This Sous Vide Pork Cheek Carnitas tacos recipe is killer. It combines the consistent, predictable and mess free method of Sous Vide with an incredible flavourful pork cut to make insane carnitas!
A long sous vide cook transforms pork cheeks to tender, fall apart meat. When you’re ready to eat, give them a quick sear in a pan creates even more flavour. Finish with some traditional (or non-traditional) garnishes and you’ve got incredible tacos. Sounds good? Read on for the recipe.
Why Cook Pork Cheeks Sous Vide?
Pork cheeks are tough pieces of meat and need a long cook to make them really tender and melt in the mouth. Braising or confiting them (like traditional carnitas) work well but it can result in a lot of mess and waste.
So why sous vide? Cooking pork cheeks sous vide yields perfect results every time with no mess, odours or clean up. The only negative however is that it does take a long time – 48 hours to be exact!
This method works great if you’re preparing to make a lot of them in advance. Once they’re ready you can leave them in the fridge until you’re ready to eat. You just need to give them a good sear for flavour and to reheat them.
Traditionally carnitas use pork shoulder which is slowly cooked, or confited, in rendered pork fat. Orange, onion, garlic and bay leave are added for more flavour. I skip these flavourings as the long cook means the citrus can turn the pork tough. For me, the most important is the pure pork flavour!
I like to lightly shred them (they literally fall apart!) and serve them like carnitas – with minced onions, cilantro and lime juice. Optionally you can add pickled red onions and avocado too!
What You’ll Need
To make sous vide pork cheek tacos, you’ll need:
Pork Cheeks: I find pork cheeks to be one of the best cuts of pork. They’re small, ultra tender when cooked properly and taste so good. You should be able to find them at butchers or in large supermarkets.
Tortillas: I prefer to use corn tortillas and ideally home made! You can use of course whatever tortillas you want.
Onion & Cilantro: Traditionally carnitas are garnished with finely minced white onion and cilantro. I season this mixture with lime juice and salt. It’s really good!
Sous Vide Setup: I use an Anova Immersion Circulator placed into a tub of water. I also use a Vacuum Chamber sealer but you can use double sandwich bags instead.
Optional: I love to add salsa verde and either slices of avocado. If you want to up the presentation, like I did in the photos, blend avocado with lime juice to make a beautiful avocado purée!
Ingredients
Makes enough for 8 tacos:
- 6 pork cheeks
- 1 white onion, finely minced
- 1 lime
- 1 bunch of cilantro/coriander
- Avocado, as required
- Salsa verde, as required
How to Make Pork Cheek Tacos
- Preheat the water bath to 62c/144f.
- Remove the white sinew (called silver skin) off the pork cheeks and season all over with salt.
- Vacuum seal the pork cheeks and place into the water bath. Alternatively you can use zip-lock bags. Cook for 48 hours.
- Once cooked, remove and place into the fridge if not eating immediately.
- When ready to eat remove the cheeks from the bag and drain any excess liquid.
- Heat up a skillet with oil or lard and sear the cheeks all over. Remove once browned and heated through.
- Heat up tortillas on a dry skillet until lightly charred, warm and pliable. Reserve under a dishtowel to keep warm.
- Shred the pork cheek meat (I like to leave big chunks for texture) and place onto tortillas. Garnish with minced white onions, cilantro, salsa verde and avocado.
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