There are few things in the world more glorious than a meal that you prep in the morning, forget about for a few hours while you go to work or run errands or watch 6 back-to-back episodes of Project Runway on OnDemand (I can't be the only marathon-TV-watcher here), and put the final finishing touches on a few minutes before sinking your teeth in. Thank you, slow cooker, for doing all of the hard work for me when I'm feeling exceptionally lazy and hungry at the same time. You're a real pal, and I am forever in your debt for many a delicious meal.
But the most delicious meal of all to ever come out of my crock pot? It's hard to say, but it just might be these Crock Pot Carnitas. I know what you're thinking. Carnitas in a crock pot? But carnitas must be tended to, lovingly, and basted in lard until they reach that perfect flavorful crispiness! Well, that's what I thought, too, until I found a recipe from Gimme Some Oven that changed the game forever. No lard. No hours spent hovering over a hot stove. Still very-much-so man-approved.
Can I just tell you that James has been RAVING about this pork for like 2 weeks now? He was picking at the pork in between the broiling stage and kept moaning over how good it was-- it was hilarious. He also kept coming up with excuses to eat more. "You don't need this piece, it looks kind of funny, I'll just go ahead and get rid of it for you... by eating it."
"I think maybe I should taste-test this again. You know, just to make sure it's good." Sure, buddy. Have at it.
He hardly spoke while eating the tacos, his concentration focused entirely on trying to pace himself and getting the perfect carnita-pickled onion-chipotle cream ratio in one bite. I could see it in his eyes. But afterward, I'm pretty sure I got about 5 times more "I love you"s and "You're the best"s than usual. The way to a man's heart...
It wasn't just James who loved them, though. My whole family did, and yours will too.
I'm definitely going to make a repeat batch of these for the next football game, and probably for the "Classy Housewarming Party" that I was just invited to. (The invite reads, "We have the TV, stereo, and ping pong table set up - so we're pretty much ready for a party." Bachelor-level-class right there, haha!)
Really, after you make these once, you'll just be looking for reasons to make them again and share them with everyone you know. Try them out for yourself and see!
Crock Pot Carnita Tacos with Chipotle Cream
- Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6-8
Description
Recipe slightly adapted (and added to) from Gimme Some Oven
Ingredients
For the quick pickled onions and jalapenos:
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeno, sliced
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
For the chipotle cream:
- 2 teaspoons chipotle peppers in adobo, finely minced
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
For the carnitas:
- 1 (4-5 lb) lean boneless pork roast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 3" chunks
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 12 oz beer
- 1 large white onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 chipotle in adobo, from can, chopped, plus 1 teaspoon sauce
- 2 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the tacos:
- 12-16 corn tortillas, toasted
- Cotija cheese, for topping
- Cilantro, for topping
Instructions
- Start by making the pickled onions and jalapenos. Combine the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a bowl and whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve. Put the onion and jalapeno in a sealable container and pour over the vinegar mixture. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the cream and pork.
- In a small, sealable container, combine the sour cream, chipotles, and lime juice. Mix well and taste-- add more adobo sauce if you like yours spicier, or more sour cream if you'd like to tame the heat. Cover and refrigerate.
- In a large skillet over high heat, heat the oil. When hot, add in the pork and sear until browned, about 2-3 minutes per side. Place the pork in the bottom of the crock pot.
- Add in the onion, beer, chipotle, garlic, and seasonings, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Put the pickled onions and jalapenos in the refrigerator.
- After 6 hours, check your pork. When it easily shreds with a fork, it is ready to be removed from the broth and shredded.
- Preheat the broiler and prepare two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Scatter the pork around the baking sheets and ladle about ¼ cup of the broth over each sheet of pork.
- Place one sheet under the broiler for about 5 minutes, then toss the pork and ladle another ¼ cup of broth over. Broil once more, until crispy but not overcooked, and then ladle another ¼ cup broth over the pork. Repeat with the second sheet.
- When the pork is done, serve it in toasted corn tortillas (I like to use 2 corn tortillas per taco to keep in all of the juices) with the chipotle cream and pickled onions and jalapenos. Sprinkle with cotija cheese and cilantro.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 6 hours
Marie says
Carnitas: what I miss the most about California. Now I can re-create them at home.. Thank you 🙂 Now I only I could tind some chipotle on adobo sauce here in France.... I guess i'll have to stock up next time i COME;
IFortuna says
Our Mexican family never seasons their pork before or during cooking. This is Tex-Mex or North of the border cooking.
We cook the Butt or Shoulder roast. Pull the pork, never chunk it. We serve it only with pico de gallo and a wedge of lime(op.) in a corn tortilla. This is the traditional California and Northern Mexican way of cooking.
If you like it crispy, just toss it in a skillet and dry fry it for a couple of minutes to crisp it up. Or, stick it under your oven broiler to crisp. There is enough fat still in the meat to crisp it.
You don't need all this other stuff mentioned in the recipe. None of our family or friends make it this way.
Kathy says
How about using orange and lime juice to cook instead of beer?
Brenda Uldrick says
You can order it from Amazon!
Annie says
This is the 3rd recipe of yours that I've tried out - and yet again it worked perfectly! Reasonably easy to do and so, so tasty!
