I finally made my first Pernil! It only took 35 years but I did it and it was a lot easier than I thought. I am confident enough to start making this Easy Pernil every year now. Trust me you can do it too!
Pernil is a Puerto Rican Pork Roast and a staple in every Puerto Rican home especially during the Holidays. It’s fall off the bone tender pork shoulder and super flavorful with crispy skin on top. It’s seasoned with garlic, oregano, olive oil, adobo, and marinated for a day or two to ensure a perfect roast.
Your house is going to smell amazing! It might sound intimated but we are going to cook this nice and slow in the oven giving you a pretty hands off approach!
How to make Pernil
Every family makes Pernil a little different but there are a few key ingredients that always remain the same. You need to grab a pork shoulder with the skin attached, a lot of garlic, adobo, sazon, and oregano. I also used an oven bag for this recipe which helped get the pork nice and tender but it’s not necessary. If you don’t have an oven bag you can just cover your pan with aluminum foil until you are ready to crisp the skin.
You should purchase your pork shoulder 1-2 days before you plan on baking it. The first thing you do is rinse your pork really well. Then trim the fat off and cut the top skin “cuero” almost completely off to expose the meat underneath it. Leave it attached still. Then make deep cuts with a knife in the shape of an X all over the meat. Now it’s ready for seasoning.
Ingredients For Pernil
Seasoning your Pernil
A good Pernil is all in the seasonings and garlic. So be generous! I made a paste with olive oil and rubbed it all over the pork and inside those X’s we made. I only seasoned the skin with salt and pepper so it can get super crispy.
After you season your pork place it in the oven bag and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Once you are ready to bake it, place the Pernil in a large pan. Poke a few holes in the oven bag and bake at 280 for 6 hours. Nice and Slow.
After 6 hours raise the oven to 400 degrees and cook for another 30-60 minutes or until the skin is nice and crispy. Once the skin is to your liking remove the Pernil from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then you can remove the skin and start carving. The meat will just fall off the bone.
Perfect for any Occasion
Pernil is perfect for any occasion! Christmas, Easter, Birthdays, Baby Showers, Weddings, you name it. Actually, I did serve this at my Wedding and it was a total hit.
It’s always good to have a simple recipe that can feed a large crowd in your back pocket. You never know when your next party is going to be! The Pork Shoulder I used was 9 pounds which is actually on the small side. I would say it fed about 10 people. Grab a larger one if you have more people to feed or grab two.
If you like this recipe you might also like this Holiday Ham in the Crockpot. I have an oven version there as well and don’t forget to wash your Pernil down with this Easy Coquito. A Puerto Rican creamy cocktail.
Tag me if you try it on Social Media! I know it’s going to come out amazing!
Easy Pernil (Puerto Rican Pork Roast)
Ingredients
- 9-12 pound Pork Shoulder
- 4 tablespoon Adobo
- 2 packets Sazon Con Culantro y Achiote
- 8 cloves Garlic Mashed
- 1 tablespoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- Salt and Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Oven Bag or Aluminum Foil
Instructions
- Rinse Pork and Pat Dry. Cut the top of the skin almost off leaving only the edge of the skin attached. Then trim any large pieces of fat off with kitchen shears.
- Take a knife and create a few deep X marks in the pork underneath the skin.
- In a small bowl add the garlic, olive oil, sazon, adobo, oregano, and cumin and mix together. Season the entire pork with this mixture except for the skin. You can use gloves if you'd like. Make sure to season it really well add more if needed. Put the skin back in place and season with salt and pepper. This keeps the skin nice and crispy.
- Put seasoned Pernil in the oven bag and in the pan you are going to cook it in and let it marinate in the fridge for one to two days.
- When ready to cook. Poke a few holes in the oven bag. If you do not have an oven bag cover it tightly with foil. Preheat the oven to 280. Place Pernil in the oven and cook for 6 hours.
- After 6 hours cut the oven bag open to expose the skin or remove foil. Turn the oven up to 400 degrees and cook for another 30-60 minutes. Or until the skin is nice and crispy.
- Let the pork rest for 15 minutes and then remove the skin. Cut the skin into bit size pieces and set aside. This is the best part! Remove the bones and shred the pork. The pork will easily shred a part.
- Serve in a pan with the crispy skin on top and Enjoy!
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