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You are here: Home / Recipes / Chipotle’s Pork Carnitas Copycat Recipe {Crock Pot}

Chipotle’s Pork Carnitas Copycat Recipe {Crock Pot}

Monday, January 28, 2013 by Lolli 26 Comments

OK, I’ve been gradually adding the Chipotle copycat recipes that we used for my daughter’s 16th birthday party, and THIS ONE…is my favorite. Prepare to be blown away by it’s awesomeness.

Chipotle’s carnitas (shredded pork) is extremely flavorful, and perfect in a salad, burrito, rice bowl…you name it.

Chipotle's pork carnitas copycat recipe

5.0 from 3 reviews
Chipotle's Pork Carnitas Copycat Recipe {Crock Pot}
 
Print
Cook time
9 hrs
Total time
9 hrs
 
Recipe type: crock pot
Cuisine: Tex Mex
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 (5-6 lb) boneless pork shoulder
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 medium tomatoes
  • 4 -6 cloves garlic
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 -4 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2-3 tsp dried chipotle flakes or 1-2 dried chipotle peppers (depending on how hot you like it)
  • ¾ cup water
  • 1 tsp chicken or beef bouillon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in large pan over medium-high heat. Add pork and brown all sides.
  2. Let rest 10- 15 minutes while preparing other ingredients.
  3. Chop tomatoes, garlic and oregano. Place pork in slow cooker and add all ingredients on top of pork
  4. Cook on low 6-9 hours.
  5. Remove bay leaves and whole cloves (and chipotle peppers if you used whole peppers). Remove pork to cutting board, leaving juices in crock pot. Shred meat and return to juices in the crock pot.
  6. Serve your pork carnitas in a burrito, atop rice, in a salad, or any other way you can come up with. Top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, fresh corn salsa, guacamole, salsa, etc.
3.2.1215

 

 

The best part? This is so easy to make! Just set it in the crock pot at breakfast time, smell the goodness all day long, and have a flavorful dinner at night.

Be sure to check out the rest of my Chipotle Copycat recipes to eat with this dish (more are coming soon!).

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About Lolli

Lolli has written 3740 post in this blog.

I became a mom in 1996, and in 2005 I had my fifth. Yes, 5 kids. In 2007, this blog was born (my 6th baby that will never grow up) and I've been sharing recipes, photography tricks, parenting tips, and everything in between. (Formerly Better in Bulk)

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: crock pot, main dish, Recipes

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Comments

  1. Lolli says

    Saturday, October 18, 2014 at 11:12 pm

    Here’s what I was taught about searing meat: https://www.thekitchn.com/is-searing-meat-before-cooking-worth-the-extra-effort-47332 Yes, it dirties up an extra pan, but it enhances the flavor of the meat (a lot, in my opinion) and so I think it’s a step worth taking. :)

  2. Tkmom says

    Friday, October 17, 2014 at 3:44 pm

    Thanks for the quick reply. I will start small. I like flavor, just not too much heat. BTW, I need to make this as lean as possible and found some diet sites that have subbed pork loin roast for shoulder and had success so I’m going to give it a try, That being said, why do some recipes call to brown the pork before placing in crock pot and others just throw it in? Does it depend on whether its a shoulder or loin? I’d like to skip the extra mess and I’m not super picky as long as it still tastes good enough. Do you know what doing this is supposed to add? Thanks again!

  3. Lolli says

    Friday, October 17, 2014 at 10:00 am

    I would think that the flakes are a little less spicy than the chipotle peppers, but I would think you’d be fine using either…just cut the amount that you use down. Start with a tiny bit of pepper (flakes or dried chipotle pepper) and you can always add more if it is tolerable to you. :)

  4. Tkmom says

    Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    Thanks but I was wondering which to use if I don’t want it very spicy. The flakes or whole peppers? To me, mild salsa is hot so the carnitas is the only meat I can tolerate at chipotle the restaurant. The problem there is that I don’t like all the black pepper they put on the outside and always seem to get those outside pieces in my bowl.

  5. Rust says

    Sunday, July 20, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    This sounds wonderful! And a slow cooker recipe too – great!

