Best Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas – The Typical Mom

Recipes for diced pork in the slow cooker

Tender slow pot pork carnitas recipe that is also easy and cheap! Make tacos with it or serve over rice. TONS of flavor, a great dinner.

Cube pork recipe

So we bought half a pig this year and have been working through all the pieces. I first did this in my Instant Pot. There were all these other cuts that I hadn’t used before, so I started experimenting with the best ways to cook pork shoulder, roast, pork loin, chops and all things.

I used one of them, cut it into big bite-sized pieces, and did it on the weekend. It was so good this way and popular with my family that I’ve done it several times beyond that. Now that our “stash” is gone, I buy pork when it’s on sale at the store to make it with brown rice.

Let’s talk a little bit about slow cooking, okay? First of all, I have a few different varieties and I love them all. Each has an occasion to be used as…

This is my programmable 6-quart favorite with a locking lid, so it’s also great to take

to a meal.

If you just want to serve a few appetizers, you should get this one that sits next to each other

I prefer not to use coatings, but simply to sprinkle olive oil inside before adding my food for easy cleanings.

Let me give you a look at my pretty thang I recently bought. It goes with my kitchen, so I can leave it on the countertop all the time. 😉

Carnitas

I’ve even used this same recipe with beef. If you wanted a much faster version you could use a pressure cooker to make the same version but called Instant Pot carnitas. Whichever way you swing, it comes out murderous. The reason is that the sauce is the key, the meat can be changed depending on what you actually have on hand.

What are the different cuts of pork?

butt roast loin
– You could even cook this like frozen pork loin carnitas if you needed
shoulder
chops

I’ve

used all of these. Ideally, cut the meat into cubes into bite-sized pieces, it doesn’t really matter what cut it is. What’s on sale or in the freezer is that day’s winner. 😉 Now, if you use it from hard rock, you wouldn’t be able to cut it at all. You’d have to use the time for Crockpot frozen pork chops, say, but with this sauce.

The difference with that is that it will take a little longer (but not much) and the meat will probably be crushed rather than left in pieces as seen here. Defrosting in advance is always best, but from frozen it is possible, just say.

Crockpot Pork Carnitas

I will often look for packages like the ones you see here that need to be purchased the next day. I’m going to plan this meal for the next morning so I can throw it all away and be ready for lunch or dinner… or both if I duplicate it. Here are some questions you might have to start with:

What’s the difference between carnitas and shredded pork?

I personally use different seasonings for both. Our slow cooker of shredded pork tastes sweeter. I leave them in larger pieces, but crushed they are also good and are easily made with 2 forks. Some people also crunch carnitas at the end. You can do this with a Ninja Foodi, air fryer or under your grill.

That’s what my prepared meat looked like at first. I cut it a little bit (preference) and then cut it like this.

Slow cooking recipe for pork carnitas

The green sauce adds a lot of flavor as is, I buy that bottled to make things much easier. You can adjust the heat level to your liking. What is listed below makes it mild/almost medium. Slow cooking is ideal for this type of meal. You’ll crumble with shredded pork that tastes like authentic Mexican food at your favorite restaurant. Your family will love it too, I assure you.

Diced pork shoulder, roast or other cut
- I have also cut large pieces of beef into cubes and that works well
- can use frozen but thawed is always better
Green sauce or pico de gallo adds much more flavor than chicken broth and includes the liquid you need to cook
Onions are, Of course, optional, but they add a lot of flavor and texture for very little money
Garlic is something I add in almost every single recipe I make
Salt and pepper seasoning is a given, but use your favorites if you have a family recipe for this
Oregano is a great complement, some like bay leaves can also
be added chili powder or red pepper flakes for a little warmth. This can be adjusted depending on how spicy you want it to be. What is listed below will make it mild/medium.

Corn tortillas are great to serve aside so you can wrap all your items and grab a bite. You can use small rolls to make sliders like appetizer or dinner food that kids love. If you like a little flavor, you can also add 1/4 cup of orange juice to the mix.

Pork loin Carnitas Slow cooker

Just throw it all away and walk away. I usually don’t recommend high settings ever. The whole benefit of this pot is that it can break down connective tissues into thick meats if kept for a long time. If you find yourself in a hurry one night, you can use it and it will likely decrease the cooking time to just 3 hours.

If you’ve had these at a street fair and fallen in love, you’ll love this recipe. Serving a crowd for game day? It’s quite versatile and can be easily duplicated if you have a pot that’s big enough to hold it all. The time would remain the same, just check for sensitivity after 6 hours. You can do it faster in your pressure cooker, that recipe link is at the top.

As for the seasonings you can add more if you wish. Do you love garlic powder? Add some of it, as well as all the onions you like.

Slow Cooker Pork

Here’s a quick rundown of how we did this, there’s also a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post that you can have on hand or just come back whenever you want to do it. We would be sad to see you this time and never again. ;(

Trim and cug the pork into pieces of about 1.5′ x 1.5″ or so. Put in slow cooker. Add all other ingredients and stir so that the meat is well covered.
If you are doubling the meat, also duplicate the ingredients of the sauce

Close the lid and cook over high heat for 3 hours or low for about 6 hours until the meat is tender. Shred the meat and serve over rice or inside small tortillas with 1/4 cup of cheese as tacos.

As I said, you can also make this same carnitas recipe in your pressure cooker if you want to drastically decrease cooking time. However, I love the low and slow when it comes to making tender meats, so if I have my choice, it would be this method. However, sometimes the day slips away and you need fast, I understand.

How leftover carnitas are stored

This saves quite well and can be heated for a second meal in the next few days. I always recommend enjoying leftovers within 48 hours, but you can keep in the fridge for up to 4 days if needed. Keep all the sauce you have with the meat so that it stays pleasant and moist. Reheat in the microwave for a few minutes.

Looking for easier pork recipes to try? Our baked pork chops get five stars from every person who has tried them. Those are in the oven, but you can also make pork chops in a cooking pot. Both will achieve a different texture, so it’s just really preference.

The Instant Pot pork stew with vegetables is a big change

to the traditional recipe.

If you are forgetful, our frozen pork chops in the Instant Pot recipe will be useful to keep dinner a success

For instructions from Traeger, here’s our killer smoked shredded pork recipe to try at some point.

I love it when I can find meat for sale. We’ll usually buy a pig from a local farmer early in the year, but if we don’t, I’m always looking for a great deal. Without a freezer we can buy a lot, prepare it as we want and save it for later. It saves a lot of money, frustration and ensures that we can always make dinner, even frozen.