Chicken Carnitas

A delicious and melt-in-your-mouth tender riff on classic carnitas, made with boneless skinless chicken in your slow cooker!

📝 Ingredients

• 4 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (or boneless skinless chicken breasts)
• 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano (ideally Mexican oregano)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
• 3 cloves garlic (smashed)
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce (such as Tabasco or Cholula brands)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Place chicken thighs in slow cooker. Combine salt, cumin, pepper, oregano, cinnamon, and cayenne in a small bowl and sprinkle over chicken. Add garlic cloves.
2. 2Whisk together tomato juice, orange juice and chipotle hot sauce and pour over meat. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high 3-4 hours, until chicken shreds easily with a fork.
3. 3When the meat has cooled slightly, carefully transfer from the cooking juices to a large bowl. Using two forks, shred into bite size pieces.
4. 4Skim fat off of the slow cooker juices. Add 1/4 cup or more of the juices to the shredded meat and gently toss to coat. Refrigerate remaining juices for reheating the chicken (see note #1) or freeze for another use (see note #2).
5. 5Serve in warm corn or flour tortillas with your favorite toppings for tacos, or on tostadas, in burritos, or on taco salads. (For crispy chicken carnitas, see recipe note #1.)