Aldi Carnitas Seasoned Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast

Carnitas literally means “little meats.” It originated in the Mexican state of Michoacán and involves braising or simmering pork for a long time at low heat to achieve tender, juicy meat that can be pulled apart. Carnitas is versatile and is great served in tacos, burritos, nachos, bowls, quesadillas, or even simply on its own.

You can make carnitas yourself, or you can buy carnitas from Aldi. Aldi sells ready-to-heat pork carnitas if you’re pressed for time. In addition, the discount grocer stocks a raw carnitas-seasoned pork shoulder roast in the fresh meat section in a mixed case alongside a BBQ boneless pork shoulder roast.

Here, I’m taking a closer look at the uncooked pork carnitas from Aldi.

Aldi Carnitas Seasoned Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast is a Regular Buy, which means you should be able to find it all year at Aldi.

This cost $2.39 per pound at the time of writing. I bought a 2.36-pound roast for $5.64.

The package notes this contains up to a 15% solution of water, vinegar, sodium phosphate, pork flavor, salt, and carrageenan.

This contains some processed ingredients. Ingredients are pork, water, seasoning rub (dehydrated onion and garlic, salt, brown sugar, spices, paprika, maltodextrin, modified food starch, citric acid, distilled vinegar, natural smoke and grill flavors [from sunflower oil], xanthan gum, and tapioca dextrin, vinegar, sodium phosphate, pork flavor, salt, and carrageenan.

One 4-ounce serving has 150 calories, 6 grams of total fat (8% DV), 2 grams of saturated fat (10% DV), 590 mg of sodium (26% DV), 3 grams of total carbohydrates (1% DV), no dietary fiber, 1 gram of total sugars, 1 gram of added sugars (2% DV), and 19 grams of protein.

Nutrition information, ingredients, and cooking directions. (Click to enlarge.)

The package has directions for cooking this in a conventional oven or in a slow cooker.

To bake in the oven, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the meat in an ovenproof baking dish. Bake covered for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until meat reaches a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees. For shredded pork, cook an additional 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until meat reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees.

To cook in the slow cooker, place the roast in the slow cooker and cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours until meat reaches a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees. For shredded pork, continue to cook until meat reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees.

Ready to serve.

I cooked this in my slow cooker, and it smelled fantastic all day. I served it as part of a taco bar with corn and flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, lime wedges, and other taco toppings. The meat is mildly spicy but not bad if you’re not a big fan of spicy food. The spices give it plenty of flavor. This is also a very lean meat, and it’s tender and moist. My husband remarked that our tacos were “really good.” This also makes a decent amount of food, so we had plenty of taco meat for leftovers the next day.

The Verdict:

Aldi Carnitas Seasoned Boneless Pork Shoulder Roast is cooked long and low either in your oven or in a slow cooker. It turns out tender, moist, and mildly spicy, and it is great for serving in tacos, nachos, burrito bowls, or other Mexican-style dishes.