Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
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The easiest carnitas you will ever make right in the crockpot, cooked low and slow for the most amazing fall-apart tender pork goodness!
Have you joined The Walking Dead fan club yet? The season premier is on Sunday night and they’ve been playing every single episode from start to finish on AMC for this premier. And even though I’ve already watched all the episodes, I’m still hooked.
There’s just something about creepy zombies that leaves you in front of the tv. That and Norman Reedus, his poncho, and his bow and arrow. But I digress. Zombies or not, it’s officially fall and the slow cooker is being put to very good use in these epic carnitas. After all, you can’t go wrong when you let this baby cook in all its glory for 8 hours.
You can even prep everything the night before and put it in the slow cooker right before leaving for work. And when you get home, you’ll have the most tender, most juicy pulled pork ever. Although I highly recommend finishing this under the broiler, letting these babies get nicely caramelized.
I should also mention that this recipe creates enough to feed an army so be prepared to have tacos, quesadillas and burritos all week long!
Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 pound pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 onions, quartered
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Equipment
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Season pork shoulder with spice mixture, rubbing in thoroughly on all sides.
- Place garlic, onions, orange juice, lime juice and seasoned pork shoulder into a 6-qt slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
- Remove pork shoulder from the slow cooker and shred the meat before returning to the pot with the juices; season with salt and pepper, to taste, if needed. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to broil. Place carnitas onto a baking sheet and broil until crisp and crusted, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
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Hi Chungah,
I’m about to make this in about an hour. My question is, since I don’t have oranges, could I just use regular Orange juice (I get mine from Trader Joe’s). I don’t have time to run out and get oranges. Just wondering if orange juice would taste just as good as if I were to use two oranges. And if I use OJ, how many cups?
Thanks so much and cannot wait to try this!
Telma, you can certainly substitute Trader Joe’s orange juice but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. It is always best to use the ingredients listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible.
For a 2 pound shoulder would you just half everything? Including the time? Because theres only two of us and we could never eat all that meat.
You can certainly try halving the cooking time but without further recipe testing, I am not certain if this time frame is sufficient for a 2 pound pork shoulder. Please use your best judgment to make the appropriate adjustments.
Did you try halving it?? I would like to do same
Just made these tonight. They were AMAZING! I believe the exact words my 10 year old used was “When are we having this again?”
I followed your recipe to a T. The only thing I added was a quick avocado/tomato salad. I can’t wait to come up with yummy dishes for the leftovers. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
I have loved every recipe that I have made of yours. Thank you for existing and posting such great meals, you have made it possible for me to cook! Can’t wait to try this one! Thanks again! 🙂
how big is your slow cooker? Because mine looks way smaller than yours.
I used a 3-qt slow cooker.
With your opening remarks I thought you were going to say this is what all the best zombie eat. Lol I love pulled pork abd this is simply beautiful. I have tried many of your recipes and loved each one. I will make this next week, thank you for being so great at cooking. From trying your recipes I cook and eat far better.
Mike
It looks like there is something green with the pork in the last photo, what is it? These look delicious!
Laura, I used chopped fresh cilantro leaves simply as a garnish.
Boy oh boy does that look fantastic! Definitely want to give this a try, thanks for sharing 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
What? YES. On the pinterest this goes 🙂
Sarah
Midwest Darling
Thank you for the nice recipe.
I know I should never question your fabulous recipes, but is it necessary to put under broiler? Won’t it dry out the meat?
No, it is not. As I mentioned in the post, this is a completely optional step.
Although if you broil your pork just right, you get juicy but crispy pork which by definition is carnitas. 🙂 I recommend the broil!
My wife loved the caramelization of the onions the broiling added.
Reviewing the recipe for slow cooker pork carnitas. Is the only liquid to this recipe the juice of orange and lime? The photo looks like there is quite a bit of liquid. Please clarify if additional liquid is added.
Thank you,
Trish, the recipe is correct in that the only liquid to this recipe is the oranges and limes. The rest of the liquid is actually from the juices of the pork after being slow cooked for 8 hours.
i added about a cup of water will that ruin the recipe??
Nope, it should be fine. But there is a lot of liquid produced on its own so please be wary of possible overflow if a small crockpot is being used.
I agree, you don’t need the water. The fruit juices are enough! 🙂
I have a 7lb pork shoulder that I am going to cook lke this, hat do you think would change in this recipe?
Amber, the recipe calls for a 4 pound pork shoulder so you may need to double the recipe as needed.
If it I a 7 lb place to shoulder do I cook still for 8 hours?
HQP, you may need to adjust cooking time as needed to account for the larger pork shoulder. But as always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
what is the green that is showing inthe did you add cilantro or something after cooking?
Cilantro.
Do you skim the fat or put the juices through a fat separator before you return the shredded pork to the crockpot for 30 minutes? I know you start by trimming the visible fat off, but won’t there still be a good amount of fat that cooks out?
I look forward to your posts – the recipes are great!
You can certainly skim the fat to your desired preferences but with the broiling step at the very end, most of the liquid/fat will not be used.
Mmm carnitas shredded pork is deeelicious! And you need so little else to serve with it before you have something out of this world 😀 Just a bit of leaves, guacamole and tortillas and you’re ready to roll 😀 I love the spice mix as well 🙂 x
I love slow cooking meats – they always result so tender and delicious! This is clearly no exception!
Can I just squeeze the lime and the orange throw them peeling and all in the cooker
Sure!
I put the orange and lime peel in the slow cooker and it was really bitter. I don’t recommend it.
The zest of an orange or a lime are always good no matter what but the pith the white stuff next to the meat is always bitter always better never put that in anything just saying
Recipe is freaking awesome! I started meal too late for slow cooking, so I pressure cooked it. OMG it melted in your mouth! The lime/orange was very subtle. I did add Sason Goya to the dry rub. Now that I’ve tasted it, I don’t know if it will make it under the broiler. Thanks for the great recipe. Every good cook tweaks every recipe, but this gave a darn fine foundation. No real need to deviate at all.
How long did you set pressure cooker?