Frida Kahlo’s Carnitas, Made With Just 6 Ingredients

Carntas are the star recipe of this Frida Friday, in our series spotlighting favorite dishes served in Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s home, la famosísima Casa Azul in Coyoacán, Mexico.

A legendary painter and the wife of painter Diego Rivera, Frida was immensely proud of her country’s cocina tradicional and loved to host Mexican dinners and fiestas for family and friends. This is her go-to carnitas recipe, as reported in a beautiful 1994 cookbook by Guadalupe Rivera, daughter of Diego, who lived with the two artists during the 1940s. In her Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of a Life with Frida Kahlo, Guadalupe writes that it was her own mother, the model, writer and Diego’s second wife Lupe Marín, who taught Frida to cook, using recipes from her own grandmother.

”Like many ladies of her period,” Guadalupe recalls in her cookbook, written with Marie-Pierre Colle, “Grandmother relied on a cookbook that was revered as a classic in Guadalajara. It was called Practical Recipes for Housewives … Frida would later consult a cookbook that belonged to her mother. Called The New Mexican Cook, it was a collection of the finest and tastiest traditional recipes. I eventually inherited these books from my grandmother and from Frida, complete with her own recipes and kitchen secrets — the very same ones that appear in this book.”

In Frida’s Fiestas, Guadalupe remembers one melting-hot day in April when she, Frida and a boatful of friends took a day trip to the flower-filled canals of Xochimilco. In their beautifully packed basket filled with delicious traditional lunch treats starring these deliciosas carnitas. Try it for yourself, to see how their fiesta tasted that special day.

If you like this recipe, check out our other Frida favorites, including: her black mole, red tamales with pork, traditional flan served at her 1929 wedding to Diego, shrimp tacos, and classic refried beans.

Ready to Make Frida’s Favorite Carnitas Recipe?

Frida Kahlo’s Recipe for Carnitas

Recipe by Guadalupe Rivera, Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo

5.0 from 2 votes

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

6 to 8

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless pork, from the leg, cut into 2-inch cubes

• 2 onions, large, cut in half

• 4 cloves garlic

• salt, to taste

• 2 Tbsp lard (see substitutions in cooking notes, below)

• 1 1/2 cups milk

Directions

• Place the pork in a saucepan with water to cover.
• Add the onions, garlic and salt to taste.
• Cook for about 1 hour, until the pork is tender.
• Drain thoroughly and discard the onion and garlic.
• Heat the lard and milk with salt to taste in a large saucepan.
• Add the pork pieces to cook, stirring often, until the milk cooks away completely and the meat is golden.

Notes

• Like most traditional Mexican recipes, this one calls for lard. If you prefer to substitute it with a more readily available or healthier alternative, one option is using butter (make sure it’s 100%). A good rule of thumb is to use 3 Tbsp of butter for 2 Tbsp of lard. You can also replace it with olive oil in a 1 to 1 ratio.
• That day at Xochimilco in 1942, Frida, Guadalupe and friends feasted on these carnitas in addition to these traditional treats packed in their lunch basket: guacamole, seasoned pork sandwiches, manzano chile sauce, red sauce, fruit salad and grenadine punch.