Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

My poor slow cooker never gets a break. Even in the summer, I use it quite a bit! Slow cooker meals are great because they don’t heat up your entire kitchen, and usually make at least 8 servings, great for a party or for leftovers. Plus, you can put the ingredients in a slow cooker, go to work, and have dinner nearly finished when you return!

My love of tacos is fairly obvious on my blog. I’ve made everything from Huevos Rancheros Tacos to Steak Tacos with Lime Mayo to even Kung Pao Chicken Tacos. But I’ve basically avoided doing a pork taco, mainly because I just don’t eat much pork.

But I need some variety every now and then, so I decided to finally try my hand at making some. This recipe for carnitas from myrecipes.com is really simple. All of the ingredients can be found in your local grocery store.

Ingredients:

• 1 (3-pound) boneless pork shoulder
• 10 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 chipotle chiles canned in adobo sauce, drained and chopped
• 20 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
• 2/3 cup chopped onion
• 2/3 cup fresh salsa (I have a Fresh Salsa recipe on my blog. Just omit the corn.)
• 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 10 lime wedges

Remove the roast from the fridge and cut 10 ½ inch deep slits into the roast. Stuff the garlic cloves into the slits.

In a small bowl, mix cumin, dried oregano, salt, and pepper.

Add the roast to your slow cooker and sprinkle with the spice mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the orange juice and  2 chopped chipotle chilies. Add maybe a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the adobo sauce from the can to the mixture if you’d like a little bit more flavor.

Pour the juice mixture over the pork, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred with 2 forks.

Skim the fat from the cooking liquid. Add ½ cup cooking liquid to the shredded pork. Toss to coat. (You can add more liquid if the pork still looks a bit dry.)

When ready to serve, warm the tortillas. Spoon 1 ½ oz pork mixture onto each tortilla. Top with 1 ½ teaspoons onion, 1 ½ teaspoons fresh salsa, and 1 ½ teaspoons cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

The carnitas were so juicy. I loved the hint of orange juice in them. Fresh salsa is key for this recipe, you want to keep the flavors light and fresh. Using the jarred stuff just won’t do these justice!