Description
Slow-Cooked Pork Carnitas Recipe
Ingredients
Scale
- 4–5 lb boneless pork butt or pork shoulder
- 12 oz beer (Mexican lager works perfectly)
- ½ cup salsa (chunky)
- 2 tbs garlic (finely chopped)
- 2 tbs sweet onion (finely chopped, keep remaining onion to garnish if desired)
- 2 tbs chipotle sauce (from can, optional)
- 1 chipotle pepper (from can, optional)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne powder
- ½ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup lime juice (freshly squeezed)
- 2 tbs cilantro (finely chopped, optional garnish)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together seasonings.
- Sprinkle seasonings on all surfaces of the pork shoulder.
- Rub the seasonings into the pork shoulder.
- Place the pork shoulder into your crockpot.
- In a medium bowl, add orange juice, lime juice, onion, garlic, and salsa.
- Mix together the orange juice, lime juice, onion, garlic, and salsa.
- Add the beer to the medium bowl with your wet mixture.
- Pour the wet mixture into the crock pot. Some of the pork shoulder will stick out; This is expected.
- Cook the seasoned pork shoulder in the crockpot with the wet mixture for 10 hours, or until the pork easily shreds. If the pork is tough, it means it has not cooked long enough.
- Remove the cooked pork shoulder from the crockpot and shred. You can return it to the crockpot until you are ready to crisp.
- On a tinfoil-lined baking sheet, place an even layer of carnitas meat. I like to take a few tablespoons of the ‘juice’ from the crockpot and spoon it over the meat.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and broil the meat until the ends are crisp.
Notes
- Serve with tacos, burrito bowls, or nachos.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You can freeze the carnitas for later use.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 10 hours
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 219
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 800 mg
- Fat: 5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 5 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Cholesterol: 120 mg
Keywords: Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas, Pork Carnitas, Mexican Pork Recipe