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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The full recipe with ingredients/instructions is available on the recipe card at the bottom of the post. Important tips/tricks are also included in the blog post.
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)
These Carnitas are great with this Homemade Salsa Recipe.
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 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 orange cut in half
- 1 yellow onion peeled and cut in half
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
- ½ 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.
Lynn says
Thank you Tanya, this recipe is so great! Of course during this time of scant grocery runs, I was able to make this with what I had on hand. I had some frozen country style boneless pork, no oranges, but lemons and limes from our yard, so used a lil brown sugar to sweeten that up a bit. No cilantro, but served with cabbage , jack cheese, and hot sauce on tortillas..
Gini says
How about cooking the whole pork butt without cutting into small pieces? Same cook time?
Tanya says
A whole butt would take about 90 minutes of high pressure to cook. I don’t recommend using a whole butt for this recipe as the orange peel makes it bitter after pressure cooking that long. I tend to buy the boneless pork butt and just cut that into chunks as it’s easier.
Chad Haidet says
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! Just made the carnitas today and it turned out amazing! We made tacos and topped them with a little bit of cilantro and WOW! Awesome
Sandra says
Thank you so much for this video. My foodi has been sitting there since Xmas taking up space and I’ve been intimidated to use it. This video gave me the guts to use it for the first time. I make killer carnitas on the stove top the old Fashion way but this looks so much easier I will most certainly try to let you know how they came out. thank you so much.
Shane says
I’ve never left a food review because I think they are all subjective, but for this I felt I had to write a review. This was absolutely incredible, it was like that Seinfeld episode with the soup nazi when Elaine first had a taste of the soup and she said it was so good she had to sit down. I had the same feeling with this recipe. Absolutely perfect. Thank you!
Tanya says
Thank you Shane! I love that show by the way. This makes me so happy lol.
Christine says
Just made this for the first time following your recipe, but doubled on the meat (we are a family of 5). Omg it came out beautiful!! Thanks ?
Ashley says
Hi! Did you cook for the same time? I’m getting ready to double the recipe also 🙂
Debbie says
This recipe is absolutely incredible-thank you. I made it over Christmas when I had a ton of family here. It was delicious and gotten eaten up quickly. Thank you!
Valerie Jennings says
If I double this recipe do I also double the liquid?
Tanya says
Hi Valerie, No need to double the liquid, but keep the cook times the same.
Steven says
Just finished eating. Followed the recipe exactly (except doubled for amount of meat) ...loved it. The family loved it. Made 4lbs and no left overs. Thank you so much for helping me break in my new Ninja Foodi!!
Tanya says
Thank you for the feedback. So glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Tristan Charles says
I have to tell you, I was somewhat skeptical of this recipe as I am a new Ninja Foodi owner myself, and this was the fifth creation I made since then, but.... THIS RECIPE IS PHENOMENAL. I did use fresh oregano in lieu of dried oregano, and a dash of Sazon additionally... but good gracious, this was incredible.... the FLAVORS.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Denice says
Oh. My. Goodness Tanya! This is the very first recipe I tried with our new Ninja Foodi and it was DELICIOUS! Your step by step instructions, simple list of ingredients, and videos to follow along with made me look like a rock star in the kitchen. Thank you for this terrific recipe! I look forward to trying your other dishes.
Tanya says
Yay! So glad the step by step instructions and video helped. Thank you for letting me know how you liked the recipe 🙂
Marianne says
I added chopped peppers only because I had to use them. JUST WOW!! Totally delicious!! Easy cheesy. My entire family loves these.
Tanya says
Awesome, so glad you liked the recipe 🙂
Bryant Bulls says
Can I triple the recipe on everything to feed more people or do I need to cook it 2lbs at a time?
Tanya says
I've never personally tripled it but I've had readers double it with no problem. I'm sure you could triple it with no problem. I wouldn't increase the pressure cook time though, I would keep it the same.
Cindy Peyton says
Wow- followed the recipe (including the orange which I was skeptical about) and cannot say how amazing this tastes. The broiling at the end makes the flavors pop. This is my first meal with our new Foodi and i will try your other recipes for sure. Love the name of your website - Thank you, thank you!!
Corbin says
I purchased the Foodi several weeks ago when it was the Amazon Deal of the Day ($129!). I didn't have a chance to use it for the very first time until a work potluck where I took a risk and decided to use it for the first time by making the Pork Carnitas! Needless to say, my colleagues all said how wonderful it was and was impressed with how the Pork retained its moisture.
Regarding the recipe, I did have to make one minor adjustment. I completely forgot to purchase Oregano and threw in a table spoon of Trader Joe's Dry BBQ Coffee Rub.
With respect to the Ninja Foodi, I spoke highly of it, and shared with them how I was able to Pressure Cook, Sautee, and Air Fry all in one. In addition, it barely made a noise. What more can one ask for!?
Tanya says
Thanks Corbin! I agree, the Ninja Foodi is pretty great. This is one of my favorite recipes to make in it.