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.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This was delicious! Even my husband (who doesn’t like pork) loved it. I made chimichurri and pickled red onions to add to our taco toppings. Yum!!
The most flavorful carnitas I ever tasted. I combined all the onions, garlic, oranges and limes in a blender and liquefied it before cooking I’m going to try it this time and see how it is I’m sure it’ll be awesome!
If I’m not going to serve this for a few hours until after it’s done, should I put in the fridge and then broil right before serving or broil and then put in fridge? And heat up right before?
I recommend broiling right before serving. Hope that helps, Leah!
I broiled it and put it back in the slow cooker on Keep Warm for a party. Worked great!
Can this mexican pull pork be served on a bun?
Sure!
It’s *Mexican, not mexican. And the recipe is carnitas, not Mexicans pulled pork. That’s kind of super racist, fyi.
oh carl. ya gotta pick your battles man.
Because the M was not capitalized, it’s racist. ….? smh…let’s not sully this generous Lady’s recipe and blog with this irrelevant silliness by attacking a perfect stranger’s faultless question……lighten up, Carl.
This recipe is the best I have found, yet!
Can you freeze this recipe without cooking first? I want to have this meal later this fall, but I like to make my meals ahead of time. Thanks!
It could’ve been an honest mistake. No need to go SJW on them. Treating people like that is not kind.
“It’s *Mexican, not mexican. And the recipe is carnitas, not Mexicans pulled pork. That’s kind of super racist, fyi. “
Seriously ? You brought that nonsense in here ? Let me guess, your from California. Well “ FYI, you kind of a super idiot.”
Great flavor, but too salty. I think I would reduce the amount of salt by half next time. I also would double the Chile powder. I couldn’t taste any spice in the dish.
You definitely used tablespoon instead of a teaspoon
Awesome! Approved by a family with two 15 year old boys. I added one finely chopped jalapeno and added a bit of the juice from the slow cooker to the pan to the sheet pan before I put it the broiler. I will make this again!
I made these last week and they were killer!!! Sooo good. I still have leftovers in my freezer and I already want to make more! My question is, what would you change for 8 lbs? We buy bulk from costco and we have 4 2lbs roasts, and I’m making it all into carnitas. Should I double the whole recipe? Thanks in advance!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I’ve used this recipe multiple times, usually with pork loin. We cut the pork into 2-3″ chunks, but everything else is the same. It turns out AMAZING every tim! Thank you for posting!
These were damn delicious! I highly recommend this recipe for authentic tasting carnitas tacos!! Thanks for yet another stellar recipe!
Delicious!! Impressive meal with minimal effort. I used a large seeded and chopped jalapeño in place of chili powder but otherwise followed the recipe as written, even with a larger piece of meat. Had about 9lb bone in picnic roast that cooked in 8.5 hours on high in a 6qt crock. Used a skillet on the stovetop to caramelize the pork and some fat; reduced cooking liquid by half and added a good splash to the pan. Served with black beans, white rice and pico de gallo. Lots of meat leftover for pulled pork, etc.
So this tasted so good the day after making and a few days later. The day of it seemed like the flavors didn’t meld into the meat. What can I change so that those flavors I was tasting a few days later I get to taste the day of making? I did prep it all the night before thinking the flavors would soak in.
It’s hard to say, Briana. Some recipes simply taste better as a leftover, like lasagna! 🙂
This is absolutely my favorite recipe for pork carnitas – turns out great each and every time. Thank you so much for the great recipe!!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I have made it twice. The family loves it. I serve it on large buns with a slaw. It is a keeper! PattyG.
Great way to do it!
So where does all the juice come from when it is finished? since you dont add water or more juice.
It comes from the pork along with the orange and lime juices that are used in the recipe.
This is delicious! I made this recipe this past week and my entire family could not stop eating it! I doubled the recipe because of the size of size pork shoulder/Boston butt. Broiling it for just a few minutes took this recipe to the next level!
Here is what we did with this pork:
Carnitas for dinner 2 nights
Cuban sandwiches for dinner one night
Breakfast carnitas for breakfast one morning
My husband is already wondering when I will be making this again! It is a super easy recipe, delicious and a it uses the crock pot! It is a WINNER!
I was wondering if pork butt could be used instead because I have one one the freezer. Now I know, thank you!
This recipe is great, I have been using it for a couple of years now, although over time I have tweaked the ingredients a bit! Try doubling the garlic and throw some fresh whole jalapeno peppers into the cooker to kick it up a notch! I use 4 peppers for a 4 lb shoulder!
Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you for your feedback, Justin!
I tried this recipe last night and it was delicious. Thank you!
That’s great!
Hi. I just found you recipe and it looks delicious. I bought some pre-cut pork shoulder in the 30% off bin today at the grocery store. I have 1.5 pounds and want to try your recipe. (It is just me!!) I have never adjusted a recipe down before. How much would i cut the cooking time? Am kinda new to slow cookers!! Thanks.
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
Thank you for the recipe! I have this in my crock pot as we speak! It smells amazing! We like to have “Mexican bowl” night at our house! I will be serving these with some Mexican rice, black beans, pico and avocado!
That sounds heavenly!
Just had a Taco twosday party. This was amazing. I only found a 7lb roast but that meant leftovers!! This will probably be made once a month! Thanks
Love Taco Tuesdays! Glad you liked it!