Authentic Cuban Pork Roast

This Authentic Cuban Pork Roast is my Tio Jose’s family famous recipe!

My uncle makes this pork roast every year for Noche Buena and there’s rarely any left-overs! If you come from a Cuban family you know that we sometimes roast the entire pig…well, that’s a lot of work! This pork roast or “Pernil Cubano” is just as tasty and much easier!

If you’d like an even EASIER version, make sure to check out my SLOW COOKER CUBAN PORK! 

It starts with the glorious MOJO marinade. I like to make my own for this to ensure that it’s packed full of flavor!

Here’s what you need to make the Authentic Cuban Pork Roast:

• 15 pound bone-in pork butt (give or take a pound)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• cloves from 2 whole heads of garlic peeled
• 1/3 cup sour orange juice
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 1 large naval orange)
• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 8 limes)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh packed cilantro leaves

Everything (except the pork of course) gets thrown in a blender or food processor and you’re mojo is done!

Here’s the secret to making sure your pork is juicy and full of flavor:

The secret is INJECTING the entire pork and letting it marinade from the inside. I strongly suggest buying a MEAT INJECTOR. It’s the only way to make sure a cut of meat this large will be flavored all the way through.

Once injected with the mojo, the pork gets covered and marinated over night (or at LEAST 6 hours) then it’s cooking time!

The pork gets cooked low and slow at 275 for 7 hours. The results are a tender, juicy, Cuban pork that your family will go crazy for!

We like to serve our pork (aka pernil) with white rice and black beans. You can use the recipe for MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER’S CUBAN BLACK BEANS to make a truly authentic Cuban meal!

After cooking and a little rest time, you can shred the pork and serve!

For an even easier version, make sure to check out my SLOW COOKER CUBAN PORK! 

If you’d like to use these fun “bear claws” for shredding, you can FIND THEM HERE.

Authentic Cuban Pork Roast

Coco and Ash

Print Recipe

Ingredients

  

• 10-15 pound bone-in pork butt (give or take a pound)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• cloves from 2 whole heads of garlic peeled
• 1/3 cup sour orange juice
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about 1 large naval orange)
• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 8 limes)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh packed cilantro leaves

Instructions

 

• Combine all of the ingredients (except the pork) in a food processor or blender and blend until completely liquified. 
• Line a roasting pan with foil and place the roasting rack in the pan. Place the pork, skin side down on the roasting rack. Add 2 cups of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. 
• Using a meat injector, inject all of the marinade into the pork.Try not to puncture the skin underneath.  I like to go in from the side to make sure I'm not puncturing the skin. Just try to inject as many spots as you can to really get the marinade throughout the entire pork. (If you feel like you've maxed out on the inside of the pork, just take any left over marinade and rub it all over the outside of the pork)
• Cover the pork with foil as tightly as you can to create a seal. Refrigerate overnight or at least for 6 hours. (I prefer overnight but 6 hours will do if you're shorter on time.)
• After marinating, heat your oven to 275. Once heated, add the covered pork and cook for 7 hours. 
• After the 7 hours, uncover the pork. It should be falling off the bone easily at this point. You can pull at it with a fork to check. 
• Keeping the pork uncovered, set your oven to broil. Broil the top of the pork for about 5 minutes or until it has a nice golden brown color. 

  Using oven mitts and tongs, carefully turn the pork skin side up, and broil the skin side for another 5 minutes or until it's crispy on the top.  
• Let the pork rest for 15 minutes before shredding. 

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