Crock Pot Chicken Carnitas Tacos
Jalapeños are the most popular chile peppers in the US. This is probably due to the availability and versatility of the chile. Jalapeños have a balanced combination of flavor and heat. The demand for these have caused breeders to develop a broad range of varieties.
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken thighs
Juice from 2 oranges (3/4 cup orange juice)
Juice from 2 limes (1/4 cup lime juice)
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12 small corn tortillas
Pico de Gallo
6 Roma tomatoes diced
1/2 red onion diced
1 small jalapeno diced
1 bunch of cilantro diced
kosher salt to taste
juice of 1 fresh lime
hot sauce to taste
Carnitas
Add the chicken to the slow cooker along with the mixture of the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and cook on low until tender, about 6-8 hours.
Pre-heat the oven to broil and move a rack to the top slot.
Shred the chicken, mix in 1/4 cup of the juices then spread it out in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil until it starts getting crispy, about 5 minutes. Mix in another 1/4 cup of the juices and mix everything up and broil again for another 5 minutes before mixing in another 1/4 cup of the juices.
Meanwhile, make your pico de gallo.
Assemble the tacos on the tortillas with some sour cream, the chicken carnitas, and then pico. Serve with the lime wedges and add extra hot sauce or guacamole or shredded cheese if preferred.
Pico De Gallo
Mix all of the diced ingredients and top with salt. Squeeze lime juice onto sprinkled salt and mix. Add hot sauce to taste.
Notes
We doubled the recipe to make sure we had plenty of leftovers!