic. Take your pressure cooker and put the chicken breast in it.
Sprinkle taco seasoning on the chicken breast then add the onion and garlic on top.
Now it is time for all the liquids so lime juice, orange juice, and beer. Top with tomato salsa or your favorite salsa and you are done.
All you need to do is close the lid and put the pressure cooker on High Pressure or Meat/Stew. Set the timer to 30 minutes and it will let you know once the chicken is done.
Shred the chicken and in the meanwhile turn your oven to broil. Put some parchment paper on a baking tray and divide your shredded chicken on the baking tray.
Take 4 to 5 tablespoons of liquid from the pressure cooker and put it on the shredded poultry before you put the baking tray under the broiler.
Leave in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the carnitas is golden brown and crispy.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Carnitas Recipe

After a slow-cooked recipe of barbecue ribs in the Crockpot Express, it is now time for a pressure cooker chicken recipe. It only takes you half an hour in a pressure cooker.

Chicken is an easy recipe to shred even if you do not have a pressure cooker. Chicken is more tender when cooked in an Instant Pot or Crockpot Express compared to boiling.

This recipe is made with chicken breast but you can also substitute it with chicken thighs. A chicken breast is drier than a chicken thigh but both yield tender meat from the pressure cooker.

Using the right liquids adds to the tenderness of the chicken. In this recipe, it is lime, orange juice, and beer. Beer can be used as a tenderizer for meats as it contains enzymes that break down tough fibers in your meat.

Orange juice also has a tenderizing effect on chicken and penetrates the meat.

Can You Make Chicken Carnitas In A Slow Cooker?

Yes, even if you do not have a pressure cooker like an Instant Pot or Crockpot Express but only have a traditional Crockpot slow cooker you can prepare this chicken carnitas.

Follow the same process and how to prepare chicken, spices, and liquids. For the traditional Crockpot set it to:

HIGH – for 3 hours
LOW – for 6 hours

When the cooking time is done shred the chicken and then follow the instructions to broil the carnitas and make them crispy and golden.

Can You Make Pressure Cooker Chicken Carnitas Ahead?

Yes, you can make chicken carnitas. This is a great recipe to double or even triple. A Crock-Pot Express or Instant Pot is big enough to make a big batch of chicken carnitas.

Just wait to grill the chicken meat under the grill or in an Air Fryer. You can heat it under the grill when you are ready to serve it.

How To Store Chicken Carnitas

heat If you have leftover carnitas or you made a big batch you can store it in several ways. Let the chicken cool within an hour.

Refrigerator – you can store your carnitas in an airtight food container or in a Ziploc bag. Label it and store it for up to 3 days
Freezer – if you want to keep it longer, I recommend you store it in the freezer. Again, cool and store it in a freezer-friendly food container or resealable bag. Label it and store it for up to 3 months

How To Reheat Chicken Carnitas

You have several options to reheat your carnitas. Depending on whether you have frozen the carnitas let them thaw in the fridge overnight.

You then have the following options:

Oven – you can follow the instructions as described in the recipe. Turn on the grill/broiler in your oven to preheat and put the carnitas on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Divide the carnitas on the baking sheet and bake the carnitas. Keep a close eye as it can burn fast. Move the chicken carnitas around until all of it is crispy
Air Fryer – you can also reheat carnitas in an Air Fryer. Preheat the Air Fryer to 400℉ and put the carnitas in a Cake barrel or Air Fryer pizza plate. Reheat the carnitas for 10 minutes and check every 3 minutes. Turn the chicken if required
Cast-iron skillet – you can also reheat carnitas in a cast-iron skillet. Preheat it to medium-hot and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the carnitas and move them around the skillet until warm

Serve Chicken Carnitas With

You can eat chicken carnitas perfectly and turn them into tasty tacos. You can also serve it with:

Crispy crunchy corn tacos – Eat with crunchy corn tacos
Soft fajitas tortillas – you can eat them with soft fajitas tortillas take some tomato salsa and carnitas and you have a great meal
Scallion pancakes are a little flaky and with lots of flavor with the sesame oil and scallion. A great combination
Roasted tomato salsa – put some of this salsa on your carnitas
Garlic and herbs chickpea tortilla – another great combination to eat your chicken carnitas with

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