Slow Cooker Carnitas (Pork Carnitas with Pork Loin or Tenderloin)
Tender, juicy, crispy, and full of flavor. This slow cooker carnitas recipe is made with a handful of simple ingredients and perfect for tacos, burritos, salads, chilaquiles, or just on its own!
Yield: servings
Equipment
- Small bowl
- whisk or small silicone spatula
- Cutting board
- Paper towels
- Slow Cooker with lid
- Tongs
- internal meat thermometer
- 2 forks
- Medium skillet
- ladle or measuring cup
- Large bowl
Ingredients
For the Carnitas Rub
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
For the Carnitas
- 2 pounds pork tenderloin or boneless pork loin
- half of one onion chopped, approximately 1 cup
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium jalapeño stem removed, chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice juice from 1 medium lime
- 4-5 tablespoons fresh navel orange juice juice from 1 medium navel orange
- avocado oil
Instructions
To Make the Carnitas
- Add 1 tablespoon dried oregano, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, and 1 tablespoon avocado oil to small bowl. Whisk or stir ingredients together until well combined. Set bowl aside.
- Place 2 pounds pork tenderloin or pork loin on cutting board. Pat pork completely dry with paper towels on all sides.
- Coat pork in carnitas rub, gently massaging spice rub into tenderloin until fully coated on all sides. Place seasoned tenderloin in slow cooker.
- Add half of one onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 medium jalapeño, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, and 4-5 tablespoons fresh navel orange juice to slow cooker.
- Cover slow cooker with lid. Cook on HIGH 4 to 6 hours, or LOW 6 to 8 hours. Check pork occasionally - when fully cooked, internal temperature will read 145° Fahrenheit on meat thermometer and meat will be easy to separate with fork.
- When pork is ready, carefully shred tenderloin in slow cooker using 2 forks. Alternately, remove meat from slow cooker and shred on cutting board, but do not discard any juices.
- If serving carnitas immediately, continue to next section of instructions. If not serving immediately, transfer shredded pork and juices to airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve, then continue with next section of instructions.
To Serve the Carnitas
- Heat medium skillet over medium heat. When skillet is warm, add drizzle of avocado oil and continue heating skillet until oil is hot and shimmering.
- When oil is hot, add just enough shredded pork to cover bottom of skillet without crowding. Ladle small amount of carnitas juice over meat in skillet and cook until liquid has evaporated and bottom of meat is browned and crispy.
- Flip meat over and briefly cook other side until lightly browned. Transfer seared carnitas to large bowl.
- Repeat process with any remaining carnitas. Once all carnitas has been seared and transferred to bowl, drizzle small amount of carnitas juice over meat and serve immediately as desired.
Notes
- Pork: It's important that you use only 2 pounds of pork as directed, unless you also increase the amounts of the other ingredients. If you use more than 2 pounds without adjusting the rest of the ingredients, you will not have enough liquid. Use the servings calculator in the recipe card above to adjust the quantities as needed based on the weight of the pork you're using.
- Jalapeño: For more heat, don't remove the seeds from the jalapeño when you chop it.
- Searing Carnitas: Wait to sear the carnitas until you're ready to serve it. Until then, just refrigerate it in an airtight container with juices drizzled on top.
Nutrition
Serving Size: 1 serving of carnitas | Calories: 225cal | Protein: 32g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 857mg | Potassium: 699mg | Total Carbs: 5g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Net Carbs: 4g | Vitamin A: 53IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 2mg