Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Spicy, tangy and delicious these Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas are a fix it and forget it recipe that feeds a crowd has a little heat and is completely addicting.

Raise your hand if you love Mexican food! We love all sorts of ethnic food in our house whether it be Asian, Mexican, Indian, we are pretty adventurous eater around here. 

We have always full heartedly tried to support Taco Tuesday as much as we can and these Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas are just the tip of some of the amazing stuff we like to whip up.

This is one of those recipes that you can put in your crockpot over night, or before you go to work in the morning and you will be coming back to a house that smells absolutely amazing. 

WHAT ARE PORK CARNITAS?

Pork carnitas are traditionally a braised or roasted pork dish that is shredded into small pieces that is served as a filling. 

You can really serve these carnitas however you like. We like to use them in rice bowls, burritos, tacos, sliders, you name it. The meat is really versatile and addicting.

What gives it it’s great texture is that after it is done cooking we put it onto a baking sheet and broil it to get those traditional nice and crispy edges.

Don’t even get me started on the flavor! There is a mixture of spices that you run the meat with and other flavors include lime and orange juice. Trust me when you get those citrus flavors in meat, you are really talking my love language.

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED FOR CARNITAS?

• Pork shoulder, butt or loin roast
• Onion
• Garlic cloves
• Oregano
• Cumin
• Salt & pepper
• Chili powder
• cinnamon
• Orange
• Lime juice
• Bay leaves
• Chicken broth

All those flavors mixed together really create not only one amazing smell but the flavor itself is undeniably amazing. Like we are the type of people who cant stop just picking at the plate we want more.

WHAT IS THE BEST MEAT FOR CARNITAS?

The best meat for carnitas would be a pork shoulder. Carnitas cook low and slow for a long time and pork shoulder or butt. Using boneless is best, but sometimes people do like to use bone-in for certain purposes.

Pork shoulder shreds super easy and easily soaks up the juices that it was cooked in making this cut of meat one of the favorite choices for traditional carnitas.

You can however use a nice big pork loin roast. We have done this multiple times and have never had any issues so if you can only find that in stores you can always use that instead of the shoulder.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THIS PORK CARNITAS RECIPE?

• In bowl mix together your oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder and cinnamon and rub it on all sides of your pork shoulder
• Place pork in a 6-8 quart slow cooker and add your onions, bay leaves and garlic.
• Pour in your orange juice, lime juice and chicken broth and then cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
• Once cooked shred your pork in the slow cooker and cover and let sit an additional 20 minutes to soak up the juices.
• Remove pork from slow cooker and place on baking sheet and broil in oven for about 5 minutes until edges are crispy.
• Serve as tacos, taco bowls, burritos, etc.

When it comes to Mexican recipes, this is one to keep in your arsenal! It doesn’t take much effort to whip together and you can fix it and forget it and end up with an addicting dish that you will want to make again and again.

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas
• Slow Cooker Street Tacos
• Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Spicy, tangy and delicious these Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas are a fix it and forget it recipe that feeds a crowd has a little heat and is completely addicting.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 8 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 221kcal

Author: Tornadough Alli

Ingredients

• ▢ 4-5 lb pork shoulder
• ▢ 1 Tbs chili powder
• ▢ 2 tsp cumin
• ▢ 1 tsp oregano
• ▢ 1/2 Tbs salt
• ▢ 1 tsp pepper
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1 large onion quartered
• ▢ Juice of 2 oranges
• ▢ 1/4 cup lime juice
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Instructions

• In a bowl whisk together your chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt pepper and cinnamon and then rub on all sides of your pork shoulder.
• Place pork in a 6-8 quart slow cooker.
• Add in your bay leaves, garlic cloves and onions.
• Pour in your orange juice, lime juice and chicken broth.
• Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours.
• Once cooked, shred your pork in crockpot and cover again and let cook for about 30 minutes longer to soak up juices.
• Remove shredded pork and place on baking sheet and broil in oven for about 5 minutes until edges get crispy.
• Serve in your favorite dish.

Nutrition

Calories: 221kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 720mg | Potassium: 564mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 0g | Vitamin A: 310IU | Vitamin C: 7.7mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2.4mg

Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.

Tried this recipe?Mention @TornadoughAlli or tag #TornadoughAlli!

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