The word carnitas gets stretched a lot. At a taqueria counter you order by cut, in a recipe you pick a pot, and the two can mean a surtido plate from a cazo or a slow cooker batch finished under the broiler.
Michoacan’s economic development office published certification rules for Carnitas de Michoacan on 28 August 2025. They accept stainless steel as well as copper cazos, and lard is the only fat allowed (Sedeco, 2025).
What Are the Types of Carnitas?
Pork simmered in lard until tender, then crisped at the edges before serving. That’s the base sequence, and nearly every variation changes just one piece of it.
The cut can change (maciza, costilla, buche, cuerito, or the mixed order called surtido). So can the region, whether that’s Michoacan, Mexico City, Baja California, or the Chicago version built on Uruapan technique. Then there’s the pot, from a copper cazo down to a Dutch oven, slow cooker or Instant Pot. And occasionally the meat itself, with pork as the standard and beef and chicken as adaptations.
Knowing which of these someone means saves you a wrong order, or a wrong recipe.
Carnitas Cuts Compared: Maciza, Costilla, Buche, Cuerito and Surtido
Most carnitas counters sell some version of maciza (lean meat), costilla (rib), buche (stomach), cuerito (skin) and surtido (a mix of cuts).
| Cut | Part of the pig | Texture | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maciza | Shoulder and leg meat | Lean, tender, mild | A first order |
| Costilla | Rib meat near the bone | Juicy, softer than maciza | Richer tacos |
| Buche | Stomach | Soft, slightly chewy | Adventurous eaters |
| Cuerito | Skin | Soft, gelatinous | Mixing with maciza |
| Surtido | Whatever is ready | Several textures per bite | Regulars, orders by the pound |
Maciza and the Lean Cuts
Maciza is where most people start. San Diego Reader called it the most common order in 2015, lean and boneless with no skin, and Discover Baja’s 2022 ordering guide nicknames it the gringo cut for being low risk and low reward.
Costilla pulls ahead in some shops. Munchies describes rib meat as more tender and juicy than maciza, and one Michoacan-style counter in Utah sells out of costilla first (Gastronomic SLC, 2025).
So the sources disagree a little. It really depends on the counter, and asking what sells out first is a decent shortcut.
Surtido and the Offal Cuts
Surtido is whatever the cook has ready, mixed together, and Discover Baja (2022) says plenty of carnitas regulars order it by default. What ends up in the mix can include:
- Buche, stomach
- Cuerito, skin
- Oreja, ear
- Trompa, snout
- Nana, uterus
- Nenepil, a taco combining nana and buche
A Mexico City vendor quoted by El Financiero in 2023 reels off a list of ten orders, from maciza and costilla to lomo, pierna and surtida. Buche is stomach (Dallas Observer, El Financiero), though a few US menus translate it as pork belly, which is a different cut.
Cuts do not cook at the same rate. Marcos Carbajal of Carnitas Uruapan says different parts of the pig go into the cazo at different times (ABC7 Chicago, 2019), and the certification rules from Michoacan’s economic development office, Sedeco, set a cooking time for each cut.
Pork Shoulder at Home
At home, one cut stands in for the whole counter.
Boston butt, also sold as pork butt or pork shoulder, is the usual choice, and picking the right meat for carnitas starts with the fat it carries.
A butt with a fat cap on one side simulates surtido, since the fat crisps next to the lean meat (The Other Side of the Tortilla, 2014). Trim that cap off and you land closer to maciza.
Regional Carnitas Styles: Quiroga, Uruapan, Mexico City and Beyond
Michoacan sets the benchmark. Other regions bend it, mostly in which cuts a counter offers and how offal-heavy the order gets.
Quiroga, Michoacan, carries the title “Carnitas Capital of the World” (Mexico News Daily). Sedeco announced on 26 August 2025 that Mexico’s IMPI (the national industrial property institute) had granted the state a certification mark for Carnitas de Michoacan (Sedeco, 2025).
Sedeco’s rules, published 28 August 2025, read like a checklist:
- Live pigs of 100 to 130 kg
- A cazo of copper or stainless steel
- Lard, grain salt and purified water only, with no additives
- A set cooking time for each cut
- Certification that costs nothing to request
Michoacan holds the benchmark, but it is one style among several.
