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Crockpot Pork Carnitas

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 3-5 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon southwest seasoning Emeril's
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
  • 1 orange cut in 2 and juiced
  • 1 lime juiced
  • 1 large yellow onion quartered
  • 1 pablano chili pepper quartered
  • 1-2 banana peppers seeded
  • 1 cup water

Instructions
 

  • Turn slow cooker on high.
  • Cut pork roast into large chunks.  Add to slow cooker.
  • Sprinkle all the seasoning from salt through oregano over pork.
  • Slice orange down the middle.  Squeeze juice over pork.  Toss in orange halves.
  • Slice lime down the middle and add juice to pork.
  • Add yellow onion, chili pepper, banana pepper and water to slow cooker.
  • Cover and cook on high for first 3 hours.
  • Remove lid and stir pork mixture.  Turn down to low and cook for additional 5 hours.
  • Once you can tell the pork is tender.  Remove everything from slow cooker except the liquid by placing the pork and vegetables into a large bowl. 
  • Place liquid from cooking juices into a medium saucepan.  Bring to boil and reduce by cooking for 15-30 minutes.  You will notice it thicken slightly.
  • Heat oven to high broil.
  • Discard orange halves from bowl.  Using 2 forks, shred pork pieces.  Keeping the onions and peppers in the bowl as you shred the meat.
  • In a large jelly roll pan lined with aluminum foil, place shredded pork in pan.
  • Top shredded pork with reduced cooking liquid (only about 1/2 cup - 3/4 cups of liquid for entire pan of shredded pork).  
  • Place pan of pork in oven below broiler and cook for about 5 minutes until browned nicely.  
  • Remove from oven when browned to your liking.  Serve pork carnitas however you like (in corn tortilla shells, in a mexican style salad, or inside a burrito).  

Notes

  • If you want to kick up the heat, add canned chipotle chili peppers, additional hot chili peppers like jalapeno or serrano.
  • The pork freezes well.  So make a big batch so you'll have carnitas available for a quick taco dinner.
  • Make sure to buy pork that is fatty.  So pork butt is really the way to go.  The fat melts slowly and helps to create the wonderful flavor and succulent texture.
Keyword Pork Carnitas
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