Crockpot Pork Carnitas

I won't lie. I googled the word "carnitas". I took French in high school and college so shoot me. I just didn't want to look like an idiot by titling this "pork carnitas" if carnitas meant pork. You feel me? Good. Now that that is out of the way, I did learn that carnitas actually means "little meats" and it's meat that's been braised in oil or lard. I did nothing of the sort here. So I guess I can't technically call these carnitas, but whatever. They are darn good. You are also welcome for the Spanish lesson. 

PS - You can see from the pic below that I used this in Pork Carnitas Bowls with Cilantro Lime Caulirice!

Crockpot Pork Carnitas

adapted from The Recipe Critic

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 8-9 hours

Servings: 10+

Ingredients

4 pound pork shoulder roast

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1.5 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 oranges, juiced

2 limes, juiced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

In the bottom of your crockpot, put the last 4 ingredients. Place your roast down in the crockpot. 

In a small bowl, combine your dry spices. Sprinkle these over the roast. Set the crockpot for 8 hours on low. 

Once it's done, I shred mine right in the crockpot and left it sitting in the juices for another 30-45 minutes on low. 

Now if you really want to be fancy, take the meat out of the crockpot after it's been bathing in those juices in the crockpot for the last 30 minutes and place it on a sheet pan. Put it in the oven under the broiler for about 5 minutes. This will make some of the bits a little crispier. 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

This was amazing! The pork was so tender and juicy. The flavor was amazing. Hubby and I both gave this two thumbs up and I will definitely making it again. You could even try substituting with turkey tenderloin or beef tenderloin <--- this would probably be amazing with the sauce! I served this with some potatoes and veggies.

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

adapted from Allrecipes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 4-6 hours

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

2 lb pork tenderloin

1 packet of dry onion soup mix

1 cup water

3/4 cup red wine (I used Merlot)

2 TBS minced garlic

3 TBS low-sodium soy sauce

Directions

Put the tenderloin in the slow cooker and sprinkle the dry onion soup mix over it. Pour water, wine and soy sauce over the pork. Spread the garlic over the top of the tenderloin. Splash a little of the liquid in the bottom over the top of the tenderloin. Set slow cooker on low and cook for 4 hours. It's okay if it goes a little longer - mine was in for a little over 5 hours before I turned it down to warm. 

Enjoy!