Instant Pot Beef Carnitas | Delicious Shredded Beef for Filling Everything

I purchased the meat for this recipe at Fickle Creek Farm here in NC.

Why These Carnitas Are So Good

There are a couple of really great things about these beef carnitas, you guys.

Thing 1: they’re spicy. Lots of times, carnitas can be just a bit bland. This is okay if you’re going to add a lot of toppings, but sometimes you want the meat itself to be spicy.

Thing 2: they’re moist and lip-smacking. Carnitas can be dry. Not these. I show you what to do to ensure they stay moist and perfect, even after 2-3 days in the fridge.

Thing 3: these beef carnitas happen to be Whole30 compliant. That’s right. We’re doing Whole30 right now, and in order to eat what I made, I had to make sure the recipe follows the rules for Whole30.

So, these beef carnitas contain:

• no added sugar
• no alcohol
• no dairy
• no grains of any sort
• no beans or legumes

That is not to say you couldn’t add beans or cheese as a topping for your carnitas taco. I’m just saying that, when it comes out of the InstantPot, these guys are totally compliant.

Serving Suggestion: Lettuce Wraps!

Keep them compliant by serving them over cauliflower rice or in a lettuce wrap. And try some spicy taco sauce from my friends at Red Duck Foods. Both their mild and spicy taco sauces are Whole30 compliant. Which, if you have ever done Whole30, will make you shout hallelujah.

What Can I Serve Carnitas With?

I like to use my beef carnitas as a nacho topping and smothered in spicy queso. They also make a great filling for burritos or for chimichangas.

My Instant Pot Cowboy Pinto Beans would also make a great side dish. Some other likely possibilities include Mexican Street Corn Salad, Easy Refried Beans, and Mexican Pickled Vegetables.

Are Beef Carnitas Keto?

By themselves, these beef carnitas are not keto.

This is because keto requires high fat, low carb and moderate protein.

The carnitas by themselves are too high in protein to be considered keto.

You could use them as part of a small part of a larger keto meal that also contains good fats.

For example, you could top a few spoonfuls of carnitas with guacamole and serve it over cauliflower rice. Check your macros to make sure it’s still not too much protein.

Instructions in a Nutshell

Watch the video I made so you can see all the steps to make beef carnitas, whether you’re using an Instant Pot or a Dutch oven. In a nutshell, here they are all written out:

1. Cut up meat.
2. Brown meat in oil.
3. Put in Instant Pot or Dutch Oven with seasonings and liquid and cook until very tender
4. Remove from cooker and break up slightly.
5. Reduce the juices. While the juices are reducing,
6. brown the meat really well only on one side in a cast-iron skillet.
7. Stir the reduced juices back into the browned meat.

While there are a fair number of steps in the Carnitas Procedure, none are difficult.

All you need is your trusty InstantPot, but you can also make them in a Dutch oven.

Once they come out of the pot, you’ll also need a large cast iron skillet or other heavy skillet to crisp them up in.

How to Keep Them Your Beef From Drying Out

I know it seems counter-intuitive with a moist cooking method, but braised and pressure-cooked meats can turn out dry if you’re not careful.

Your meat can dry out if you do one of two (or both) things:

1. separate the meat from the juices before they cool down and/or
2. use quick release on your multi-cooker

In the first case, once the meat cools separate from its juices, no amount of reheating with the juices will make that meat reabsorb that moisture. So even if you use a ton of sauce or gravy or cooking juices, the meat will still be dry.

Always cool meat in the cooking juices so it can gently reabsorb the liquids as it cools.

In the second case, using a quick pressure release basically “squeezes” all the juices out of the cooked meat.

Your best bet to avoid this is to do natural pressure release for as long as it takes for the pressure to completely release naturally. This could take up to 30 minutes.

If you don’t have the time, you can split the difference and still end up with moist carnitas (or any meat) by using natural pressure release for the first 15 minutes and then by carefully “pulsing” the release valve to allow for quick release of the remaining pressure a little at a time.

Once the pressure is released, remember to let the meat cool in its juices or all your hard work will still leave you with dry meat.

To keep your beef carnitas moist, use manual pressure release for at least 15 minutes, and ideally until the pressure completely releases. Also, make sure to cool your meat in the cooking juices.

