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What Are Carnitas Tacos?

By Niam Hocaine, founder and food writer · Updated August 31, 2026

Carnitas are pork, usually shoulder, simmered slowly in its own fat with orange, bay and salt until it falls apart, then crisped at the edges and chopped onto a corn tortilla with onion, cilantro and lime. The dish comes from Michoacan and is cooked in a wide copper pot

Carnitas tacos: pork, confit: simmered for hours in its own lard, then crisped, on corn tortillasCarnitas Tacos

It tastes of pork and rendered fat rather than chile, and it is not spicy on its own. This guide explains how carnitas are cooked, how they differ from carne asada and barbacoa, and where to find them near you.

Carnitas (Tacos de Carnitas) are Michoacán tacos made with shoulder, belly, ribs, leg , often mixed, confit: simmered for hours in its own lard, then crisped, served on corn tortillas.

Also called
Tacos de Carnitas
Family
Meat
Filling
Pork
Cut / main ingredient
Shoulder, belly, ribs, leg , often mixed
How it is cooked
Confit: simmered for hours in its own lard, then crisped
Tortilla
Corn
Usually topped with
Onion, cilantro, salsa verde, lime
From
Michoacán, Mexico

Ordered by cut: maciza (lean), buche, cuerito, surtida (mixed)

Where US venues name it

CA 16IL 10TX 7UT 4WA 3WI 2NY 1AZ 1

Counted from venue names in our directory, so it undercounts places that serve it without saying so.

Share your location and we search 50 miles around you for the closest carnitas tacos, each shown with its distance.

Where to eat carnitas in the US

Encinitas, CA

  1. Juanita's CarnitasMexican restaurant · 290 North Coast Highway 101Open, closes 10:00 pmCallDirections

Chicago, IL

  1. Birriería Y Carnitas El GallitoBirrieria · 7021 North Clark StreetOpen, closes 9:00 pmCallDirections

Round Lake Park, IL

  1. El Alex Carnitas y Taqueria Estilo MichoacanTaqueria · 118 East Main StreetClosed todayDirections

Seattle, WA

  1. Carnitas Michoacan Carniceria & TaqueriaTaqueria · Seattle, WAHours not recordedCallDirections

Shoreline, WA

  1. Quere tacos y carnitasTaco shop · Shoreline, WAHours not recordedDirections

Burien, WA

  1. Carnitas Mr. Porky TaqueriaTaqueria · 12803 Ambaum Boulevard SouthwestHours not recordedDirections

Carnitas: your questions

What is on a carnitas taco?

Pork shoulder simmered slowly in its own fat until tender, then crisped, chopped or shredded onto a corn tortilla with white onion, cilantro, a squeeze of lime and salsa. Sometimes a little pickled onion or a slice of pineapple.

What is the difference between carnitas and asada tacos?

Carnitas is pork, slow-cooked in fat and then crisped. Carne asada is beef (skirt or flank steak) marinated and grilled hot and fast, then chopped. Carnitas is soft and rich; asada is charred and beefy.

How are carnitas traditionally cooked?

In a wide copper pot (cazo) over a flame, the pork submerged in lard with a little milk, orange, bay and salt, cooked low for a couple of hours until it falls apart, then the heat is raised to crisp the outside. It comes from Michoacán.

What does carnitas mean?

"Little meats", a reference to the small pieces the crisped pork is chopped into.

Last updated August 31, 2026. Venue details refresh with each data import.