Morgan says
I'm happy to hear it! =)
Krista says
You cut the pork into 3 inch chunks?
Morgan says
Yep! Just so that it can get a good sear on a large amount of surface area. It's optional, you don't have to cut into chunks if you don't want to 🙂
Troy says
Great cook, great blogger, and gorgeous lady?!
Who is this "James" and how soon until he needs replacing? 😉
Seriously tho, thanks for this recipe. So delicious!!
Morgan says
Hahaha well thanks for all of the compliments! I'm glad you like the recipe! =)
Steven says
Woooow it was delicious!
The oignons/jalapenos were so good we decided to make 3 full mason jar for future treats 🙂
Thanks for this recipe, will look over your website!
Morgan says
So happy to hear it, Steven! Try the onions/jalapenos on burgers in the future-- mmmmm!
Emily Hajec says
Do you have cube the pork first or can you leave it whole and shred at the end???
Morgan says
Yes, you definitely want to cube it first.
cindy says
What kind of knife do you use the cube the pork? I tried all sorts but wound up having the best luck with kitchen shears. Thanks!
Emily says
What if the only ingredient I am missing is beer?! I have dry white wine...?
Morgan says
I'd say you can use chicken broth in place of the beer if you'd like. I wouldn't use wine here.
Yasmine says
This looks soooooo gooooood! With the crock pot timing, do you think I could cook it on high for half the amount of time?
Morgan says
That should be fine, Yasmine, although the meat will likely be slightly more difficult to shred/not as tender.
Hope Green says
This was delicious! I love the healthy twist, not being slathered in lard. I didn't have any apple cider vinegar so for the pickled onions/jalapeños, instead of water...also stuck in a few apple slices and added more sugar since my husband likes things more on the sweet side. For the chipotle cream, I didn't have limes so I used the pickling juice instead. It was delish! Thank you for sharing.
Hope Green says
Instead of water *I used apple juice*
Jessi says
How terrible of me would it be to leave this on low in the crock pot while we are at work tomorrow (about 9 hours) and skip the oven step?
Morgan says
I'm sure it would be good, but it wouldn't be crispy!
Jodie says
Thank you for the delicious recipe! My husband was like yours, picking it off the cookie sheet before it was done. This is going under our favorite recipes file. Delish!
Jared Boggus says
These were a hit at this year's Super Bowl Party!!! Thanks!
Barbara says
Making this for the third time! Delish! Become one of our favorites!
Liz says
Do you think this could be made a day ahead in the slow cooker and then crisped under the broiler the next night?
Morgan says
Yes that would be fine!
Jennie says
This recipe was delicious! The whole family loved it. I made it in the crock pot and gave a batch to our daughter after they just had a baby to help with meals. We made the chipotle cream also, but used it in burritos with spanish rice inside, guacamole, and little salsa, cheese. Maybe the best burrito I ever made at home. Great as leftovers. Just crisped up in a cast iron skillet and you're ready to go. Very easy recipe. Thanks!
Danelle says
Literally the yummiest thing we’ve eaten in a long time. Our whole family loved it. From the sour cream mix to the toasting the corn shells and of course everything in between ❤️
Fern says
Made it for Cinco de Mayo, and it was delicious! Just like you said, everyone was picking up pieces of pork while I was still getting it ready. My son said it was a memorable meal and I got my groove back! Don't pass on the pickled onions and chipotle cream. They make it over the top and better than restaurants!
Jess says
What kind of beer do you use, there’s so many kinds! Thank you!
Robyn says
I have never taken the time to comment on a recipe before-but I had to come back to say this was phenomenal! I followed the recipe exactly. We all loved it! The meat tasted lovely after the slow cooker, but the broiler was the secret to perfection. Thank you!
Brittany says
Hi there! I cook this recipe all the time but, today, I accidentally forgot to brown it before I dumped it in the crockpot. Do you think it’ll still be OK?
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Morgan says
Yes it will be fine! 🙂 Especially because of the broiling afterward! Hope you have a great cinco
Amanda says
I made parts of this recipe for Cinco de Mayo yesterday - it was AMAZING! My husband picked up Carnitas from Costco for tacos, and I went in search of some fun toppings for it. I made the pickled red onion and jalapeños - SO GOOD and so easy, I've never done anything like that before. I also made the chipotle sauce - it had a kick but was delish! I topped our carnitas tacos with the pickled onions, minced pickled jalapeños, cilantro, the chipotle sauce and some crumbled Queso Fresco cheese (I hope I remembered that correctly. I couldn't find Cotija cheese but there were two types of mexican cheese - one for melting and queso dipping and one that said it was for crumbling - I chose the crumbly one. It was awesome!)
Natalie says
I love this recipe so much, have made it so many times. Definitely a crowd-pleaser! I am wondering if you have an Instant Pot variation for this? Would love to try in my Instant Pot. Thanks!
JOSE LUIS MENDIOLA says
se ve deliciosa esta receta
Nicole says
I have been making this for years and have served it for for various get together a with friends and family. Everyone always raves about it and he asked for the recipe multiple times.
Morgan says
I love to hear it, Nicole! Reminding me that I have to make a batch of carnitas again soon as it's been a while. I'm so glad everyone enjoys it, and thank you!