Red Cactus Pork Carnitas
What do we have here? Only the most delicious pork carnitas EVER.
If you’re new to Carnitas, let me be the first to welcome you to your new addiction. The easiest carnitas you will ever make right in the crockpot, cooked low and slow for the most amazing fall-apart tender pork goodness!
You can even prep everything the night before and put it in the slow cooker right before leaving for work. And when you get home, you’ll have the most tender, most juicy pulled pork ever. Although we highly recommend finishing this under the broiler, letting these babies get nicely caramelized.
We should also mention that this recipe creates enough to feed an army so be prepared to have leftovers for tacos, quesadillas and burritos all week long!
Our Red Cactus Pork Carnitas are made with pork shoulder that has been simmered with Red Cactus Seasoning, spices, salsa, lime, onion, oranges, and then served with a homemade corn salsa and Red Cactus Salsa, making them perfection. Pour cheese on top, serve with sour cream, avocado, whatever topping you prefer, or eat them plain. Either way, these make for one great lunch or dinner.
Red Cactus Shredded Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Carnita, shredded carnitas, crockpot carnitas, slow cooker carnitas
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 tablespoons Red Cactus Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt, or more, to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 pound pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed
- 1/2 jar Red Cactus Salsa
- 3/4 jar Red Cactus Jalapenos
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 onions, quartered
- 2 oranges, juiced
- 2 limes, juiced
DIRECTIONS:
- In a small bowl, combine Red Cactus Seasoning, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Season pork shoulder with spice mixture, rubbing in thoroughly on all sides of pork shoulder.
- Place garlic, onions, orange juice, lime juice, Red Cactus Salsa and seasoned pork shoulder into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
- Remove pork shoulder from the slow cooker and shred the meat before returning to the pot with the juices; season with salt and pepper, to taste, if needed. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to broil. Place carnitas onto a baking sheet and broil until crisp and crusted, about 3-4 minutes.
- Serve immediately as desired. We served ours with a side of Red Cactus medium salsa and a side of street corn.
Enjoy!
Adapted from Closet Cooking
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