Hi everyone!! Hope you’re all doing well and that you had a nice weekend! My first big legal writing project was due last Thursday, so I took some time to relax this weekend, which was wonderful! Since I’ve start school I’ve been making a lot of big, easy meals so Chris and I can eat leftovers throughout the week. Pulled pork and pulled chicken are go to meals, but I wanted to shake my pulled pork up a little and decided to make carnitas! These were great as tacos and over rice like a Chipotle burrito bowl!
For my Crock Pot Carintas you need: 1 2.5 lb pork loin or pork shoulder, 1 large yellow onion, 1 14.5 ounce can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, 1 cup of chicken broth, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 2 tsp. chili powder, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper. (Increase the cayenne if you like a lot of spice!)
Begin by making your spice mixture. Combine the 2 tsp. chili powder, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper.
Mix the spices together and set aside.
Next, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, brown the pork on all sides, about 2 minutes per side.
Remove from the heat and place in the crock pot. While the pork cools, roughly dice 1 yellow onion.
After dicing the onion, sprinkle the spice blend all over the pork. Turn the pork as you sprinkle to evenly coat!
Pat the spices into the pork on all the sides and edges.
After patting in the spices, pour the diced onion on top of the pork.
Follow the onion with 1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes.
Next, add 1 cup of chicken broth.
Stir everything around and set the crock pot on low.
Let the pork cook on low for about 6 hours. After 6 hours remove the pork from the crock pot and place on a plate.
Use two forks to shred the pork.
Add the shredded pork back to the crock pot.
Stir the pork back into the sauce.
You can keep the pork on warm, or serve immediately!
As I said before, these can be served as tacos with Greek yogurt and salsa, or as burrito bowls with a rice base! I bet the pork would be a great salad topper as well!
This is such a simple dinner! Also, Chris and I were able to get about three meals out of the meat! Next time I’ll probably double the cayenne pepper, because Chris and I like heat, but if you’re sensitive to heat keep the measurement at 1/4 tsp.!
