“There should be an app like ‘Pokemon Go’ but instead of Pokemons, you find tacos. Real ones. That you can eat.” ~ Unknown
I am not particularly a fan of pork, but my daughter LOVES carnitas. Far be it from me to fail to make one of her favorite dishes on occasion. When cooked in the crockpot, this pork is fork tender, shreds easily and can be used for soft tacos, quesadillas or taco bowls.
The toppings are endless and entirely up to your discretion. We like cilantro, cheese, black olives, red onion, sour cream, avocado, fresh squeezed lime juice from lime sections, guacamole, corn salsa, garlic aioli, or fresh tomato salsa . . . whatever your heart desires. I often make a taco bowl to which you can also add rice if you so choose.
Crockpot Carnitas
Ingredients
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4 c. Cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 c. chicken broth
Juice of 1 lime
1 3-4 lb. pork roast
1 T. garlic powder
2 t. chili powder
2 t. salt
2 t. ground cumin
2 t. smoked paprika
2 t. onion powder
Pepper to taste
Directions
Place the chopped onion and chopped cilantro in the crockpot. Add the chicken broth and lime juice. Rinse the pork roast and pat dry. Stir together the garlic powder, chili powder, salt, cumin, paprika, onion powder and pepper in a mixing bowl or plate. Place the pork roast in the spices and coat thoroughly on all sides. Place in crockpot. Cook on low for 7 hours.
Remove pork roast from crockpot and shred into chunks using two forks. Preheat oven to 400 while shredding the pork roast. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until edges of meat start to crisp. Use as filling for soft taco, quesadillas or taco bowls.
Now. . . a word of wisdom.
You may be thinking that patting the roast dry is not really a BIG deal, but it is. And here is why: 1) you should always rinse your meat after removing it from the packaging, this is just hygenic, 2) by patting the meat dry after rinsing, this gives the spices a moist surface to which they can stick. If the meat is wet, the spices get wet and slide off the surface of the meat. defeating the purpose of seasoning.
As a bonus, I am also including a recipe for Garlic Aioli which is a condiment that provides a fantastic combination of garlic and lemon in a creamy mayonnaise base. Better than sour cream, we can’t get enough of this when we have carnitas.
Garlic Aioli
Ingredients
1 T. fresh, minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c. Hellman’s mayonnaise
Sprinkle of pink Himalayan salt
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Serve with carnitas or any other meat that you desire.
Enjoy!!
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