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These slow cooker pork carnitas are fall-apart tender, juicy, and packed with flavor. Perfect for tacos, burrito bowls, or meal prep throughout the week!
Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe
All throughout Mexico you’ll find lots of hole-in-the-wall restaurants that make the best authentic carnitas. They slow cook the pork in lard, like a confit, which makes the pork fork-tender. Luckily you can easily make carnitas from scratch without all the lard and excess calories with delicious results in the slow cooker! This pork carnitas recipe for the slow cooker is easy to make and comes out fall apart tender. Best of all, it only takes 15 minutes to prep, which you can do the night before. (If you prefer using a pressure cooker, see my Instant Pot Pork Carnitas recipe, and if you prefer beef over pork, you will love this Mexican Beef.)
Why These Carnitas Are My Family’s Favorites
Making carnitas in the slow cooker is so easy, and the pork comes out juicy and tender every time. This recipe is always on rotation in my house because it makes enough for several meals, which means it’s great for meal prep. Since you can use it in so many different ways, it never feels repetitive.
- Authentic flavor: Chipotle peppers, cumin, and garlic give the pork smoky, savory depth.
- Hands-off cooking: The slow cooker does most of the work. Dinner’s ready when you are!
- Perfect for meal prep: Make a big batch and use it all week for tacos, burritos, bowls, nachos, and so much more.
Featured Comment
These are delicious! I following the recipe exactly and the whole family loved it. I was hesitant about using all the garlic thinking it would be overpowering but having tried many recipes on the website that were fantastic, I trusted and these did not disappoint. Thank you for another great recipe.
Pork Carnitas (Slow Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork)
Slow cooked until tender then crisped in the oven, these pork carnitas are practically effortless to make and perfect for meal prep.
Yield: servings
Serving Size: 1 /2 cup
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder blade roast, trimmed
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- black pepper, to taste
- 6 cloves garlic, cut into thin slivers
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon sazon, homemade or packaged
- 1/4 teaspoon dry adobo seasoning, I used Goya
- 1/4 teaspoon dry oregano
- 3/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, to taste
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
Season and brown the pork
- Season the pork on both sides with salt and black pepper.
- Using a sharp knife, insert blade into pork, cutting small holes and insert garlic slivers all the way in so you no longer see them.
- In a large skillet on high heat, brown pork on all sides for about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add pork to slow cooker
- Place pork in slow cooker, and season generously with cumin, adobo, sazon, oregano on all sides.
- Pour chicken broth in the slow cooker, add the bay leaves and chipotle peppers to the broth.
- Cover and cook low for 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, shred pork using two forks and combine well with the juices that accumulated at the bottom.
- Remove bay leaves and adjust salt and cumin to taste, as needed.
- Let it cook low for another 15-30 minutes to let the flavors meld.
Last Step:
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Notes
If you want to crisp up your carnitas, you can spray a skillet and add the shredded pork and brown them a bit before eating.
Leftovers can be refrigerated 4 to 5 days, and reheated to be used in sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, etc. Or freeze it up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 /2 cup, Calories: 160 kcal, Carbohydrates: 1 g, Protein: 20 g, Fat: 7 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Cholesterol: 69 mg, Sodium: 397 mg
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pork: Use a boneless or bone-in pork shoulder blade roast, or pork butt, trimmed of excess fat.
- Carnitas seasoning: Kosher salt, black pepper, ground cumin, sazon seasoning, dry adobo seasoning, dried oregano and bay leaves.
- Aromatics and flavor: Fresh garlic cloves and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
- Chicken broth, for liquid. You can also add orange juice or lime juice.
How to Make Carnitas
These slow cooker carnitas come together with just a little prep before the slow cooker takes over.
- Season and brown the pork: Season the pork on both sides with salt and black pepper. Using a sharp knife, insert the blade into the pork to create small holes and push the garlic slivers inside. In a large skillet over high heat, brown the pork on all sides.
- Transfer to the slow cooker: Place the browned pork in the slow cooker and season with cumin, adobo seasoning, sazon, and oregano on all sides.
- Add the cooking liquid: Pour the chicken broth into the slow cooker. Add the bay leaves and chipotle peppers.
- Cook low and slow: Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, until the pork is very tender.
- Shred the pork: Remove the pork and shred it using two forks. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and mix well with the juices at the bottom.
- Finish the carnitas: Remove the bay leaves and adjust the salt and cumin to taste. Let the pork cook on low for another 15 to 30 minutes so the flavors meld.
Gina’s Tips for Perfect Pork Carnitas in the Slow Cooker
- Always brown the meat: Browning the pork first is essential so don’t skip this step. It deepens and develops the flavor.
- Easy Prep: To make mornings easier, prep this in the evening; it only takes about 15 minutes the night before. Get it ready and refrigerate it so you simply take it out and plug it in when you get up.
- Adjust the heat level: Start with two chipotle peppers and add more if you like it spicier. You can always add more, but you can’t add less!
What to Serve with Carnitas
My family loves this so many ways, and since this recipe makes a lot, leftovers are great! Here’s a few suggestions:
- Carnitas Tacos. Serve them on charred corn tortillas to make pork carnitas tacos topping them with avocado and pico de gallo.
- Burritos. Use a large flour tortilla and make a carnitas burrito, with rice, guacamole, black beans and salsa.
- Bowls. Make a pork carnitas burrito bowl by serving the carnitas over cilantro lime rice. Top it with chopped lettuce, corn salsa, guacamole, and cheese.
- Mexican Rice. You can make a platter with rice and re-fried beans.
- Salads. Serve it over a big salad with avocado, pico de gallo and your favorite dressing. I like to use shredded cabbage as my base, but Romaine lettuce would also work.
How To Store
- Refrigerator: Store leftover carnitas in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- To reheat: Warm in a skillet or microwave with a little of the cooking liquid to keep the pork moist.
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Photo credit: Jess Larson
