Copycat Chipotle

My sister is taking her first trip overseas, so as newlyweds we figured that we should enjoy the alone time and get up close and personal, with her least favorite foods, onions and cilantro! That meant roll out the copycat chipotle. Our BJ’s membership needed to be renewed so it was the perfect time to pick up a 10 lb pork butt (bone-in).

We started with the following recipe: Copycat Chipotle Carnitas. I’d made it once before for a party and everyone ate it up. I love making it overnight and waking up to the smell of pulled pork, makes for some great dreams!

The only changes to the recipe would be to salt and pepper, liberally, before browning the meat, and again salt liberally, I’m talking at least a good tablespoon of salt after shredding. I had to cut mine in two pieces to fit inside the slow cooker. I didn’t cut too much of the fat off and instead let it brown for at least 5-10 minutes in my cast iron pan. At the end I strained the liquid and poured it into my fat separator. I ended up pouring almost all the liquid back in since I had so much pork. Although in my research it seems this recipe with juniper berries is more accurate, so we’ll give it a shot next time.

Look at that pork! Falling off the bone!

We completed the meal with Copycat Chipotle Lime Rice, Copycat Chipotle Black Beans, Copycat Chipotle Corn Salsa, and Copycat Pico de Gallo. To top it off we added monterey jack and sour cream. We had enough leftovers to pack a few lunches and freeze about 4 pounds of pulled pork!

Happy eatings everyone!

Carnitas:

• 10 lbs Pork Butt, bone-in
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 Onion chopped
• 2 can Rotel Tomatoes & Chiles
• 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
• 2 tsp dried Chipotle Pepper
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 cup Beef Broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions:

1. Pat dry and salt and pepper the pork butt. You may need to cut up the pork butt to fit inside your slow cooker.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a cast iron pan or dutch oven until oil is shimmering.
3. Brown the pork butt about 5-7 minutes per side, make sure the pork is well browned, especially if there is a fat cap.
4. Place the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker, place pork on top.
5. Set your slow cooker to low for 10 hours.
6. Remove pork, dispose of the bone, bay leaves, and large pieces of fat. Separate the pork, no need to shred excessively as it will continue to shred while mixing.
7. Strain out the vegetables from the liquid, add the vegetables back to the crock pot. Pour remaining liquid into fat separator and let sit a few minutes.
8. Add the shredded pork back into the crock pot and add most of the liquid (minus oil) back in. Stir until well combined, this will continue to shred the pork.
9. Serve with rice, beans and a variety of salsa and cheese.