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.
Video
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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!
Hi,
Did you use boneless or bone in pork shoulder? Thanks
I used boneless.
This recipe is absolutely delicious. We stumbled upon it a couple weeks ago and also made a cilantro lime coleslaw to have with it. I’m actually making it again today and it will be a staple in our household for many years to come Bravo
That’s so great to hear Darilyn!
If I want to halve the recipe, would I also halve the cooking time? I don’t use the crockpot often, so I just want to be sure.
Hi Tracy! Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
So.
So.
Good!
I have toddlers at home, so I used paprika in place of chili powder to eliminate any chance of being spicy.
So good! ^-^
That’s great! So happy you like it 🙂
This is a great recipe!! I used pork butt and my mouth is watering thinking about it. The flavor was really good but personally love deep flavor! I didn’t tweak it at all, but next time I would double the lime juice (or use some zest), 1/2 of the orange juice and add more cumin and chili powder. I would add some coriander and a diced jalapeno with SOME of the seeds. I will post this to Pinterest and make it again!!
Wonderful, thank you Robin!
Can I use a boneless pork loin for this recipe? I accidentally bought that.
Yes, absolutely.
I made this last weekend. I’m making it again today – this was lip smacking, finger lickin GOOD. Once again, thanks for the AWESOME recipe.
This recipe was great. Made great tacos with it, and I made an incredible sandwich with it! I topped some crusty French bread with the carnitas along with some of the onions from the crock pot. I topped that with some grated cheese (a mix of cheddar, Jack and asadero) and then broiled it until the cheese was melted. Then, I dunked the sandwich in the juices from the crock pot. A Mexican Dip!
Could you use a pork tenderloin instead of the pork shoulder?
Yes, absolutely.
I made this the other night for dinner everyone loved it. The only change I made was I used lemon juice with the orange juice instead of lime, that’s all I had on hand. I shredded the whole roast and froze half and finished the rest with the taco’s following your method for broiling the meat. Wonderful flavor. Thanks for the recipe.
Came out Delicious!! added the same condiments + 2 cinammon sticks and 1 TSP of chipotle powder . WOW i was amazed by the flavor. once again THANK YOU!!!
Delicious! Did tweak though.. instead of squeezed orange I used a Mexican Coke. Seen other recipe that used it so I combined the two in a way.
Is 10 hours on low okay?
10 hours may be a bit too long!
What is the serving size for this recipe? Is it about 2 tacos?
About 2-4 depending on how much meat is used per taco.
I’m making this tomorrow! I bought lemons instead of limes. Can I substitute?
Yes, of course.
It was a hit!
Could it be made with a pork lion?
I’m so glad! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I think I may have left a comment quite a while back, but can’t be positive. I have made this recipe a few times, and have to say it IS damn delicious! I have just placed all ingredients in the crock pot to cook overnight. I have a pot luck tomorrow and I’m taking the carnitas with small truck taco size corn tortillas, diced onion and grated cheese. This recipe is perfect as is and also easy to add more or less of spice ingredients to your liking. Thank you, Chungah, for sharing this and so many other recipes that have become my and my family’s favorites.
Love this recipe! Make it all the time! Do you think I could use the same recipe with flank steak? Thank you and happy holidays!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I have made these carnitas for my Hispanic inlaws three times now and each time I get the highest compliments! I am excited to make them again this weekend for my mother in laws birthday. Best recipe ever!! I stick the the exact instructions and have been perfect every time.