  6. suzanne says

    Friday, July 11, 2014 at 9:30 am

    This looks delicious. I have got to get a crock pot.

  7. Susan L. @ Full Happy Muffin and Mama says

    Monday, June 2, 2014 at 9:48 pm

    I just tried it. O…my…goodness! I wanted to hug my crock pot insert to my chest and dive in with a spoon (and growl if anyone came too close). It was that good!

  8. Lolli says

    Monday, May 26, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    I think I may have to make this again for dinner this week. It’s one of those recipes that I will never get tired of! Hope you enjoy!!

  9. Susan L. @ Full Happy Muffin and Mama says

    Monday, May 26, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    O…M…G. The answer to my prayers. I found this tonight after commenting on your corn salsa copycat. I’m trying out recipes this summer that don’t heat up the kitchen, and crock pot recipes truly fit the bill. I made a copycat of the barbacoa tonight to serve with the corn salsa…but I will be making this (the carnitas)…my absolute Chipotle favorite soon!

  10. Lolli says

    Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    I just leave the tomatoes, onions, and garlic in as part of the sauce. After they’ve cooked for so long, you hardly notice that they’re in there. Thanks for trying the recipe!

  11. Dan Guilford says

    Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    Great recipe, wonderful flavor. Reducing the liquid in a frying pan works really well. Lolli, what do you do with the tomatoes, onions, and garlic when done, mix it in or toss it? I tossed it but am curious. Thanks for the great recipe!

  12. Lolli says

    Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    Shawna, I’m not sure. Mine is very mild to our tastes, so I’m not sure if it could be a difference in the chipotle flakes. I hope it still goes over well with the family!

  13. Shawna says

    Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    Made this today, and I’m not sure if I did it right? It seems really spicy? I think next time I would eliminate the chipotle, I put in 2 tsp but that seems to be too much. Hoping it’ll still be a hit with all my boys :)

  14. Nikki says

    Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 9:39 am

    Made this last night, fed it to a 16 year old chipotle addict! She said it was pretty good. Also my 10 and 5 year old boys loved it! As did I

  15. Kristie says

    Friday, October 18, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Love this recipe, we make it at least once a month!!! I

  16. Lolli says

    Friday, July 5, 2013 at 10:13 am

    Definitely chopped! :) I’ll clarify that in the recipe. Thanks!

  17. Mshimko says

    Friday, July 5, 2013 at 12:07 am

    I’m trying this for dinner tomorrow, one question though…Do I chop the onion or put it in whole?

    Thank you!

  18. Lolli says

    Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 10:36 pm

    That’s an awesome suggestion! I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks!

  19. Chip says

    Friday, May 24, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    I’ve made this a couple times and love it! My only suggestion is after shredding the pork, put it in a big skillet, pour the crock pot juices over it, set the heat on med-low and reduce the liquid till the meat just
    starts to brown on the bottom. It cooks all that flavor into the meat and concentrates it!

  20. Jason says

    Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 3:30 pm

    Much better than other chipotle carnitas copy cats I have tried!

  21. flyer printing says

    Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 8:11 am

    Thanks from Moneyneany ;)

  22. Brandie says

    Monday, January 28, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    Oh boy this looks Yummo!! Cant wait to try it!

  23. Ashley Nolan says

    Monday, January 28, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    This recipe looks great, I can’t wait to try this for dinner this week!

Trackbacks

  1. Meal Plan Monday: A New Chipotle-Inspired Twist on an Old Fave | Full Happy Muffin and Mama: The Blog says:
    Monday, June 9, 2014 at 4:00 am

    […] most excited about is the tacos using the leftovers carnitas that were Chipotle-inspired from Better in Bulk.  Sometimes it’s important to change up old favorites so that they don’t become […]

  2. Meal Plan Monday: Week 2 of Please Don’t Heat Up the Kitchen New Recipe Challenge | Full Happy Muffin and Mama: The Blog says:
    Monday, June 2, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    […]  Slow Cooker Chipotle’s Carnitas (from Better in Bulk), rice, salad (With cleaning the house this week, I doubt I will have time to […]

  3. LDS Tribes says:
    Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    […] Chipotle’s Pork Carnitas Copycat Recipe {Crock Pot} […]

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