These crispy delicious pork carnitas are made in the Ninja Foodi in less than 1 hour. Pressure cook them to tender and crisp them up all in one device.
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I recently became the owner of a Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker with Air Crisper. What’s that you ask? It’s a magical device that Ninja has bestowed upon us. It’s a pressure cooker. It’s an air fryer. It’s a pressure cooker and an air fryer all combined in one device.
I’ll be doing a full and thorough review on the Ninja Foodie soon. Until then, I’ve been testing it out on different recipes to see if it really works as expected.
- Chicken Wings from frozen
- Chicken pot pie
- A whole roasted chicken (twice)
- And this pork carnita recipe
All of these have turned out wonderful. I wanted to go ahead and post this pork carnita recipe as it was one of my main determining factors of making the purchase.
I was in the market for a second pressure cooker and this one caught my eye. I love cooking meats in my pressure cooker but sometimes I want that extra crisp. I could always use my pressure cooker and then place my meat in the air fryer or oven…but if I can get it all done in one place, then why not.
Will the Ninja Foodi replace my Instant Pot and Air Fryer?
For me personally, it won’t…but it’s staying for sure. I’m not in love with the Air Fryer basket on the Ninja Foodi as there is no long handle.
I wanted two pressure cookers anyway and my Instant Pot does a mighty good job on pressure cooking, so I’ll keep it too.
Ninja Foodi Pork Carnita Recipe
Of all the recipes I’ve made thus far, this is already one of my favorites. I love making shredded pork for multiple uses…tacos, burritos, rice bowl, sandwiches, etc.
I usually make it in a slow cooker or my pressure cooker but I always have to transfer the pork to the oven to really get it crisp. That’s an entire day of cooking…which I don’t have much time for.
This Ninja Foodi method allowed me to get it all done in less than an hour.
Here’s the video of me making this recipe in full. I’ll be making some more Ninja Foodi recipes to share as well. As always, Enjoy 🙂
Looking for more Ninja Foodi Recipes? Try these out:
Looking for more Air Fryer Pork Recipes? Try these out:
Air Fryer Mustard Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Air Fried Japanese Tonkatsu (Air Fried Boneless Pork Chops)
Pin Ninja Foodi Recipe: Pork Carnitas for Later
Ninja Foodi Recipe: Crispy Pork Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork butt chopped into 2 inch pieces
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 orange cut in half
- 1 yellow onion peeled and cut in half
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Place pork, salt, oregano, and cumin in Ninja Foodi pressure cook insert. Combine making sure the seasonings are covering the pork.
- Take the orange and squeeze the juices over the pork. Put the squeezed orange in the insert, along with the onion, garlic cloves, and ½ cup chicken broth.
- Cover the Ninja Foodi with the pressure cooker cover, ensuring the valve is set to seal. Set the Ninja Foodi to High Pressure and cook for 20 minutes.
- Once the 20 minute timer is complete, do a quick release by switching the valve to vent. Once all the pressure is released, open the lid and remove the orange, onion, and garlic cloves.
- Set the Ninja Foodi to satué and select md:hi. The liquid will begin to simmer. Allow the liquid to cook until it reduces, about 10-15 minutes.
- Once the majority of the liquid has reduced, press stop on the Ninja Foodi and then close the Ninja Foodi Air Crisp lid.
- Select Broil and adjust the time to 8 minutes.
- Once complete, use the crispy delicious meat in tacos, bowls, sandwiches, wraps, etc. Top with cilantro or any of your favorite toppings.
Alisha says
December 2, 2019 at 9:42 pmI just purchased a foodi and this was my first recipe with it. I cannot thank you enough for sharing! It was perfectly done in an hour start to finish and tasted great. Honestly it was the first meal I had made in a while and it felt so good! I look forward to seeing what other recipes you share! Thank you again.
Tanya says
December 3, 2019 at 6:25 amHi Alisha, Thank you so much for your kind comment. I love how making this recipe made you feel good. It’s my goal with every recipe I post. Thanks again for making the recipe 🙂
John says
November 16, 2019 at 1:02 pmMade this recipe with just a few modifications. I went a bit heavier in the cumin because we enjoy the taste. I also sliced the onion into medium sized rings and left them in. After the broiling I put the crisper on for a few for some extra crispy pieces. Outside of that- I followed the cooking times and instructions to a T and they were amazing. Thank you for posting and thanks for the video!
