Mushroom Carnitas - have you even heard of something so incredible! This fully vegetarian version of carnitas is amazing. Crispy mushrooms with onions, a magical green sauce that you'll want to drink and charred flour tortillas!! Get ready!
Ok so let's talk about carnitas. Typically carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork in oil or lard until tender and then crisped up under a broiler. We've eaten soooo many carnitas tacos in our day. And recently we've been on a mushroom kick so low and behold.... mushroom carnitas. Rather than braising the mushrooms in lard, we roast them with onions at high heat until they get crispy and delicious just like carnitas. OMG you guys.
Once the 'shrooms are ready, then it all about that magical green sauce. It's honestly the best sauce we've ever put here on WGC. It gives the basil vinaigrette a run for it's money. Homemade creamy green hot sauce without any cream. It's just emulsified roasted peppers and oil. PROMISE me you'll try it. We've been eating it on everything for the past few months and I'm HOOKED.
Mushroom Carnitas with Magical Green Sauce
Ingredients
For the Magical Green Sauce
- ½ pounds fresh jalapeños, stems removed (you can remove seeds if you want less heat)
- ½ yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¾ cup grapeseed oil (or canola oil)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
For the Mushroom Carnitas
- 2 pounds king oyster mushrooms, wiped clean
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ orange, juiced
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 lime, juiced
- Flour tortillas for serving
- chopped onion, cilantro, magical green sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime for garnish
Instructions
For the Magical Green Sauce
- Place the peppers, onion and garlic in a medium saucepan and just enough water to cover. Place over medium high heat and bring to a simmer, reduce heat to maintain a simmer for about 15 minutes or until peppers pierce easily with a knife, soft not mushy. Drain, reserving ½ cup cooking liquid and allow to cool 15 min.
- Put everything into a blender along with the salt, vinegar and begin to blend until smooth, adding in a little reserved cooking water if needed.
- With the blender on medium low slowly pour in the oil in a steady stream. Continue to blend until the mixture is light and creamy.
- Remove from the blender, allow to cool and place in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week. (Makes 2 cups)
For the Mushroom Carnitas
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and spray two baking sheets with cooking spray
- Shred the mushrooms by removing the cap with a sharp knife and slice thin, with a fork shred the stem of the mushroom into strips of varied sizes, some thin, some thick.
- In a medium bowl combine dry spices, Worcestershire, orange juice, salt and 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add in the shredded mushrooms and toss to coat, let marinate 15-20 min while the oven comes to temperature
- Place the mushrooms onto the baking sheet with the chopped onions and roast in the oven about 30-40 minutes until crispy and golden, stirring every 10 minutes. Check the mushrooms every 5 minutes starting at the 30 minute mark, once they are golden and crispy, they are done. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Add lime juice and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Serve in warm charred tortillas with chopped onion, cilantro, limes and magical green sauce.
Is this green sauce similar to Austin taco style green salsas?
not sure!
This was phenomenal!!! Just perfect. Next time I will make sauce (which was also amazing) earlier or day ahead and give myself more time to prep mushrooms. It took awhile, but mine were small so maybe that had something to do with it. Perfect balance of flavor. Thanks Gaby!
This was amazing! The magical green sauce is incredible. I left all the jalapeno seeds in as recommended and it's definitely spicy, but so flavorful, easy to make and delicious. I've used the sauce on breakfast burritos and other things as a hot sauce- I wish I could keep this in the fridge all the time. The mushroom "carnitas" are also great- I used cremini mushrooms since it's all I could find and the whole taco came together so well. Perfect vegetarian recipe- non-vegetarian boyfriend loved this as well.
What can you substitute for jalapeños, if anything? those are pretty hard to find where I am
i would omit
The most delicious recipe I’ve made ever. It’s so easy and so delicious. The sauce is everything!!! Does it really only last 7 days in the fridge? Curious because I made a full batch and don’t know if I’ll be able to consume it all in a week
freeze it!!
Do the carnitas freeze well? It’s just me so I’d like to make a big batch so I can portion out and freeze for easy meals later.
yes they sure do!
This looks delicious! I'm so excited to try it. Question: what do you do with the 2 cups of finely chopped yellow onion in the carnitas ingredient list? Is that for garnish or does it go on the sheet pan to roast with the mushrooms? Thanks so much for posting so many great veggie recipes!
sheet pan with mushrooms!
Amazing!!! I would just do 25 min in the oven. The mushrooms really cook down. I love the sauce so much.
Love making this magical green sauce and having it on hand at all times! Cannot recommend this recipe enough!
The recipe for the actual carnitas is no longer here! Can you repost?
Where the heck is the recipe for the mushrooms? I only see the sauce.
ah!! it must have gotten deleted by accident! will repost ASAP when I get back to my computer
Delicious! There's sooo much extra sauce though. Do you think it would freeze well?
yes!! for sure