# Pernil Recipe (Puerto Rican Roast Pork)

Pernil is a mouthwatering dish of marinated pork shoulder or leg slow roasted until fall-apart tender and delicious crispy skin, a holiday favorite.

- Servings: 8 servings
- Total time: 315 min
- Cuisine: Spanish
- Category: Drink
- Language: en

## Ingredients

- 3 tablespoons sofrito
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- to taste Salt and pepper
- 0.5 cup olive oil
- 4 pound pork shoulder bone-in, skin on – Or you can use boneless – see recipe notes
- 8 cloves garlic sliced
- 1 cup sour orange juice (or use an equal mix of orange juice and lime juice)
- 1 cup water (or more as needed)
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 0.5 cup cilantro chopped

## Instructions

1. Combine the sofrito, oregano, garlic powder, coriander, onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the olive oil and mix well. Set aside for now.
3. Cut various slits into the pork and stuff the garlic slices into them.
4. Rub down the pork shoulder with the prepared marinade.
5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour; overnight or up to 2 days is better for more flavor.
6. Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
7. Transfer the pork shoulder to the bottom of a roasting pan or large baking dish, skin side up.
8. Wipe the skin clean of any marinade and excess moisture to help with crispy skin.
9. Pour 1 cup water and 1 cup sour orange juice into the bottom of the roasting pan.
10. Cover the pan with foil, leaving no gaps.
11. Bake the pork shoulder for 3 hours.
12. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
13. Rotate the roasting pan around for even cooking and remove the foil.
14. Pat the skin dry with a paper towel.
15. Add 1-2 cups additional water/sour orange if the bottom is too dry.
16. Bake for 1-2 hours or longer, until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 210 degrees F when measured with a meat thermometer, or when a skewer can pierce the meat easily.
17. If cooking with skin-on, if the skin is not crispy, turn up the oven temperature to 500 degrees F and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the skin is browned and crispy.
18. Remove from heat and rest for 20 minutes.
19. Carve and serve the pork.
20. For serving, drain the drippings from the roasting pan into a bowl and skim the fat.
21. Stir in vinegar and chopped cilantro.
22. Add salt to taste.
23. Serve the sauce with the finished pork as a dipping sauce or gravy.

## Equipment

- large bowl
- roasting pan
- large baking dish
- foil
- paper towel
- meat thermometer
- cutting board

## Tips

- To get the best crispy skin (cuero), use skin-on pork and dry the skin thoroughly before roasting. Raise the temperature at the end of roasting, uncovered, to ensure a crunchy outer crust. Mix the crispy skin into the served pork.
- Pernil can be made with boneless pork, following the same steps but without the extra roasting time for skin crisping.
- For seasoning options, you can use 5-6 tablespoons of Adobo seasoning or Sazon seasoning in place of the individual spices.

## Source

- Original video: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/pernil/
- Recipe page: https://www.cliprecipe.com/recipe/954dec18-e510-4aa5-b175-4e6e715f9bbb
- Extracted: 2025-11-27

Extracted from the video by Clip Recipe (https://www.cliprecipe.com). Quantities and steps are as stated or shown in the video. Site guide for agents: https://www.cliprecipe.com/llms.txt