The Chicago version traces back to Inocencio Carbajal, who opened Carnitas Uruapan in Pilsen in 1975 (Cook’s Country). The shop sells Michoacan-style carnitas plain or mixta, with skin and ears (ABC7 Chicago).
Mexico City leans hard on offal. Metro Balderas in Los Angeles is built on that style, and its tacos come loaded with kidney and snout, along with uterus (LA Taco).
In Baja California, Discover Baja’s ordering guide describes street carts where customers call the cuts out to the taquero.
LA Taco’s Taco Task Force sorts the whole field into 5 predominant styles, namely Michoacan, Jalisco, Mexico City, San Francisco de los Romo in Aguascalientes, and the Bajio.
Cooking Method, Vessel and Fat: Cazo, Dutch Oven, Slow Cooker and Instant Pot
In a cazo the pork simmers in lard until tender and then browns in that same fat, all in one pot. At home it usually becomes two steps, a braise first and then a crisping pass under the broiler or in a skillet.
| Method | Fat or liquid | Time | Crisp finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper cazo | Lard | Just over 2 hours per batch | Built in, browns in the fat |
| Dutch oven | Lard, oil or citrus liquid | Moderate | Broiler or skillet |
| Slow cooker | Juice or broth | Longest | Broiler or skillet |
| Instant Pot | Juice or broth | Under 2 hours total | Broiler |
The Copper Cazo
A batch at Carnitas Uruapan in Chicago cooks a little over two hours in a cazo imported from Mexico (ABC7 Chicago, October 2025).
The cazo is a wide, deep pot set over fire and filled with lard. Michoacan’s copper tradition goes back to the Purepecha (Mexico News Daily, 2025), and Santa Clara del Cobre is one of the state’s Pueblos Magicos.
Stainless steel passes under Sedeco’s certification rules, so copper is the tradition, not a condition of the label. AmazingRibs’ copper pot recipe holds the lard near 275F (135C).
Home Methods
A Dutch oven is the closest home match to a cazo, since the pork simmers in fat. The catch is that it still needs a broiler or skillet finish, and going lard-only takes a lot of fat.
The slow cooker is hands-off. Set it and leave. It doesn’t brown anything, though, so the crisp step stays separate.
An Instant Pot is the shortest cook of the four, but the shredded pork finishes under the broiler, so the edges never fry in fat.
None of these browns the pork on its own. The finish decides the texture, and there are a few reliable ways to get carnitas crispy at home.
Lard, Orange Juice and Other Liquids
Lard is the one fat the traditional method requires. Certified Michoacan carnitas uses lard, grain salt and purified water, with no additives (Sedeco, 2025).
Home and restaurant versions wander. One Michoacan-style stovetop recipe (Maricruz Avalos) uses orange juice, orange peel, bay leaves and piloncillo, and AmazingRibs adds oranges plus cola about two-thirds of the way through.
Vegetable oil is the common stand-in outside Mexico, and it falls outside the certification’s lard-only rule.
Are Beef Carnitas and Chicken Carnitas Real Carnitas?
Not in the traditional sense. The dish is built on pork, and beef and chicken versions borrow the method without the meat.
The Michoacan certification mark is written around pigs, so beef and chicken sit outside it. The name itself only means “little meats,” which is how the label stretches to other animals.
Recipe writers split on beef. Pinch and Swirl and Craving Home Cooked call it an adaptation of the pork original, while Hungry Hobby calls beef and pork versions both traditional.
In beef versions, chuck or blade roast replaces the shoulder, because the marbling keeps the pieces tender through a long cook (Craving Home Cooked). Chicken is fussier. Boneless thighs hold up better than breast, since their extra fat stays juicy through braising and broiling (Isabel Eats), and one Dinner Then Dessert reader reported breast coming out dry even after the cook time dropped by an hour.
Both usually skip the lard bath, braising in broth or juice and finishing under the broiler instead (One Lovely Life, MasonFit).
Beef versions also get lumped in with barbacoa, a different dish. Tasting Table describes barbacoa as beef cooked by fire-based steaming rather than in fat (other sources add that barbacoa can also be lamb or goat), which is how barbacoa differs from carnitas even when both end up in tacos.
How to Choose a Type of Carnitas for Tacos, Tortas and Burritos
Tacos are the most common way to eat carnitas, and they’re the one format where a combination of cuts adds variety in every bite (Discover Baja, 2022).
