Slow Cooked Carnitas with Cola

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In this recipe we’ll show you how to make the classic Slow Cooked Carnitas, otherwise known as Slow Cooked Pulled Pork. In this classic recipe we follow the traditional approach to making this amazing dish by including Cola in the braising liquid! Adding Cola allows for a rich sweetness to soak into the Pork and, after 6 hours in the slow cooker it will come out amazingly tender and tasty. Carnitas can be used in a myriad of dishes, with popular choices being Sandwiches and Tacos

This simple dish is made using a Slow Cooker

Slow cooking food is so great. You simply load up your slow cooker with a bunch of ingredients, then set and forget! The slow cooking process does all the work for you! In 6 hours’ time you’ve got the most delicious tasting Pulled Pork ever. It seems wrong for achieving such great flavors with such little effort, but we’re not complaining!

We used an Instant Pot for this recipe, but any slow cooker will do. Even if you don’t own a slow cooker you can still cook this dish. Just use a large pot such as a Dutch Oven with a lid and set it over the stovetop on a low heat. Make sure to check on it every couple of hours and give it a good stir

The flavor is developed in this dish from a beautiful braising liquid

There’s so much flavor in this Slow Cooked Carnitas dish, and it comes from several sources. The first being the braising liquid which is used to submerge the Pork in the slow cooker. The braising liquid utilizes a combination of sweet and sour ingredients that make for the perfect combination of flavors

The sour components are a combination of Orange Juice, Lemon Juice, and Lime Juice. Use about 1 cup of Orange Juice and ½ cup each of Lemon and Lime Juice. We recommend using freshly squeezed Orange Juice over the store bought stuff. Depending on how juicy your Oranges are you’ll need 3 – 4 of them. If you add a little more that’s totally fine!

The same goes for the Lemon and Lime Juice. Sometimes I find that fresh Limes sometimes yield less juice, so if you need to substitute it with a little more Lemon Juice to get the right quantities that is totally fine

The Cola is the final ingredient for the braising liquid, bringing sugary sweetness. It may seem like a weird addition to a dish, but this truly is the secret ingredient to a great Slow Cooked Carnitas dish. The Cola adds much needed sugary sweetness that balances out the Sourness from the Orange, Lime, and Lemon

Use whatever Cola you prefer. We went with Pepsi purely because we had some in the fridge after a Pizza order! We don’t typically drink Cola, so it was a great way to utilize it. It doesn’t matter too much which brand you use, as we’re mainly utilizing it for the sugary sweetness it provides to the dish

We get even more flavor into the Pork by applying a delicious dry rub

Completing the traditional Slow Cooked Carnitas recipe involves applying a generous dry rub seasoning to the Pork. We use a combination of classic Mexican-inspired ingredients including Smoked Paprika, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and a load of Salt of course

Now, if you want to add a little bit of spice to the dish (which you absolutely should!) then try adding some Cayenne Pepper to the dry rub. We added about ½ tsp., and the heat came through, without it being overpowering. So, you can scale the spice levels accordingly by how much Cayenne Pepper you add (or none at all if you don’t want it spicy)

If the liquid doesn’t full submerge the Pork, turn it halfway through the cook

It is important that all the Pork spends time submerged in the braising liquid while it is slow cooking. If your liquid doesn’t completely cover the Pork you can either add more, or simply turn the Pork about halfway through

Getting the Pork a good dose of time underwater helps to tenderize it, resulting in those famous Pulled Pork strands we all know and love. If you find at the end of the cook some parts are more easily pulling away, simply give it another 30 minutes in the Pot. Remove the cooked elements and what’s remaining should then be able to be submerged completely

Once cooked, remove the Pork and reduce the sauce to concentrate it further

One drawback about using a Slow Cooker is there is no chance for the water to evaporate out of the dish. This does tend to result in bland flavors. Even with all the delicious ingredients in this dish, there is still a load of water caught in the dish

The final step of making perfect Slow Cooked Carnitas is to remove the Pork and reduce the braising liquid. The best way to do this is to simply add the Liquid to a large frying pan and boil it over high heat. This will remove all that excess water from the dish, concentrating the remaining flavors in the sauce

Do this for about 30 minutes and then add the Pork (which you’ve now shredded using the back of two forks) back into the liquid. It’s now ready to serve! Leaving the Pulled Pork in the liquid will keep it super moist and tender. When serving, we recommend straining it a little bit to avoid the juice going everywhere!

How to enjoy Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas

You can honestly just eat this delicious Puled Pork as it is. It makes for a perfect protein to pair with a load of tasty Side Dishes and it’s going to taste great!

Other popular ways to eat this dish are turning them into tasty Pulled Pork Tacos or loading it up into a Burger Bun for a delicious Pulled Pork Sandwich or Slider. Depending on how you serve the Pork may influence the accompanying ingredients

For a Taco, we recommend adding something sweet like Pineapple or Mango to the Tacos. The pairing works magically, and it also looks beautiful on the plate! For a Sandwich / Slider, you can add something fresh and crunchy like Lettuce or Slaw. Of course, a generous drizzling of BBQ Sauce never hurt anyone either! However you enjoy your Pork Carnitas, we guarantee you’re going to love this delicious dish

Slow Cooked Carnitas with Cola Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 ½ lbs. Pork Butt or Pork Shoulder
• 1 Yellow Onion, quartered
• 1 cup of Fresh Orange Juice (about 3 large Oranges)
• Zest of 1 Orange
• ½ cup of Lemon Juice
• ½ cup of Lime Juice
• 1 cup of Cola
  
  

Pork Dry Rub Ingredients

• 1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp. Coriander Powder
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• ½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper (optional)
• 2 tsp. Salt
  
  

Equipment Needed: Slow Cooker

Instructions

1. Combine the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl, then rub generously over the Pork and set aside for 10 minutes
2. Set your Slow Cooker to sauté and add the Onions. Cook them for 10 minutes, ensuring each flesh side gets contact with the hot surface
3. Add the Pork and remaining ingredients into the Slow Cooker. Cover and set to Slow Cook for 6 hours. If the Pork isn’t completely covered with Liquid we recommend turning it at the 3 hour mark
4. Once cooked, Remove the Pork and place it into a separate bowl. Tear away the Pork with two forks to create wonderful Pulled Pork Strands
5. Pour the liquid in a large pot and cook for 25 – 30 minutes over high heat. This will reduce the sauce and concentrate the flavor. Once done, add the Pork into the Pot and it is ready to serve
   
   

Recipe Notes

• Exclude the Cayenne Pepper if you don’t want the dish to be spicy
• You can make this recipe using a regular pot. Just cover a large pot over the stovetop over low heat and stir / turn the Pork every hour or so
  
  

That is our amazing recipe for some delicious Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas, cooked complete with Cola in the braising liquid! Give it a try and let us know in the comments below how it went

Slow cooking is a great way to spend a lazy weekend cooking. It requires little work, it fills your house with amazing smells, and at the end of the day you get to eat some tasty food! If you enjoyed this recipe, then we recommend you check out some of these other slow cooking recipes of ours:

• 10 Hour Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder
• Pork Ribs Cooked Low and Slow
• Braised Lamb Shanks with Grits
• 12 Amazing Slow Cooked Recipes
  
  

Happy Cooking!