Pork Carnitas Street Tacos Recipe

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Cooking a pork tenderloin in a slow cooker all day creates moist and delicious meat, perfect for tacos!

Prep Time10

Cook Time8

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings:

Calories: 279kcal

Author: Kelly Stilwell

Equipment

1 slow cooker

Ingredients

1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
2 tablespoons oil
2 lbs pork tenderloin
1/2 onion chopped
1 lime
1 cup orange juice
5 slices jalapeño
20 corn tortillas

Instructions

Combine the spices with the oil in a bowl and mix into paste.
Cover the pork tenderloin with the paste, rubbing it in and making sure it is completely covered.
Place the meat into your slow cooker.
Top with the onions and jalapeños.
Add the cup of orange juice. Squeeze the juice from the lime and toss in the rind.
Set the slow cooker to low and cook for about 8 hours.
When done, remove the pork and set on a cutting board. Remove lime rind from the juices left in slow cooker.
Using two forks, shred the meat.
Place the meat back in the slow cooker with the juices.
Let everyone serve themselves from the slow cooker. Have a stack of just prepared corn tortillas, sliced red onion, tomato, or your favorite toppings.

Notes

Whether you use flour or corn tortillas, heating them first not only makes them more flexible, it also makes them taste better.

While you can use bottled fruit juice, freshly squeezed orange juice and lime juice is best.

The meat for traditional carnitas is typically broiled for a few minutes to give it crispy edges. If you choose to try this, spread the meat out on a cookie sheet, under the broiler. Once the edges are slightly brown, remove it and place it back in the slow cooker in the remaining juices.

To add an extra layer of flavor, char fresh jalapeños in a skillet before adding them to the crockpot.

We used this to make tacos, but you could use the pork for burritos, sliders, nachos, or even on top of a salad.

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