Traditional Mexican Carnitas (Slow Cooker)

Name: How to make TRADITIONAL MEXICAN CARNITAS, the EASIEST, SIMPLEST, and most DELICIOUS Recipe!
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 15 min
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients: 3.6 kg pork shoulder, cut into large even chunks, patted dry; lard or vegetable oil, for browning; 2 whole onions, cut in half; 2 heads garlic, lightly crushed; 3 whole oranges, rinsed well, juiced, peels reserved; 4 tbsp fine salt, dissolved in 240 ml (1 cup) of water; 530 ml Mexican Coke

Source video by Cooking Con Claudia on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

This is Cooking Con Claudia's traditional carnitas, adapted for the slow cooker. The original cooks the pork submerged in lard on the hob; the slow cooker version uses the same flavour base of onion, garlic, orange juice and peel, salt water and Mexican Coke, but lets the pork shoulder go tender over a long low braise. A quick crisp under the grill or in a hot pan at the end gives you the brown edges the lard frying would have produced. Six ingredients, taco-ready meat.

Slow cooker notes: Original recipe braises 8 lb pork shoulder submerged in 10 lb of lard in a casserole on the hob: high heat to brown, then low for 1 hour 30 minutes, then 30 minutes more after adding the Mexican Coke. Slow cooker version: brown the pork briefly in a small amount of lard or oil in a frying pan, then transfer to the slow cooker with the onions, garlic, orange juice, orange peel and salt water. Cook Low 8 hours or High 4 hours. Stir the Mexican Coke through in the final hour for the caramelised colour. Finish under a hot grill or in a hot pan to crisp the edges since the slow cooker steams rather than chips. The 10 lb of lard from the original is omitted; only a tablespoon or two is needed for the initial brown.

Ingredients

Main

3.6 kgpork shoulder, cut into large even chunks, patted dry
lard or vegetable oil, for browning
2 wholeonions, cut in half
2 headsgarlic, lightly crushed
3 wholeoranges, rinsed well, juiced, peels reserved
4 tbspfine salt, dissolved in 240 ml (1 cup) of water
530 mlMexican Coke (add late)

Method

Cut the pork shoulder into large, even chunks and pat dry with kitchen paper.
~5 min
Heat a tablespoon or two of lard or oil in a heavy frying pan over high heat. Brown the pork chunks on all sides until they take on colour, about 5 minutes.
~10 min
Transfer the browned pork to the slow cooker. Add the halved onions and the crushed garlic heads on top.
~2 min
Squeeze the juice of the 3 oranges over the pork, then add the spent orange peels to the pot.
~3 min
Dissolve the 4 tablespoons of salt in 240 ml of water and pour over the meat. Give everything a gentle mix.
~2 min
Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours, until the pork is fall-apart tender.
~480 min
In the final hour of cooking, pour in the Mexican Coke and stir gently. This adds the traditional caramelised colour.
~5 min
Lift the pork out and shred it into chunks. Discard the onions and orange peels.
~5 min
Spread the shredded pork on a baking tray, spoon over a little of the cooking liquid, and crisp under a hot grill for 3 to 5 minutes, or in a hot pan, until the edges are browned.
~5 min
Taste and adjust the salt. Serve in warm tortillas with your favourite salsas.
~2 min

Frequently asked

Why Mexican Coke and not regular Coke?

Mexican Coke is made with cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup, which gives a cleaner caramel flavour and the mahogany colour traditional carnitas are known for. Regular Coke will still work if you cannot find it.

Do I really need to brown the pork first?

Yes, it is worth the extra pan. Slow cookers steam rather than fry, so the depth of flavour and colour comes from that initial sear before the long braise.

What cut of pork works best?

Pork shoulder, also sold as pork butt or Boston butt, is the cut Claudia uses. The fat and connective tissue break down over the long cook to give that shred-soft texture.

Can I skip the final crisp under the grill?

You can, but it is the step that turns slow-cooked pork into something close to traditional lard-fried carnitas. Three to five minutes under a hot grill gives you the brown, slightly crunchy edges.

What do I serve carnitas with?

Warm corn tortillas, chopped white onion, fresh coriander, and a couple of salsas. Claudia serves hers with picosita and salsa verde. They also work in gorditas and tortas ahogadas.

Extraction notes (transparency): Pork shoulder, Mexican Coke (18 oz), 3 oranges, 2 onions, 2 heads of garlic and 4 tbsp salt with 1 cup water are all grounded in transcript. Lard quantity for the slow cooker adaptation is not stated in the transcript (original calls for 10 lb of lard for hob confit, which is dropped in adaptation), so lard quantity left null. Servings inferred from 8 lb pork shoulder yield, not stated by host.