Tortas ask for something different. The Guadalajara torta ahogada, credited to the early 1900s, packs carnitas into birote salado, a sourdough roll with a crisp salted crust, then drenches the whole thing in chile sauce (MasterClass, 2025).
Burritos hide the differences between cuts. Rice, beans and a flour tortilla flatten everything, so shredded shoulder does the job.
Buying by the kilo is its own category. Mexican families do it for Sunday meals, and weddings, birthdays and baptisms call for the same (El Universal).
No cazo and no lard? J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s no-waste recipe at Serious Eats packs shoulder chunks tightly into a baking dish so the pork cooks in its own rendered fat (Tasting Table).
Counters in Mexico hand the meat over with the same short list of salsa verde or salsa bandera, onion, cilantro, lime and pickled onion, going by the menus on Rappi. Those standard toppings for carnitas tacos barely change from one region to the next.
A plate built around a kilo needs more than tortillas. Del Real Foods lists cilantro, salsa and refried beans as the traditional accompaniments, and the sides that suit carnitas run longer than that.
Where Each Type of Carnitas Falls Short
Most carnitas disappointments trace back to a short list of causes, from a lean cut to leftovers reheated badly.
| Failure | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Dry, stringy meat | Lean cut such as loin | Switch to shoulder or add fatty cuts |
| Soft edges | Braise only, no frying or broiling | Finish in a hot skillet or under the broiler |
| Pale, steamed pork | Crowded pan | Crisp in batches, one layer |
| Chewy surprise | Surtido as a first order | Start with a single cut |
| Dry leftovers | Microwave reheating | Oven or skillet, with a splash of cooking liquid |
Loin is the usual culprit for dry meat. Honest Food’s cooking order for a whole pig puts loin last, since it’s the quickest part to finish, so a shoulder-length braise overcooks it into dry strands.
Milk Street says the common US method of simmering pork in liquid and shredding it gives moist meat but little crisp and little deep pork flavor. Its fix cooks shoulder cubes in neutral oil and water, then fries the shredded pork in a hot skillet.
Kitchen Trials spreads shredded pork to just cover the pan bottom, because a crowded pan steams the meat instead of crisping it.
In a 2015 San Diego Reader column, a first surtido order tasted salty and had no defined texture. Cuts that suit one eater do not suit all.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (2012) says leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and must reach 165F when reheated.
Microwaving gets there but dries the pork, and there are better ways to reheat carnitas without losing the crisp.
Types of Carnitas FAQ
How do carnitas differ from pulled pork?
Carnitas simmer in fat and finish crisp, while traditional pulled pork takes a dry rub and hours in a smoker before it is pulled apart (Tasting Table). The crisp step is the quickest tell.
Is carnitas a confit?
Yes, when it is cooked the traditional way. Pork submerged in simmering lard is a confit, which is why Honest Food calls authentic carnitas closer to French confit than to braised shoulder.
Are carnitas and chicharron the same thing?
No. Chicharron is pork skin fried until crisp, while carnitas is simmered pork meat.
Cuerito is where they overlap, since it’s skin cooked soft in the same pot as the rest of the order.
Do carnitas go on corn or flour tortillas?
Corn for tacos, flour for burritos. Mexican menus on Rappi describe carnitas tacos on corn tortillas, and burritos wrap the meat in a larger flour tortilla with rice and beans.
How to Spot Traditional Carnitas Before You Order
Of all the types of carnitas, the traditional cazo style is the easiest to spot if you check in the right order.
Look at the fat first. Lard in the pot, not oil, because that’s the one rule the certification and the cazo counters share. After that, look for a cazo on the fire and cuts sold by name, and then for a Sedeco certification seal on the wall, which goes last because it’s voluntary and new.
Sedeco’s mark is valid for one year (La Voz de Michoacan, 2025), so the seal should carry a current date, and a counter without one can still cook correctly.
Relying on the seal alone means skipping every counter that never applied.
The seal does not yet reach the United States. The US Patent and Trademark Office registered the Carnitas Michoacan mark on 29 September 2026, but Sedeco clarified that this does not mean any US restaurant or product is certified, and only six Michoacan businesses held the certification as of early October 2026 (Plano Informativo, 2026). Certified counters in the United States are what would turn the seal into a first check.
