Tacos are a staple in our house! There are several different kinds we like to do, from an Asian inspired sesame taco to traditional ground beef. When we’re cooking for a crowd we like to do a slow cooker carnitas. We’ve made this for backyard parties, for friends who have had babies and it is always a hit. The best thing about this recipe is you put the pork shoulder in the crockpot, dump all the ingredients in, and then cook it until you get home from work.

Carnitas is a pulled pork taco, seasoned with a quick taco seasoning, garlic, and plenty of liquid! The trick is that right before you serve, you put in in the oven on broil and let the meat get nice and crispy. The result? Crisp, juicy, flavorful tacos that will impress anyone! The beauty of this meat is that you can put whatever you want on the taco. I like to make guacamole, salsa, cilantro lime creme, and then slice up some fresh veggies. Whatever meat we don’t use in a day or two goes in the freezer for the next time we want tacos! You can also do this in a pressure cooker, although I’m still trying to figure out how to get that “fall apart meat” in the pressure cooker!

Carnitas

• 4-5 lb pork shoulder
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 12 oz beer (I use an 805)
• 1/2 cup salsa (I make my own, but you can totally use a jar of your fav!)

Once your pork is in the crockpot put the garlic on top and press into the meat. Combine salt, cumin, chili, pepper, oregano, cinnamon, and cayenne in a bowl and sprinkle all over the pork and garlic. Rub the seasoning mix onto the pork for good measure.

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Add lime juice, orange juice, beer, and salsa around and on top of the pork. Set the timer for 8 hours and that’s it! Right before you serve, shred the meat and place on a baking sheet with some juices. Broil for 5 minutes or until the edges are brown.

My salsa is just 6 roma tomatoes (3 broiled, 3 raw), some red onion (sometime broiled, sometimes not), garlic, cilantro, lime juice, jalapenos or serrano peppers, and salt. There’s no real rhyme or reason to it, I just dump it in the food processor and blend it. I taste it frequently to see what it needs and adjust as I go. If you want super spicy, go for a habanero pepper, not so spicy go for a jalapeno. I always buy a couple peppers and have Sean taste them to tell me how spicy they are so I don’t overpower my food!