Dinner
Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Tacos
Fall-apart slow-cooked pork seasoned with citrus, cumin, and oregano, then crisped for those signature golden carnitas edges.
What you’ll need
Ingredients
- 4 pounds pork shoulder, bone-in or boneless
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 cup yellow onion, cut into large chunks
- 4 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1½ tablespoons avocado or canola oil, plus more for crisping
- 18 small corn or flour tortillas
- Diced white onion, for serving
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
- 4 limes, quartered
Step by step
Instructions
- 1
Pat the pork dry and trim only loose excess fat, leaving the fat cap intact. Season all over with salt and pepper.
- 2
Mix the oregano, cumin, and oil into a paste. Rub it over the pork, then place the pork fat-side up in the slow cooker.
- 3
Add the yellow onion, garlic, and orange juice. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours, until the pork pulls apart easily.
- 4
Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Remove the bone, fat cap, and any large pieces of fat, then shred into bite-size pieces with two forks. Reserve the cooking juices.
- 5
For crispy edges, heat a thin layer of oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add only the pork you plan to serve in a single layer and cook undisturbed for 3 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more.
- 6
Fill warm tortillas with carnitas. Top with diced white onion and cilantro, spoon over a little reserved cooking liquid, and finish with lime.