Summary:
Pork shoulder, also known as pork butt or Boston butt, is cut into chunks and slow-roasted in the oven with onions and an array of warm spices. This Mexican-inspired dish has tender shreddable meat that can be used as a filling for burritos and tacos.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 pounds boneless pork butt, pork shoulder, or boston butt (Note 1)
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup
tomato paste - 1/2 cup
apple cider vinegar - 2 tablespoons
balsamic vinegar - 2 tablespoons
olive oil - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Dried Seasonings:
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon
dried oregano - 1 teaspoon
ground cumin - 1/2 teaspoon
unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/2 teaspoon
ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
ground cloves
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare: Position oven rack in lower half of oven, and preheat to 300 F. Check that all ingredients are measured, prepared, and ready to go.
- Cut Pork: Pat pork dry with paper towels. Cut meat into roughly 1-inch chunks or smaller, trimming off excess fat. About 1/2 pound of fat is typically removed, with 2.5 pounds of lean meat remaining.
- Cook Aromatics: Add oil to large oven-safe pot (Note 2) over medium heat. Once heated, add onions and cook until turning light brown, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in all dried seasonings for a minute to release aromatics. Stir in tomato paste for a minute until well-mixed. Browned bits should be forming along bottom of pot, adding flavor to dish. Turn off heat.
- Add Acid & Pork: Add apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar. Stir everything together, using stiff wooden utensil to loosen browned bits stuck to bottom of pot. Add pork chunks, stirring with other ingredients until well-coated with sauce.
- Bake: Transfer pot to oven. Bake uncovered for 1 hour, remove and stir, then bake uncovered for another hour or until pork is very tender. As pork cooks, liquid will be released and any meat sitting above liquid level will be nicely browned.
- Thicken Sauce: Transfer pot to stovetop. Turn on medium heat and boil for about 10 minutes to thicken from watery liquid to sauce-like consistency. While boiling, use stiff wooden utensil to occasionally scrape along bottom of pot to prevent sticking. Turn off heat.
- Serve: Serve pork with sauce (Note 3), and top with cilantro. If sauce looks greasy, use slotted spoon to avoid serving oil with pork.
NUTRITION
| Makes 5 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving: |
| Calories 570 (60% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 38g | 58% |
| Saturated Fat 9g | 44% |
| Cholesterol 152mg | 51% |
| Sodium 1200mg | 50% |
| Net Carb 5.5g | |
| Total Carb 7g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 1.5g | 6% |
| Sugars 4g | |
| Protein 41g |
PHOTOS
This recipe looks delicious. Can I substitute something for the cocoa powder. Can’t have caffeine.
Thanks.
If you can’t have cocoa powder, I would just skip it. Hope you get a chance to make it!
Can it be cooked in the crock pot?
Hi there: thank you for posting this. It does say to roast for 2 hours uncovered and then thicken the remaining liquid at the end. With only 1/2 cup of ACV and a bit of tomato paste, is there much liquid left? I’m afraid it might be too dry as I like lots of sauce. (or does the low temp. prevent the dryness? 😋
There is liquid/sauce after baking, enough that it needs to be boiled off on the stovetop afterwards (see Step 6). If you prefer more sauce, you can either boil for a shorter amount of time than the recipe specifies, or you can skip that step altogether.
Very good and easy. Next time I’ll cut back on the salt a bit
Ever made this in an instant pot? If so how?
Delicious recipe!!! So flavorful and easy to make. I appreciate that the ingredients are simple.
Julia – could I do this in the Instant Pot, finishing it on sauté? It seems similar to a carnitas recipe I made that way. It looks delicious! Thanks!
Yes, you can make this in your Instant Pot. Let me know if you give it a try 🙂