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Chicken

Healthy Chicken Carnitas Recipe

5 from 2 votes
  • Chicken
  • Main Dishes
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Servings 4 servings
Calories 494 kcal
How to make Chicken Carnitas
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This stovetop healthy chicken carnitas recipe guarantees a quick and flavorful weeknight meal. It’s a caramelized chicken dish with fresh vegetables that comes together in a flash.

Life always seems like a balancing act; trying to complete daily necessities as well as trying to keep healthy. As nine-to-five people, we completely get the struggle of striving for healthy long-term goals when there’s so much to do!

Sometimes, shopping for enough ingredients for the whole week seems to be challenging enough. Sometimes you don’t want to cook or wonder what to cook.

As a matter of fact, the question of a nutritious and convenient meal isn’t that hard to solve. Keep scrolling down for some inspiration.

What Is Carnitas?

Chicken Carnitas Recipe

Originating in Michoacán, Mexico, carnitas is traditionally made by cooking pork meat in its own fat or the cooking liquid. Then adding seasonings that caramelize when on heat so the meat can reach a perfect tender texture and beautiful taste.

In Romanian, the word “carnitas” means “meat pieces”.

In Mexico, most of the multi-indigenous languages are derived from Latin (including Romanian). Therefore, it is no surprise that chicken carnitas recipe also accrues a Latin term.

In actuality, it doesn’t always have to be pork. You can still braise boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs and call it chicken carnitas.

Is Chicken Carnitas Healthy?

Our chicken carnitas recipe is packed with clean and natural ingredients. This includes chicken thighs, rice, black beans, sweet corn, baby tomatoes, and Greek yogurt.

For that reason, these crispy tender chicken carnitas are super fresh and clean. We believe it’ll make an ideal choice to satisfy your taste buds during dieting days without going off the track.

is Chicken Carnitas healthy

How Many Calories in Chicken Carnitas?

This chicken carnitas recipe is made as a main dish and provides 494 calories per serving. Enjoy it together with a portion of guacamole for a complete meal.

How to Make Carnitas

Step 1: Marinate the chicken

Marinate the chicken thighs with paprika, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper, salt, white wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to combine. Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes.

Step 2: Sear the chicken

On a cast-iron skillet, sear the chicken in 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Spend 10 minutes for each side.

Step 3: Slice the chicken

Remove from heat and transfer the chicken onto a cutting board. Let it cool down for 5 minutes, then slice it into thick strips.

Step 4: Assemble the chicken

Assemble the chicken strips on a large plate (or a shallow skillet) together with hot cooked rice, black beans, sweet corn, baby tomatoes, and Greek yogurt.

Step 5: Serve

Sprinkle chopped jalapeño on top and serve immediately.

ingredient

How Long Do You Cook Chicken Carnitas?

This chicken carnitas recipe is a prep-friendly dish without exotic ingredients. 35 minutes of cooking time on the stovetop is all you need to make this delicious meal.

We also leave about half an hour to let the chicken rest in the marinade. However, you need not follow this time amount precisely.

If you’re in a rush and your meal can wait no more, it’s okay to cut down the marinating time. Make it 10 minutes rest for the chicken pieces and you’ll be good.

What Goes with Chicken Carnitas

Besides good dashes of Latin spices, chicken carnitas goes fabulously well with classic Mexican food. These crispy chicken shreds also work as a nice way to add protein to your salads.

1. Tacos

Tacos can be made all the more easily with chicken carnitas.

These tender juicy meat strips with browned edges make a perfect pair with crispy taco shells. Add it to almond flour tortillas if you’re looking for a healthier version of tacos.

Another rolled dish with chicken filling that’s pretty identical to tacos is chicken taquitos. Be sure to pay it a visit if fried chicken enclosed within tortillas appeals to you.

2. Nachos

Aside from eating chicken carnitas in tacos, you can also pile it up on nachos. We highly recommend topping it with Chipotle sauce, chimichurri sauce, or Parmesan cheese to make this combination extra tasty.

3. Rice

Steaming rice takes little effort, as the cooker does most of the work. Season the rice a little and it’ll make a combination that’s as interesting as others.

If you’re afraid of piling the carbs too high, simply go for a cauliflower rice bowl instead.

If you are craving some chicken dinner ideas, our baked chicken breast is definitely worth a try. It’s simple, tasty and healthy, as with all recipes on our website!

How Long Does Chicken Carnitas Last in the Fridge?

