The ultimate recipe for tender, flavorful carnitas made right in your crockpot. With minimal effort and incredible results, these slow-cooked pork carnitas are perfect for tacos, burritos, or simply served with a side of rice and beans.
For more crockpot Mexican favorites, try our slow cooker chili lime shredded beef or our slow cooker sweet pork.
Why Our Recipe
- Foolproof crockpot method for perfectly tender and flavorful carnitas every time.
- A magical seasoning blend delivers authentic Mexican flavors with minimal ingredients.
- Crispy finishing options ensure irresistibly golden and caramelized meat.
This is a recipe inspired by a Mexican restaurant featured on the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives that had people lined up out the door for their carnitas. They made theirs in huge batches, but after watching it over and over again, we figured out the proportions of the ingredients. After a few experimental tries and several years of making them, we consider these pork carnitas mastered! This meat is as good as it comes and makes one killer taco
Ingredient Notes
- Boneless Pork Butt Roast: Look for a roast weighing 3-5 pounds. Trim large pieces of fat if you prefer less gristle in the final dish.
- Ground Cumin: Essential for authentic carnitas flavor.
- Chili Powder: Use your favorite blend for a touch of smoky heat.
- Cayenne Pepper: Adjust to taste if you prefer less spice or leave it out entirely.
- Ground Cloves: A little goes a long way in adding depth to the spice blend.
- Vegetable Oil: Creates the signature slow-fried texture. Alternatives include peanut oil, corn oil, or lard for a richer flavor.
- Optional Orange: In some regions of Mexico, carnitas contain orange juice or zest. You can add both to this recipe for a citrus zing. Simply add 1/2 cup of orange juice and up to 1 tablespoon of orange zest into this recipe with the oil and spices.
Prepping Your Pork Roast
Trimming isn’t necessary, but it all depends on your personal tastes. Fat does not render in a slow cooker so you will end up with gristle and blobs of fat. If you’re not a fan of gristly meat, you’ll want to trim off some of the larger pieces of fat. Don’t worry about trimming it all though, just the larger pieces.
So Much Oil!
We are essentially slow-frying the pork, which requires a lot of oil. The secret to the most amazing carnitas is a crisp exterior and tender interior, and you can’t do that without a good amount of oil. In the end, there will be a good amount of oil remaining to drain out, so you’re not actually eating all of that oil.
Keep in mind that this recipe makes a lot of meat. This is much more than just a couple of servings. While you could certainly replace the oil with broth, beer, Coca-Cola, or other liquids, we highly recommend using oil for the most amazing results.
Oven Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place roast into a 5 to 7-quart oven-safe pot with lid or use a roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil later. Follow all instructions in the recipe, but instead of placing the meat into a slow cooker, place it in your pot or roasting pan.
Cover with lid or aluminum foil tightly cover the roast with foil. Roast at 350 degrees for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until pork shreds easily with a fork. Shred in the pot or pan.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the carnitas on their own with a side of Mexican rice, refried beans, or a fresh salad for a simple yet flavorful meal. Or use your carnitas (or leftovers) in other Mexican food favorites like quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, or nachos.
Tacos: The classic option! Load up warm corn or flour tortillas with your crispy carnitas. Top with fresh cilantro, diced onions, a squeeze of lime, and your favorite salsa for an authentic street taco experience.
Burrito Bowls: Skip the tortilla and serve your carnitas over a bed of rice and beans. Add toppings like guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freeze portions in airtight containers or freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Reheat on the stovetop or in the oven at 350°F until heated through. Crisp up as needed before serving. Microwaving works, but is not preferred as it dries out the pork and impacts flavor.
More delicious Mexican meats…
Carne Asada
2 hrs 30 mins
Tacos Al Pastor
4 hrs 25 mins
The Best Beef Barbacoa
3 hrs 10 mins
Easy Weeknight Chicken Tacos
1 hr 20 mins
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Sorry the ground cloves ruined this meat. I went against my gut instinct and used 1/2 of what it called for. Everyone that tasted it (some would not even try due to the strange smell) said yuk what is that flavor…
If it smelled and tasted so bad, I assume your cloves were old and rancid. It should not have an unappetizing smell at all.
I married a VERY picky guy that happens to be Mexican-American and this is the only crockpot carnitas recipe that he not only eats but requests. Frequently. HUGE culinary win for me Lol
Sometimes I crisp them a little in a skillet or with the broiler, usually I don’t bother.
THANK YOU for figuring this one out!
The most amazing recipe I have ever made! My family devoured and will be making weekly ! Thank you and ingredients exactly done and PERFECTLY
Tried and true, best texture, best flavor.!
Thank you for the recipe.
Oh yeah, you did the dinner right. If I make a little suggestion. Use lard on the beans. I know it sounds fattening but it’s the only way to get that refried bean taste.
This is my go to Carnita recipe! I decrease the oil by one cup an it turns out perfect! I crisp it up after.
Do you crisp it up in a skillet pan or on a cookie sheet in the oven?
Skillet
I’ve made this recipe multiple times over the last couple years. I find it to be full of flavor and very tender. It’s always a huge hit with my husband and boys. I stay pretty true to the original recipe with only a couple of tweaks. I add a bit of onion powder and double up on the garlic powder since I love garlic so much. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe!
More garlic and more onion powder sounds like something I would add as well…. it just brings so much flavor to any dish. Can’t wait to try it. Thank you
Use the oil! Don’t be afraid, ever heard of confit? The meat came out so moist and flavorful and not soggy at all. I decided to crisp up in the oven for a bit. Excellent recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you I was worried about that much oil?
Love this recipe!! I use it every time we want carnitas for dinner. We put it in a pan after the slow cooker and crisp it a little with some fresh lime juice and they are so good!!! Thank you for the killer recipe ??
I’m always amazed when people want to radically change a recipe! The writer created this recipe and wrote it the way she liked it; folks can write their own version and call it something else! A few minor changes are one thing; changing most of the ingredients and the method of cooking would be another recipe! I’m gonna try it the way it was originally written and I’m sure it will be wonderful.
I hope the sound of anger in your note was not how you really felt. We’re all just doing what we like to do and everyone is different.
I always follow a recipe exactly as it is the first time through. Then if I feel I need to change something, I do it next time. I was married to a woman for many years though, who always changed whatever she was cooking because she was a super taster and couldn’t handle the taste of certain things. So I see both side of it. We all have different tastes.
Oh, except if a recipe has red chili flakes, I leave those out. I love the taste but they’ve let me know they don’t like me to eat them, and they always get even with me later for it. Ha Ha!