Pork Carnitas Tacos (Crock Pot)

I saw this recipe on Pinterest for pork carnitas and had to try it. It was delicious! You could do a variety of things with the meat; we chose to make tacos with it but you could serve it over rice or as a burrito or sandwich.

Pork Carnitas Tacos (Crock Pot)

Ingredients:

• About 2 lbs of pork shoulder (the one that I bought came in 3 big slabs)
• 1 yellow onion (sliced)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 beer (I used Summit Extra Pale Ale)
• 1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil for searing the meat

Directions:

1. Chop the onion into large slices.
2. Add sliced onion and cinnamon stick to the crockpot. 
3. In a small bowl, mix all of the spices together (garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, oregano, salt, and pepper). 
4. Rub the meat with the spice mixture so that each slab of meat is fully covered. 
5. In a large skillet, heat the oil. Once oil is heated, add the slabs to the skillet (may need to repeat since most skillets aren't large enough for all the meat) and turn up the heat to high in order to sear the outside of each slab. Only takes 1-2 minutes on each side as long as the skillet is really hot. 
6. Once meat is seared, add it to the crockpot on top of the onions. 
7. Pour beer and orange juice on top of the meat/onions in the crockpot and cook for 6-8 hours on low. 
8. After the 6-8 hours, remove meat and shred with forks. 
9. Set oven to broil. 
10. Line a large baking sheet with tin foil. 
11. Place shredded meat on the baking sheet. Pour some of the liquid from the crock pot over it. I also added most of the onions to the baking sheet. 
12. Place meat under broiler for about 5 minutes then take it out, flip the meat over, and broil the other side for another 5 minutes. Make sure to watch it though because each broiler is different and you may need to adjust the time so that it doesn't get burnt. 
13. Serve as tacos on tortilla shells with spinach, tomatoes, cheese, avocado, plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream) and any other toppings of your choice. 

Searing the pork

Onion and cinnamon stick added to the crockpot

Meat topped with orange juice and beer added to the crockpot

Ready to broil the meat

The finished meat in a taco