If stored in an airtight container and put into the fridge, chicken carnitas can stay good for three days. To extend this period to three months, simply transfer the sealed chicken carnitas to the freezer.

Reheating will take no more than 15 minutes on the stovetop over medium heat.

What to Serve with Chicken Carnitas

What to Serve with

Chicken carnitas is an easy and delicious dish that takes only a few minutes to assemble.

Chicken is crisped up with Mexican spices on the skillet to create savory browned meat shreds. A combination of vegetables and a nice bowl of guacamole are then put together as complementary side dishes.

Below are the nutrition values for this meal. Now, enough talking, time to go into action!

Recipes Course Calories Saturated fat Sodium
Chicken Carnitas Main Dish 491 3.6 g 476 mg
Guacamole Side Dish 256 2.2 g 260 mg
Total 747 5.8 g 736 mg
Nutritional values in this table vary somewhat to those below due to different app calculations. Read more...

Similarly Tasty Chicken Recipes

Besides this tasty chicken carnitas, we also have several amazing others that we would like you to try. They’re easy to follow and strictly comply with our guidelines:

  • Chicken Vindaloo Recipe
  • Cashew Chicken Recipe
  • Mochiko Chicken Recipe
  • Shoyu Chicken Recipe
  • Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe
  • Chicken Jalfrezi Recipe
What is Chicken Carnitas

Healthy Chicken Carnitas Recipe

5 from 2 votes
PRINT RATE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest
Every crispy bit of this healthy chicken carnitas recipe is worth devouring. It's effortless to throw things together, and perfect to add a bit of variety to your regular weeknight meals.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Inactive Time 35 mins
Total Time 1 hr 20 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 4 servings
Calories 494kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 16 oz skinless boneless chicken thigh
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil divided
  • 3 cup cooked medium-grain rice equals to 1 cup uncooked
  • 4 oz canned black beans
  • 4 oz sweet corn
  • 4 oz baby tomatoes chopped in half
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 oz jalapeno chopped
  • Side together with guacamole in one plate.

Instructions
 

Prep

  • Marinate the chicken thighs with paprika, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper, salt, white wine vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to combine.
  • Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes.

Cook

  • On a cast-iron skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs in.
  • Fry the first side of the chicken for 10 minutes, and the second side for 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
  • Transfer the fried chicken thighs onto a cutting board, let them cool down for 5 minutes.
  • Slice the fried chicken meat in thick strips.
  • Assemble the chicken strips on a large plate (can also put them on a shallow skillet if you don’t have any plate large enough) together with hot cooked rice, black beans, sweet corn, baby tomatoes, and Greek yogurt.
  • Add guacamole together onto the plate to side along.
  • Sprinkle chopped jalapeno on top. Serve immediately.

Video

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Healthy Chicken Carnitas Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 494 Calories from Fat 144
% Daily Value*
Fat 16g25%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Trans Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 9g
Cholesterol 111mg37%
Sodium 472mg21%
Potassium 616mg18%
Carbohydrates 55g18%
Fiber 4g17%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 32g64%
Vitamin A 657IU13%
Vitamin C 16mg19%
Calcium 63mg6%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Luna Regina

Luna Regina

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Luna is the founder and chief recipe developer of Healthy Recipes 101. Apart from cooking, she also loves reading, programming, exploring the outdoors, and collecting useless facts about everything.

Comments/ Reviews

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How to make Chicken Carnitas
Healthy Chicken Carnitas Recipe
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Comments

  1. Valentina

    December 20, 2018 at 7:42 am

    I love the idea of chicken carnitas. This bowl looks so fresh, delicious and healthy. I’m bookmarking for the new year — when I’ll be eating clean. 🙂

    Reply
    • Luna

      December 20, 2018 at 8:58 am

      Awww I’m super glad it’ll help on your clean-eating diet 😉 I promise it’s the dose of freshness you’ll need 😉

      Reply
  2. Elizabeth

    January 10, 2019 at 7:27 pm

    This looks so amazing. But I guess the key here is to make sure you buy really quality ingredients.

    Reply
    • Luna

      February 20, 2019 at 4:35 am

      Yes, it is indeed what concerns me everytime I’m in the middle of the food aisle. So glad to hear your thoughts, Elizabeth 😀

      Reply
  3. Pam

    February 27, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    I’m confused. The description talks about oven braising and broiling and yet the cooking directions don’t involve either.

    Reply
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD
Recipe developed by Luna Regina on February 10, 2020 Nutritionally reviewed by Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD

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