This Slow Cooker Carnitas recipe is a total crowd please AND super low effort. Win win. I absolutely love the flavours of Mexico, so here’s my take on Carnitas. Basically, Mexican style pulled pork, where the pork cooks very slowly so it’s as juicy and succulent as possible, then pulled apart and served up in tacos or tortillas, or however you like. What I love about this recipe is that it’s minimum effort and all the flavour, while keeping costs low by using the pork shoulder cut of meat. You can cook it all for a big gathering or batch cook ahead for the freezer for another day too – I think you’re going to love this.
✅ The perfect weekend fakeaway ✅ Easy, delicious and low cost ✅ Batch cook ahead for the freezer Traditional Carnitas are cooked in a copper pot as these distribute the heat evenly. Here is a video showing how they’re cooked in Mexico if you’d like to learn more. Carnitas traditionally use pork shoulder because of the fat content, which is what makes the dish so tasty and juicy when cooked slowly. It’s also a fantastic value-for-money cut of meat. I like to cut some of the fat off before cooking but it’s up to you. Once the meat is cooked, lift the pork out of the juices and, using two forks, shred the meat up. Place it all onto a grill-proof baking sheet and see the recipe for what to do with the juices once the pork has been pulled. You don’t HAVE to, but this part of the method (step 6 in the recipe) which involves putting the meat under the grill or your broiler gives the Carnitas the crunchy texture, which is so delicious. I always recommend my trusty favourite – the Morphy Richards Sear & Stew Slow Cooker. With this one you can brown meat on the hob first (for those recipes where you really have to) and it’s also really light. If you have an induction hob, I would recommend the Lakeland Digital 6.5l Slow Cooker instead. If you haven’t already heard me talking about it, here is the Tp Link Tapo Smart Plug too. This allows you to switch the slow cooker from your phone while you’re out, making slow cooking even more convenient! If you want that gathered-around-the-table-sharing-food experience, I’d go for tacos or tortilla wraps with side dishes of lime, avocado, sour cream or yoghurt, and cheese. But you could go American-style and load it all on potato wedges with coleslaw. You could also spoon into bread rolls for pulled pork sandwiches, or even use the mix as a pasta base. If you want to keep it Mexican-style, load onto tortilla chips for loaded nachos instead.
I’d love to know how you got on and what you thought of it if you make this recipe. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ by the recipe. Also, if you’d like to show me a photo by tagging me on Instagram (@tamingtwins) I LOVE to see your creations.
