Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

I found a recipe for slow cooker carnitas on the Times-Picayune website when I was looking for some Cajun slow cooker recipe conversions.

While carnitas is decidedly not Cajun food, it is a bit of an obsession of mine.  Scratch that -- it is a big obsession of mine.  But I wasn't quite satisfied with the initial recipe from the newspaper, so I tweaked it a little.

It was awesome.  And just what I wanted.

After having a fresh pork carnitas burrito from Chipotle when I was pregnant with The Peanut years ago, my cravings were insane.  The problem?  The Chipotle restaurant in question was in Tucson, AZ, and I was clear across the country in WV.

Since then, I've tried a lot of recipes for carnitas, but none have measured up.

Until now.

It was so good that I'm sharing it with everyone.  We had pork carnitas soft tacos with corn tortillas last night for dinner, and they were heaven.  And the pork leftovers taste even better today -- so much so that I can't wait for dinner and have been in the fridge nibbling at least three times already today.

Here's the recipe:


Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

2 pounds pork shoulder (Boston butt) or whole loin roast (NOT the tiny tenderloins though -- it will cook way too quickly), trimmed of all visible fat

2 large onions, cut into 4 pieces each

1 head garlic, split into individual cloves that are left whole and still in their paper skins

2 Tbsp. fajita seasoning (I got mine at the grocery store in the "hispanic foods" section -- it contains a lot of black pepper, cumin, spices and herbs, and is a great all-purpose tex-mex blend. The brand is Fiesta, and it is a salt-free blend. If you have one with salt in it, I'd use it more sparingly, or try a blend of about a tsp. salt, 2 tsp. black pepper, 2 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. oregano -- preferably Mexican oregano -- and some garlic and onion powders.)

2 Tbsp. Penzey's Adobo seasoning

Guacamole or avocado slices (or both)

Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Corn tortillas

Tomatillo salsa (I used a small can of Herdez brand, and it was fantastic with the pork.)

Sliced or chopped fresh tomatoes

Sliced or chopped fresh red and yellow bell peppers

Trim pork roast of any fat visible on the outside. Mine had a huge amount on one side, but it was easy to pare off and discard. This makes a huge difference in how fatty things get in your slow cooker. Don't worry about the roast getting dry -- there will be enough fat marbling inside to keep it moist and tender as it slow cooks.

Place cut onions and garlic cloves in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the roast on top. In small bowl, stir together your fajita seasoning (or your own spice mix blend) and your Penzey's Adobo seasoning. (I know it seems crazy to special order your spices, but the Penzey's Adobo spice mix is divine and well worth the effort in how awesome this tasted.)

Sprinkle spice mixture over one side of the pork roast, and rub the mixture into the meat a bit. Flip the roast over and do the same thing to the other side. Meat should be fully coated with spices all the way around.

If you want, you could place more chopped onion on top to baste the meat in onion flavor as it is cooking. I was out of onions, so I didn't do that this time, but might next time I make this.

Cover slow cooker and cook pork on low setting until meat is very tender and falling apart, about 6 hours.

Transfer pork to cutting board; use a slotted spoon to get just meat and not juices for the pieces that have already fallen apart. Discard onion and garlic. With fingers or two forks, shred pork; transfer carnitas meat to a serving platter. Place avocado slices or guacamole (or both), chopped cilantro, fresh tomatoes and sliced or chopped red and/or yellow bell peppers on a separate platter. Wrap corn tortillas in damp kitchen towel; microwave until warm, about 1 minute.

Serve carnitas with warm tortillas and tomatillo salsa.

Serves 6 to 8.

Haven't decided if our leftovers will be tostadas or nachos as yet, or if we'll go with more soft tacos. But we're definitely going to enjoy this tonight! It is amazingly flavorful and tasty, and really, really easy.

I popped this in the slow cooker before going over to school yesterday to re-do my bulletin board and work on lesson plans for the library. By the time I got home, the whole house smelled like heaven and I was not sure I could wait until dinner to eat. Will definitely be making this one again and again.

(Photo via albastrica mititica.)