These Crockpot Carnitas are the best thing to ever come out of my slow cooker!
There’s fiesta night, and then there’s FIESTA NIGHT! Crockpot carnitas are about as good as it gets at our house. This easy recipe is mostly hands off because you put it in the slow cooker and forget about it (except that your house smells like delicious pork all day). However, there is a little detail about baking it for 45 minutes before serving. I know 45 minutes is a long time, and you could skip this step. However, allow me to show you the deliciousness that 45 minutes brings you:
Carnitas before baking.
Carnitas after baking!
God bless America, that baked version looks brown and crispy and beautiful. Try to make time for the slow-baking step if possible. It gives the taste and texture of authentic fried carnitas without doing any actual frying.
Enjoy your leftover carnitas on their own or in taco salad, quesadillas, or on buns with BBQ sauce. You could also try them as Queso Carnitas Loaded Potatoes!
6/5/2014 Update: This week I revamped this crockpot carnitas recipe. Many of you loved the old version (as did I!), but a few of you commented that it was too bland. I always appreciate your feedback, and while carnitas aren’t supposed to be particularly spicy or saucy, I certainly want you to be happy with the recipe. This new awesome(er) version has a few changes to make it even better:
- Cut the roast into chunks and pierce it to allow more flavor to penetrate the meat
- Eliminate the beef broth and reduce the water content to make the sauce more concentrated
- Use taco sauce instead of salsa and increase the spices to boost the flavor
I feel sure that you are going to love this new version even more, and I can’t wait to hear what you think!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 8 hours |
| Servings |
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- 3-4 pounds pork shoulder roast
- 15 ounces green taco sauce
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 sweet onion sliced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper or to taste
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk (Do not add to crockpot.)
- 10-12 small tortillas (Corn and whole wheat blend tortillas are my current fav.)
Ingredients
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- Cut roast into 3-4 large pieces. Pierce meat all over with a knife.
- Stir together taco sauce, garlic, onion, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, cayenne, and water. Add pork pieces, and spoon liquid over the meat to coat all sides.
- Cover crockpot and cook on high 6-8 hours or low 8-10 hours, until meat shreds easily.
- When meat is done, preheat oven to 275 degrees. Take pork out of the slow cooker and shred on a large-rimmed baking sheet lined with foil or a baking mat to make cleanup easier. Discard any large pieces of fat. (Leave most of the onion behind, but it’s OK if some is incorporated with the meat.)
- Pour ½ cup of cooking liquid and ½ cup of milk over shredded pork. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes until brown and crispy. Remove meat for serving with tongs to leave excess fat behind.
- Serve with tortillas, finely shredded cabbage, guacamole or avocado, and green salsa.
- Suggested condiments: Finely shredded cabbage, guacamole or sliced avocado, and green salsa.
- Are you a fan of the old version? Just make these simple changes:
- Substitute a 16 oz. jar of green salsa for the taco sauce and a 15 oz. can of beef broth for the water.
- Substitute 1 tbsp. of onion powder for the fresh onion and 1 tsp. garlic powder for the fresh garlic.
Adapted from Carnitas by Honey Pickles.
Carnitas go great with…
Moving this from “recipes I have to try ” to “recipes I love!” So good
Can you post this again? All I see is a picture and this recipe was AMAZING
I hate cooking and you can definitely taste the hate when I do! However, I have been making this recipe since 2014 and omg it’s amazing! I leave out the broth and do half verde and half taco sauce with the juice of a lime…..PERFECTION. I make this anytime someone visits. It’s kind of hard to mess up a slow cooker meal. Don’t ever remove this recipe
I didn’t read through all comments, so I apologize if this was already addressed. I’ve made many carnita recipes and have always crisped them. I’ve never heard of adding milk and am hesitate to do so. What does adding milk do for the meat?
Is there any way to get the old recipe? I can’t handle spicy foods at all. Truthfully, my taste buds are so strong I can tell the color of an M&M by taste alone. I need foods that others would describe as “bland.”
Hi, Stacy! This recipe isn’t spicy at all (just leave out the cayenne pepper). I do have a note in the recipe about how to make it the original way if you want to try that :)
I love to cook and I love new recipes. I go through at least 3 new recipes a week and I never leave a comment on any of the recipes I’ve tried. I HAD to comment on this recipe because it has been one of my favorites by far. So easy… great flavor… just delicious! This will be a regular in our house!
Thank you so much, Meghan! This is such a wonderful compliment, and I really appreciate that you took the time to leave a review :) :)
Just wondered WHY you’d want to crisp up the meat. Doesn’t that make it dry? Making this tonight so wondered about skipping this step.
Hi, Lori. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to reply before you had made this dish. I think the crispy edges do a good job of duplicating the texture of authentic fried carnitas, but you won’t go wrong with eating the meat right of the slow cooker either. I hope you enjoyed it however you decided to make it. Thank you!
Here in the UK we don’t seem to be able to buy the green taco sauce what could I use instead as I would love to make this dish as it looks so good.
Hi, Penny! Do you have any sort of green (made with tomatillos) salsa or green enchilada sauce? If not, just try it with red taco sauce instead if that is available. It will still turn out great I think :) Thank you!
Thank you Andi for your reply I can get salsa and red taco sauce . Can’t wait to try it looks so yummy
OK, great! I really think it’s about the pork, slow cooking, and then crisping them in the oven. If you change the salsa or seasoning a bit, they will still turn out good :)
I am Mexican and do my own salsa. I use green or red and both turn out great. It is very easy to make. In a large pan put a little oil and add either green (15) or red (8)) tomatoes, 1 jalapeño, 1 glove garlic and 1 onion. Cover and when it is soft put in blender with salt to taste. You will love it!
how about canned chopped green chiles?