Carnitas Sopes with Avocado Salsa Molcajete
The week's easiest win, built to be hands-off. Pork shoulder pressure-cooks with orange, garlic, and cumin while you do anything else, then gets crisped under the broiler in minutes. Store-bought sopes shells (or thick tostadas) skip the masa-frying entirely, so this lands on a Tuesday: warm the shells, smear refried beans, pile the crispy pork, spoon over a bright avocado salsa, shower with cotija.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Serves
- 4
- Method
- Instant Pot + Broiler
Real carnitas is pork shoulder cooked low until it shreds, then crisped in its own fat. The Instant Pot collapses the slow part into about 35 minutes of hands-off pressure - you walk away. The move most home cooks miss is the crisp: shredded pork spread on a hot sheet pan under the broiler for 6 to 8 minutes turns soft meat into the lacquered, crackly edges that make carnitas carnitas. Soft pork is fine; crisped pork is the dish.
What actually matters here
- Crisp the pork after it shreds - do not skip it. Spread the shredded carnitas on a sheet pan, spoon a little of the cooking liquid over, and broil until the edges char. That contrast of crackly and tender is the whole point.
- Buy the sopes shells. Pre-made sopes or thick tostada shells from the Latin aisle turn this into a true weeknight dinner. Forming and frying masa from scratch is a weekend project, not a 5:30 one.
- Build the avocado salsa loose and green. Blitz tomatillo, avocado, cilantro, and lime into a pourable salsa, not a chunky guac - it should pool over the pork, not sit in a scoop.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
Carnitas
- 2 1/2 lbboneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1orange, halved
- 4garlic cloves, smashed
- 1yellow onion, quartered
- 1 tbspground cumin
- 1 tspdried oregano
- 2 tspkosher salt
- 1/2 cupwater
Avocado Salsa Molcajete
- 4tomatillos, husked and quartered (Northgate González / Mercado González, or most produce sections)
- 1ripe avocado
- 1/2 cupfresh cilantro leaves
- 1jalapeño, seeded
- 1garlic clove
- 1lime, juiced
- 1/2 tspkosher salt
To Build
- 8pre-made sopes shells or thick tostadas (Northgate González / Mercado González, or the Latin foods aisle of most chains)
- 1can (16 oz) refried beans (or homemade), warmed
- 3/4 cupcotija cheese, crumbled (Northgate González, or the Latin/cheese section of most chains)
- 1/2small red onion, finely diced
- 1lime, cut into wedges
Before you start
- Pat the pork chunks dry and season with the cumin, oregano, and salt.
- Set the Instant Pot to Sautu00e9 and brown the pork in batches, about 3 minutes per side, so it has color before pressure-cooking (optional but worth it).
- Squeeze the orange halves over the pork, then drop the spent halves in along with the garlic, onion, and water.
Method
- Lock the lid and pressure-cook on High for 35 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick-release the rest.
- While it cooks, make the salsa: blend tomatillos, avocado, cilantro, jalapeu00f1o, garlic, lime juice, and salt until smooth and pourable. Loosen with a splash of water if needed.
- Heat the broiler to high. Lift the pork onto a sheet pan, discard the orange and onion, and shred with two forks. Spoon over a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid.
- Broil the shredded pork 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are crackly and browned. Watch it - broilers move fast.
- Warm the sopes shells and the refried beans. Spread beans on each shell.
- Build: beans, a pile of crispy carnitas, a generous spoon of avocado salsa, crumbled cotija, diced red onion, and a squeeze of lime.
How you know it is right
- The pork shreds with almost no resistance and has crackly, browned edges from the broiler.
- The avocado salsa is smooth, vivid green, and pours rather than scoops.
- The refried beans are loose and spreadable, not stiff.
- The cotija is crumbled in snowy flecks over the top, not in big chunks.
How to serve it
Set it up as a build-your-own bar: warm shells in a towel, the crispy pork in a bowl, salsa and beans alongside, cotija and lime to finish. Two sopes per person is a solid dinner. Leftover carnitas is gold - tacos, eggs, or a rice bowl the next day.
If you want it simpler
- No Instant Pot? Use 2 cups of good store-bought carnitas or rotisserie chicken - just crisp it under the broiler the same way.
- Skip the tomatillos and stir the avocado, cilantro, lime, and salt into a cup of good store-bought salsa verde for a 2-minute sauce.
Pressure, shred, broil for the crackle, build.
This dish came from the SEASON plan for June 8 - 14, 2026, alongside nine other dinners and one shopping list.
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Written and tested by Chef Michael Rossi, who has spent thirty years in professional kitchens including Napa Rose, THE RANCH, The Masters at Augusta National, and The Beach Club. Every SEASON recipe is one he has cooked on a real line before it reaches a home kitchen.