Easy Crockpot Pork Carnitas

I love recipes that I can quickly commit to memory.  It’s a huge help when I’m standing at the grocery store, with my grocery list at home.  Isn’t that always the way?  And a few hours later, when someone asked me to share this recipe, I could rattle it off without having to remember where I put the recipe.  But, of course, ask me what the recipe is next month, and I guarantee I will have long since forgotten it, which is exactly why I’m putting it right here and sharing it with you.

You might not believe me anymore if I told you I don’t really like pork, especially given the fact that this is the third pork recipe (#1 and #2) I’ve made in as many weeks.  But these haven’t been recipes for pork chops, and that’s the kind of pork I really don’t like.  I wonder how many times I can use the word pork in one paragraph.  We just might be on our way to finding out.  The only time I have ever liked pork chops is this recipe.  I haven’t made it in awhile, but if you need a go-to pork chop recipe, that’s the one to beat.  But I digress.  Back to this recipe…

I had a vague recollection of reading this recipe on Kelle’s website recently, when I happened to be in front of the pork tenderloin case at Target.  When they were on sale (two for $10).  It was fate.  This recipe takes literally five minutes to make.  If that.  Your time is just spent chopping an onion and throwing a few ingredients in the crockpot.  Toss it in the crockpot before you head to work in the morning, and dinner will be ready when you walk in the door.  Love that.

As for the taste?  Delicious stuff.  The only note I have is that it makes a lot of liquid after cooking all day, and I really wasn’t sure what to do with it.  Since I was putting the meat in tortillas, I used very little because I didn’t want the tortillas to get too soggy to handle, and as Nick’s fell apart moments later, he, of course, quickly lost all interest in eating it.  So if you go the tortilla route, just keep that in mind. I bet this would also be great served over rice, a perfect way to use some of the delicious juices it renders.  Either way you eat it, you’ll be going back for more.

And if you haven’t discovered Kelle’s site on your own, please do check it out and spend some time getting to know her and her beautiful family.  When I first stumbled on her site, I was so drawn in, I went back and started from the beginning.  She has such a poetic way of romanticizing words, you just know she is squeezing everything she possibly can out of each and every second she has.  It’s something I definitely try and do, but I don’t always succeed.  In the meantime, I think I’ll be her when I grow up.  ‘Tis a lofty goal.

Project 365
October 21, 2010, Photo #186

I love seeing how everyone else decorates for Halloween, and it’s totally one of our favorite holidays.  I pass this giant witch and yellow spooky moon on the way to work every morning.  Love it.

Kelle Hampton’s Easy Pork Carnitas
You can find the recipe right here.

Print it!