Beef Carnitas

My mom is the queen of deals. She has a favorite grocery store around here that she hits up on Monday mornings because she knows they mark down their meats. She's always scoring good deals for me because she knows how much food I cook. Her latest deal was on stew meat so I had to come up with a dish to use stew meat. (Hey..it just dawned on me that my mom is planning my menus!! What's up with that???) Knowing that IT Guy loves Mexican food I decided carnitas would be a perfect use for the meat. I know I can always put a smile on IT Guy's face with food from south of the border!!

Beef Carnitas



3 pounds stew meat
2 tablespoons red chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 – 3 cloves of garlic – minced
1 14-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
1 onion - sliced

Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray.

Place stew meat in the crock pot.

In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Stir well and then pour over meat in crock pot.

Cook on low 6 – 8 hours or on high 5 – 6 hours.

Serve in flour tortillas with cheese, salsa and sour cream.



Our ingredients. Oops...I don't see our onion!!


Place the meat in your crock 
pot then combine everything else.


Pour the mixed ingredients 
over the meat in the crock pot.


Throw the onion in there, too!


After it's cooked, remove the meat to a plate.


Then shred it up a little bit with two forks.


Put the meat back in the crock pot 
and give it a stir then serve it with 
some warmed flour tortilla and all the fixin's!

I think I've mentioned on here once or twice how much we love Mexican food. One of our most favorite places to go when we lived in California was Rubio's. They had YUMMY pork carnitas!! That was my standard order every time. So when my mom gave me a pork butt the other day I knew right away what I would be doing with it. I added a chipotle paste to the roast as it cooked, but if you don't like the heat, just leave it off. Makes it good...I gotta say.

Chipotle Pork Carnitas 
in the Crock Pot



1 11/2 - 2 pound pork butt (boneless)
2 Chipotle peppers
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water

Place roast in the crock pot, add water and season with salt, pepper and cumin.

In a food processor pulse the chipotle peppers with 1 tablespoon of water until blended. Spread chipotle paste on top of the roast.

Turn the crock pot on high and let it go for 5 - 6 hours. Then with two forks, shred the meat into thick chunks and turn the temp down to low and cook for an additional hour or two.

Serve with warmed corn tortillas, salsa, chopped onion, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped avocado and queso fresco cheese (the crumbly kind you get in restaurants).

Here's what you need to get the carnitas going.

Put the roast in the crock pot then 

add the water and seasonings. 

Then put the chipotle paste on top of the roast.

Let it cook on high for a few hours 

then shred the meat and let it cook on 

low for another two hours or so.

Here's all the goodies that 

go with these yummy carnitas!

SO good!!!