Well, we all survived another election season. Just in time to make us extra cranky for the holidays, right?
Do your favorite food blogger a favor please? Pour all your frustrations, anger and crankiness from the election process/results into something productive. Like food 
Pork Carnitas are so versatile, everyone needs a staple recipe in their back pocket. This recipe is ridiculously easy, the ultimate “set and forget” slow cooker recipe and the best way to get perfect crunchy brown bits while keeping the inside super moist! Get it right every time – this recipe is no fail!
I am so obsessed with Pork Carnitas because they are incredibly versatile and ridiculously tasty. Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos and enchiladas, to name a few of the obvious ones. Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing a handful of recipes using leftover Pork Carnitas – including some of these classics but I’ll throw in a few creative ones you may not have thought of!
My favourite way to eat Pork Carnitas is eating it straight – I picked at it constantly the whole time I was taking photos. I took a lot longer than usual to photograph this dish – I really struggled to make it look like pulled pork and to capture the juiciness of the pork.
I went through ALOT of Pork Carnitas recipes before settling on this as The One. I’ve been loyal to it for years because it ticks all my boxes:
- Easy (of course, goes without saying);
- Has enough flavour such that it can be eaten plain;
- Subtle enough flavour so it can be used in any Mexican dish (over salting and over spicing is a common problem with many recipes);
- Has perfect caramelized brown bits while retaining the incredible juiciness from slow cooking; and
- Is still super juicy even after freezing and defrosting.
This Pork Carnitas recipe is super easy – it takes less than 5 minutes to throw the ingredients into a slow cooker. Perfect flavour balance with just the right amount of seasoning. As for the caramelized brown bits, these are the crowning glory of Pork Carnitas. Pork Carnitas without the brown bits is like sausage rolls without tomato sauce. And I firmly believe that the only way to caramelize pulled pork without compromising the incredible moisture that you get from slow cooked meats is to pan fry it. I’ve seen recipes that broil/grill or bake the pulled pork but doing it that way you lose some of the moisture in the pulled pork.
The other step that many recipes seem to omit (and I can’t figure out why because it’s throwing away free flavour!) is to pour the juices in the slow cooker over the pulled pork. It’s full of flavour and contains most of the seasoning too – without it, the pulled pork on it’s own isn’t salty enough. Just skim off the excess fat, and pour over the meat. I like to pour it over after browning it, but if I’m freezing the pork then I pour it straight onto the meat before browning it. Store the pork in the freezer BEFORE browning it. The whole point of browning it is to get a slightly crisp outside and if you freeze it the brown bits will go soggy when defrosting.
COLLECTION OF RECIPES MADE USING PORK CARNITAS
Everytime I have made this, the amount of juices I have in the slow cooker (after skimming off the fat) is the perfect amount to pour over the meat (about 2 cups) but if your pork was extra juicy (or maybe you used gigantic oranges!) and you have a lot more than that, then it’s best to reduce the juice down to about 2 cups, otherwise you will have too much liquid for the meat and if you don’t use all the juices, it means you aren’t using all the flavour (i.e. the juice you do use has thinner flavour).
I hope you enjoy this recipe! It’s a staple in my repertoire. I make it often to have on standby in the freezer and it’s also fabulous for entertaining. Think Taco Bar!!
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