Slow Cooker Carnitas Street Tacos are just like your favorite taco truck! Pork carnitas cooked in the crockpot and piled on corn tortillas with diced onion and cilantro.
I grew up in Alabama and I don’t know if you know this, but we’re not exactly known for our tacos.
So naturally, I moved to Texas and became obsessed with street tacos. My usual order is the pastor and yes, onion and lots of cilantro, please.
We had this truck by our old house (I moved 2 months ago and I’m acting like it’s been years) that did plates of 5 incredible tacos for $6 and it happened to be on the way home from the soccer fields my kids played on and I’m not going to admit to how many times I just happened to have cash out for the taco truck after soccer practice.
Ingredients
- Herbs and spices (chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, pepper)
- Olive oil
- Pork loin
- Orange
- White onion
- Low sodium chicken broth
- Limes
- Street taco size corn tortillas
- Fresh cilantro
How To Make Slow Cooker Carnitas Street Tacos
- Pat pork loin dry and coat with spice mixture
- Sear all sides of the pork loin; transfer to the slow cooker
- Add quartered onion and orange to slow cooker
- Pour chicken broth over everything in slow cooker
- Cook on high 5 – 6 hours or low 7 – 8 hours, until pork shreds easily; remove from crockpot
- Optional: crisp shredded pork under broiler with some of the broth
- Make tacos by topping grilled corn tortillas with shredded pork, diced white onion, and cilantro
Okay, there’s an optional step that calls for you to crisp up the carnitas and you can totally skip it and it will still be delicious but if you have an extra 15 minutes to heat your broiler up and get them nice and crispy, it’s definitely worth it.
If you decide not to crisp the carnitas, you may want to toss the shredded pork with a little of the cooking liquid just to make sure it’s extra moist.
What To Put On Top of Carnitas Tacos
I like my carnitas tacos really simple with just diced raw onion and fresh cilantro.
If you’re looking for a little something more to put on top, this Restaurant Style Salsa is a forever favorite in my house. Or how about Queso Blanco and Grilled Corn Guacamole?
What To Serve with Carnitas Street Tacos
I think a plate of street tacos is a meal of it’s own but if you want some side dishes (or to turn the carnitas into a burrito bowl), I have a Mexican Rice and a Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice that would both go perfectly with these carnitas.
Or I love a corn dish with tacos! Maybe Fritos Corn Salad!
More Taco Recipes
- Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Cilantro Ranch Dressing
- Fish Tacos with Guacamole and Slaw
- Walking Tacos
- Extra Cheesy Baked Tacos
Slow Cooker Carnitas Street Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 5 - 6 pound pork loin
- 1 orange, cut into quarters
- 1 white onion, cut into quarters
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 lime, plus more for servings
- 20 street taco size corn tortillas, for serving
- Diced white onion and cilantro, optional, for serving
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and black pepper.
- Pat the pork loin dry and rub with the spice mixture.
- Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Brown the pork loin on all sides and transfer to slow cooker.
- Scatter quartered orange and onion around the pork loin and pour chicken broth over top. Cook on low for 7 - 8 hours or high for 5 - 6 hours. Remove pork and use 2 forks to shred the meat. Save the broth if you plan to crisp the pork.
- Optional: before serving, crisp the pork under the broiler until the edges just begin to crisp. Remove from oven and add about ¼ cup of the reserved broth; stir. Place back under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the edges are crisp.
- To assemble street tacos, toast the tortillas in a dry skillet or on a grill. Stack 2 corn tortillas and spoon the shredded pork on top. Top with white onion and cilantro, if desired. Serve hot.
Notes
- If at any point the carnitas feel dry, toss it with some of the cooking broth! It will add moisture and flavor.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 670Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 218mgSodium: 423mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 4gSugar: 3gProtein: 76g
Leave a Reply