Tanya says
November 16, 2019 at 7:15 pmThank you for the feedback 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Nicole says
November 11, 2019 at 6:06 pmThis recipe was very easy. I did not have the cumin and made it without. Still tasted wonderful. My husband is not a pork fan and still enjoyed this.
Kenzie says
November 6, 2019 at 11:54 amHi! This looks so yummy. I can’t wait to make it. Do you know what an approximate cooking time would be from frozen? Thank!!
Tanya says
November 7, 2019 at 12:19 pmI’m not 100% sure as I haven’t cooked it from frozen. Are you using meat that has already been cut into chunks? The size of the meat would make a huge difference in the cook time.
LizzTheLegend says
October 28, 2019 at 9:28 pmAlright now, listen, I have made this a total of 3 times now. And you know what? I could squeeze you so hard you popped, because THIS MEAL MADE ME A LEGIT F*****G HERO!
Y’all, I have used country style boneless ribs and also a butt roast-you can NOT screw this recipe up! It is so damn perfect!!
Thank you for taking the time to teach us. Hot damn, you’re on my top 10 favorite people list! 😂😁
Tanya says
October 28, 2019 at 11:25 pmBest comment ever!!! lol, thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and great tip on the other meat options.
Carrie Ann says
October 14, 2019 at 12:12 amSo easy and delicious… I cannot thank you enough!!
Alex says
October 12, 2019 at 7:34 pmGreat recipe! One question: it’s hard for me to find pork butt at times, is there another cut you could reccomend if someone can’t find pork butt? Thanks for the recipe, been dreaming of em since I made it the first time!
Tanya says
October 13, 2019 at 9:22 pmHi Alex, so glad you like the recipe. I would only use pork butt/shoulder. I can’t be sure other cuts will shred as easily and have the same flavor.
Kosta says
November 10, 2019 at 10:47 pmI used pork loin and it was fantastic
Kayla says
October 10, 2019 at 3:31 pm✩✩✩✩✩ Awesome recipe. ** I DOUBLED this, using 4 lbs of pork. Seriously debated with myself on whether to cook more than 20 mins. The definite answer is DON’T INCREASE THE PRESSURE COOKING TIME. And don’t go searching for other suggestions like I did. Waste of time. I ultimately ended up doing 27 mins and the pork was wonderful; but the extra time wasn’t necessary. I doubled the broth too but could’ve gotten away with using less.
Otherwise, the other things I did differently were just using (chicken) bone broth, because I had it on hand, and I squeezed some fresh lime juice in the pot before pressure cooking.
This really is the only carnitas recipe you need!
Tanya says
October 10, 2019 at 8:40 pmThank you 🙂 So happy doubling it worked out Kayla.
Kim says
October 3, 2019 at 4:59 pmTo double (or slightly more than double), what changes should be made? more liquid? Longer cooking time?
Tanya says
October 3, 2019 at 10:43 pmHi Kim. To double you can double the liquid but keep the cook time the same.
Sara says
September 9, 2019 at 5:38 amThank you for this delicious recipe. It gets rave reviews from the family and is relatively easy to make.
Tanya says
September 9, 2019 at 7:06 amOh my it’s the easiest. We love it too and I’ve got plans to make it again this week. Thank you for trying it and leaving a review.
Mike says
August 17, 2019 at 3:36 pmAt what point do you shred the pork? Or is it already falling apart when you’re finished cooking?
Tanya says
August 19, 2019 at 10:53 amI shred it before I crisp it. It’s easy to shred right in the pot.
Jean S. says
July 24, 2019 at 8:37 pmI am making this for the fourth time! Always rave reviews. May never use another recipe! Thanks!
Tanya says
July 25, 2019 at 7:17 amAwesome! So glad you liked them. It’s the only recipe I use too 🙂
Marla says
July 18, 2019 at 1:05 pmI learned to double this recipe…. outstanding
Annie KC MO says
July 7, 2019 at 4:43 pmThis was my second dish I made in my Foodi amd I don’t know how I’ll try anything else because We. Just. Keep. Making. It. It’s so delicious thank you for sharing!
Leslie FL says
June 3, 2019 at 8:17 pmThis was amazing. Wishing I had made more. I minced the garlic instead of crushing and removing… Will use a smaller orange next time, and mojo instead of broth. Thank you for the great recipe!