An accumulation of citrus needed to be put to use. Extras were purchased to be included in photos. They do make great props and give a visual clue as to ingredients in the food. Letting the extras go to waste is not a good thing. The hunt for a recipe began. Flipping through a folder in my kitchen reminded me of something I’ve wanted to make for a long time. The next day my home was filled with the mouth-watering aroma of Cuban pork cooking in the crock pot.
Slow cookers and pork were meant for each other. The way a fatty, tough pork butt is transformed into juicy, fall-apart tender meat is simply incredible. Slow-cooking infuses flavors too. The bonus is a wonderful sauce that is created in the process and ties it all together. This particular one starts as a marinade made with orange, lemon, lime, garlic, onion, and spices. It becomes a Cuban mojo sauce once it is cooked and concentrated down.
Slow-cooker Cuban pork is easy to make. The marinade is done quickly in the blender. The pork is marinated overnight and then all is put in the slow-cooker. Eight hours later all you have to do is shred the meat and boil the sauce for a few minutes. The toughest part is not filling up on bits of meat as you are “quality controlling” it while shredding. Serve it with black beans and yellow rice or as a sandwich with a dipping sauce.
How often do you hunt for recipes to use extra ingredients? It is an on-going thing for me. The fun is the discovery of new recipes or finally tackling ones I’ve wanted to make. It sure does keep a variety of things cooking in the kitchen. Stay tuned to see what is next…
Slow-Cooker Cuban Pork
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 10 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 pound pork butt Boston butt
Instructions
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Place all ingredients except pork into a blender and blend on high to liquify and make the marinade.
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Pour marinade in a large plastic zip-top bag.
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Pierce the pork on all sides many times with a knife. Add pork to the bag and seal. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
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Put pork and marinade in a slow-cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.
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Remove pork and use two forks to shred meat. Discard fat.
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Pour liquid into a gravy separator. Let sit for 5 minutes. It will separate into 3 layers; oil on top, white middle, and light brown bottom.
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Pour the light brown liquid into a sauce pan. Discard remaining liquid.
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Boil the liquid for 10 minutes to reduce and concentrate flavors to make a mojo sauce.
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Serve pork with mojo sauce. Alternatively, serve as a sandwich with mojo as a dipping sauce (Cuban bread recommended).
Recipe Notes
Time stated does not include marinating overnight.
Family Foodie says
April 3, 2014 at 8:53 amThis recipe looks fantastic. Can’t wait to try this one.
Renee says
April 5, 2014 at 9:00 amThanks Isabel and I’m sure your meat-eating family would enjoy it very much.
Christine from Cook the Story says
April 3, 2014 at 9:06 amBoston butt is an awesome cut to use for pulled pork! This recipe sounds fabulous!
Renee says
April 5, 2014 at 9:01 amI could not agree with you more Christine. Boston butts are terrific for slow-cooked pulled pork.
Karli says
April 3, 2014 at 1:06 pmThis is going in my meal plan, pronto. I’m always on the hunt for a recipe based on ingredients–either because I have something from my garden or I purchased a whole bunch of something (cilantro is my most recent example) for one meal and I have some left over.
Renee says
April 5, 2014 at 9:02 amOh those pesky extra herbs. I like making salad dressings or pesto with them. Or chimichurri (which is so great for using cilantro).
Nancy @ gottagetbaked says
April 3, 2014 at 2:25 pmRenee, I’m printing this out and making it as soon as I can. I just got a slow cooker and I’m so excited to use it. This slow-cooker cuban pork looks amazing and tender and delicious!
Renee says
April 5, 2014 at 9:03 amThanks for printing it out Nancy and enjoy your new slow-cooker. I think you will like it a lot.
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
April 4, 2014 at 10:22 amOh yes, I hear you on the “quality control” issue. I can pretty much have an entire meal by the time I am controlling for quality!
Renee says
April 5, 2014 at 9:04 amIt’s even worse when you are hungry and getting it ready for dinner. By the time you sit at the table you are full from all the quality control.
Risa says
April 4, 2014 at 9:01 pmThis looks fantastic. I’ve only met my husband’s extended family once (with deep Cuban roots) and during that visit I had the most amazing roast pork. I’ve spent the last 10 years trying to recreate it and the flavor profiles in your recipe look spot on.
Renee says
April 5, 2014 at 9:05 amThank you so much Risa. I hope you give it a try and your family will enjoy it.
Stacy says
April 7, 2014 at 1:40 amI use my membership at EatYourBooks to search my own cookbooks for recipes that use the ingredients I have to hand. It’s been wonderful for that!
I love your pulled pork with all the fresh citrus juice, Renee. Delicious!
Renee says
April 7, 2014 at 2:17 pmLooks like it is time for me to investigate EatYourBooks. Sounds like a great resource.
Nelson says
July 5, 2014 at 9:55 amHi,
I just tried this recipe and it was truly delicious. I was born in the US to Cuban parents and I’ve had this dish many times roasted in the oven. I have to say that making it this way was much easier and equally delicious. I used a Boston Butt, so I trimmed as much fat off as I could. It was also 7lbs, so I doubled the recipe and it came out very tasty and falling off the bone.
Thanks for this great recipe!
njm
Renee says
July 5, 2014 at 3:46 pmOh wonderful! Thank you VERY much for coming back and letting me know how much you enjoyed it.
Terry Eichenlaub says
April 9, 2015 at 5:48 pmI just visited Cuba last Oct and they served a lot of pork and I will try this in my slow cooker. I have made pulled pork but without all this seasoning.