Costco Lucia’s Mexican Style Pork Carnitas Review

Carnitas are one of my favorite Mexican dishes, and I’ve really enjoyed the Del Real Foods Pork Carnitas from Costco in the past. So when I spotted Lucia’s Mexican Style Pork Carnitas, I was definitely eager to give them a try. I didn’t check the nutrition facts before buying them, but when I looked later, I was genuinely shocked by how much sugar they contain! The big question is, did they taste good enough to make me overlook the high sugar content?

Location in Store

The pork carnitas are located in the refrigerated deli section, near the 44th Street Fully Cooked Pork Roast and the Rana Fettucine Grilled Seasoned White Chicken & Alfredo Sauce. The item number is 1865624.

Taste

The first thing I noticed about the carnitas is that they taste way too sweet! They’re really flavorful but they’re almost as sweet as candy with a hint of artificial lime flavor. The sweetness is just too much. The pork isn’t very spicy but there is a hint of heat and they’re also salty.

There are some pieces of fat in the carnitas but not as much as I expected there to be. I like that there’s a hint of smokiness as well. I would enjoy the carnitas a lot more if they had less sugar and were more natural tasting.

Cost

There are two 500 gram packs of carnitas in the one kilogram box and I paid $17.99 Canadian. I wouldn’t say that’s exactly cheap but I expect to pay more for convenient mains like this. One 500 gram pack equals to about one large bowl once cooked.

Convenience

This was pretty easy to heat up in a pan, I did have to break up the carnitas with a spatula as it looked and some pieces were more stuck together than others. I wanted to heat the carnitas in a pan because I like it when carnitas are a bit crispy on the outside. You can choose to microwave the carnitas to heat them up for even more convenience!

The carnitas can be used in tacos, quesadillas, burritos or served over rice and beans. My husband wanted his in a bun, kind of like a pulled pork sandwich and he enjoyed it that way. The carnitas need to be kept refrigerated and the best before date is about a month from when I purchased them. If you’re not going to use them up by the best before date I recommend freezing them.

Nutrition

Calories

One half cup serving of carnitas contains 200 calories, five grams of fat, 24 grams of carbohydrates, one gram of fibre, 19 grams of sugar, 15 grams of protein and 810 milligrams of sodium. I’m so disappointed with the amount of sodium and sugar! That’s way too much sugar, I may as well eat a chocolate bar. I unfortunately didn’t read how much sugar was in the carnitas before I bought them.

Ingredients

I think the ingredients list is fine except for the amount of sugar that’s in the carnitas! I appreciate that the carnitas are gluten, dairy and soy-free. I just wish they didn’t have artificial flavors and so much sugar!

Scoring

Taste:  6/10

Cost:  6/10

Convenience: 9/10

Nutrition: 2/10

Overall

Give it a try!

If you love carnitas like I do, check out the Del Real Foods Pork Carnitas from Costco instead of these, they have way less sugar.

FAQ

Have you tried the Costco Lucia’s Mexican Style Pork Carnitas? What did you think of them? Drop a comment below!

Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).