Me

Looking for a more traditional pork carnitas recipe? Try my friend Beth’s recipe for Instant Pot Carnitas!

Before we get to the recipe, I want you guys to see the other dishes and farm profiles my fellow bloggers have been working on. Please take a visit!

NC Beef Link List

Four other bloggers. Four unique North Carolina farms producing beef. Four spectacular recipes.

• Sirloin Tip Roast with Brown Butter Mushrooms from Big Bear’s Wife and Meadow Lane Farm
• Slow Cooker Beef Stew from Girl Gone Gourmet and T5 Farms
• Jalapeno Popper Burger Bombs from Life of a Ginger and D’s Beef N Bees
• How to Make Albondigas in an Instant Pot from Adventures of Frugal Mom and Queen B Farms
• Smoky Beef Carnitas from Pastry Chef Online and Fickle Creek Farm (You’re here!)

Recipe

The chuck from Fickle Creek Farm worked really well in these carnitas, you guys. Often, grass-fed beef can be a bit dry because it is generally leaner than grain-fed beef. But like Bryan said, because of the rich diversity of food in the pastures, Fickle Creek’s meat isn’t quite as lean as other grass-fed beef.

That, plus the technique of stirring back in the cooking juices keeps these Instant Pot beef carnitas moist and Succulent. They are So Good.

The recipe may seem a bit daunting, but that’s only because there’s a process you need to follow. Here’s a slightly more simplified list of steps to making beef carnitas than I shared above:

• brown the meat
• cook the meat
• crisp the outside of the meat up in a pan
• break up the meat and stir in the cooking liquid.

Once you get the steps down, it will not feel so daunting. I promise.

I hope I’ve convinced you how delicious these smoky beef carnitas are, whether or not you make them in an instapot, you really will want to make them.

And now, on with the recipe. Let’s make these carnitas, shall we?

NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

I am working with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services to bring you profiles of beef-producing farms in North Carolina who sell their beef at non state-supported farmers’ markets. We are very fortunate here in NC to have so much variety and so many choices when it comes to purchasing meat, fruit, vegetables, and more from local vendors. Today, we are profiling 5 farms who are selling their beef in the Triangle area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill).

I had the pleasure of meeting Bryan Horton from Fickle Creek Farm at the Western Wake Farmers’ Market on the first Saturday of the Spring market to hear about their meat and to buy some for today’s recipe. Here’s the video I shot, and then read on for some fun facts about the farm!

Fickle Creek Farm

Between the questions I asked the farmer and information I found online, I have put together this list of fun facts about Fickle Creek Farm.

• What started off small with just a handful of animals has turned into a 215 acre operation producing beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs, and produce.
• Fickle Creek Farm uses Great Pyrenees dogs to guard their flocks and herds against predators.
• Their cattle graze on pesticide-free pastures. As mentioned in the video above, Fickle Creek is not certified “Grass-Fed,” but everything the cattle eat grows in the pasture.
• All the animals at the farm are rotationally grazed, which means they are moved from paddock to paddock within a pasture. This allows parts of the pasture to get a break from grazing, preventing overgrazing and also promoting optimal grass growth.
• Fickle Creek Farm participates in their local economy by taking care to purchase and sell close to home. For example, the most distant point of sale for the farm is only 35 miles, and they purchase all the livestock from within 50 miles of the farm.
• Fickle Creek Farm offers an apprenticeship program for aspiring farmers.
• There is an on-location AirBnB if you’d like to have a getaway on the farm.
• They offer farm tours on the first Sunday of each month. Find out more about the Fickle Creek Farm Stay program.

Every time I speak with a local farmer or vendor at a farmers’ market, I am impressed by their dedication and passion. And always by their products. The beef from Fickle Creek Farm is no exception. I used a 3 pound chuck roast to make some pretty spectacular beef carnitas.

NC Beef Love

I’d like to thank Noah and Bryan from Fickle Creek Farm for their time and for their truly excellent beef.

Thanks also to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services for supporting small farms throughout North Carolina and for sponsoring this post. Thanks as well to my fellow bloggers for coming up with some really creative and mouth watering recipes using NC Beef.

And thank you for spending some time with me today.

Enjoy the Instant Pot beef carnitas, take care, and have a lovely day.