Slow Cooker Mexican Recipes Chicken Carnitas

Slow Cooker Mexican Recipes Chicken Carnitas. Breakfast is a great time for Mexican dishes, like these slow cooker Mexican chicken carnitas! They're packed with protein - perfect for a healthy breakfast or lunch. This recipe couldn't be easier: throw everything in your crockpot and let it cook all day long. It'll smell so amazing when you come home from work that you won't be able to resist!

Slow Cooker Mexican Recipes Tips and tricks to make the dish taste better

You need to save all that gravy that forms from the chicken cooking in the slow cooker. You'll need it for serving.

You can serve this dish in all sorts of ways. Here are a few suggestions:

• Carnitas tacos with onion and cilantro on corn tortillas (you'll need to preheat your oven or grill beforehand)
• Taco salad with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and onions tossed with ranch dressing
• Loaded baked potatoes topped off with carnitas toppings like sour cream, cheese, etc.

Variations on Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Carnitas

You may prepare this dish using pork if you don't have chicken. Brown the pork in a skillet before adding it to the slow cooker, and then substitute chicken broth for water.

You may also use beef instead of pork or chicken if desired. Brown ground beef before placing it into your crockpot with spices etc., as well as tomato sauce to keep things moist during cooking.

Common questions about Slow Cookers

The inexpensive, affordable cooker is ideal for making the most of the ingredients available in budget-friendly recipes.

What does a crock pot do?

A slow cooker is an appliance that heats food at low temperatures over many hours. This gentle method of cooking preserves flavor, texture, and nutrients.

How long will it take to cook beef in the crockpot?

The general rule for how long you should cook your meat in a Crockpot varies depending on what cut of meat you are using: Chuck roast takes about eight hours; pork shoulder usually takes six to seven hours, whole chicken four to five hours, boneless skinless thigh or breast three to four hours; short ribs two-and-a-half to four hours.

Chicken Carnitas Recipes

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• Author: Carelli
• Prep Time: 10 Minutes
• Cook Time: 90 Minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
• Yield: 8 Serving 1x

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Description

Mexican chicken carnitas! They're packed with protein - perfect for a healthy breakfast or lunch.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 lb chicken thighs boneless skinless
• 2.67 oranges juiced ( may be replaced with beer)
• 4 strips orange peel
• Juice from 1 lime
• 8 cloves garlic
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 0.33 c pepitas toasted
• 0.44 c cilantro leaves + edible flowers for garnish
• 2.67 limes cut into wedges
• 4 acorns squash for serving optional

Chicken Carnitas Seasoning:

• 2.67 tsp sea salt + more to taste
• 1.33 tbsp garlic powder
• 2.67 tbsp oregano
• 2.67 tsp cumin + more to taste
• 1.33 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2.67 tsp chili powder
• 1.33 tbsp onion powder

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Instructions

1. Oven Method: Preheat your oven to 325”F.
2. In a large cast iron dutch oven add 2 tablespoon of olive oil and layer the chicken thighs on top. Sprinkle with the chicken carnitas seasoning: sea salt, garlic and onion powder, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes and chili powder. Add the garlic cloves and orange peels.
3. Pour the orange and lime juice over the top and give everything a good toss to coat. Cover with a tight lid and transfer to the preheated oven for 1 ½ hours until the chicken i tender and falls apart when stabbed with a fork.
4. Use two forks to shred the chicken in the same pot you cooked it in then transfer it to a broiler proof baking sheet or dish. Drizzle the carnitas with the honey all over the top and broil for a few minutes until caramelized at the edges. Make sure to keep a close eye on the carnitas so they don’t burn.
5. To cook the acorn squash, preheat oven to 400”F.
6. Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut a thin slice off of the bottom of each acorn squash half so it sits flat during baking.
7. Rub the inside of each acorn squash with a little olive oil and sprinkle generously all over with sea salt, red pepper flakes, freshly cracked black pepper and cumin. Roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour until tender and caramelized around the edges.
8. Serve the carnitas inside the roasted acorn squash bowls, sprinkled with the pepitas and garnish with the cilantro and edible flowers if available. Serve with lime wedges, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sour cream.

Chicken Carnitas Stove Top Method:

1. Follow all of the above steps and finish the braising process on the stove top on low flame, until the chicken falls apart, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to a broiler proof dish together with the juices and caramelize under the broiler following the instructions above.

Slow Cooker/ Crock Pot Method:

1. Add the chicken thighs together with the carnitas seasoning, orange juice, lime juice and orange peel to the bowl of your slow cooker. Toss to combine well. Cook for 7-8 hours on low or about 5 hours on high, until the chicken is fork tender.

• Category: Chicken
• Method: Slow Cooker
• Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: Breakfast Recipes

Summary: We hope you found this blog post to be informative and helpful in your quest for the perfect Mexican recipe. If you’ve never tried Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Carnitas, we recommend starting with these ingredients! Now that you know how easy it is to make a delicious dish like ours, we bet you can’t wait to try out some of our other variations. Whether slow cookers are new territory or not, there are definitely cooking hacks worth knowing about when using one from now on as well as common questions people have asked us before too so don't forget to check those out if they're something that interest you!

Reference - Chicken Carnitas