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#HormelBBQ – Pork Carnitas Recipe With Street Corn Garnish

This Pork Carnitas Recipe with Street Corn Garnish, is one of my families favorites. It works especially nice for backyard BBQ’s, as you can make much of it ahead of time and then set it all out taco bar style, and let folks serve themselves. This way, you can enjoy the BBQ too! I love to make the pork in a slow cooker, and then you can keep it on warm, and it will continue to simmer in the delicious juices. The garnishes can all be made ahead of time, and this meal stretches if you are serving a crowd.

If you are planning a Memorial Day BBQ and want to save, here are two places you can find a high value $2 off coupon for the HORMEL® ALWAYS TENDER® Pork Loin, to use at Safeway or Alberstons stores. This will help you get a great price for the meat, and most of the other ingredients are pretty affordable, making it the perfect recipe to serve at a BBQ.

Here is how you make it.

Ingredients:

For the Pork –

Hormel Always Tender Pork Loin – and be sure to print your $2 off coupon above!
Juice of a lime
Juice of an Orange
1 tbs of Chili Powder
1 tsp of salt and pepper
1 diced Jalepeno
1 diced onion

For the Street Corn Garnish –

2 ears Corn on the cobb (sliced off the cobb)
1 tbs Sour Cream
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 c. Crumbled Cotija cheese
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper

How to make the Pork Carnitas:

Add the Hormel Always Tender pork loin to the slow cooker, and season with salt and pepper.

Top with the juice of a lime, juice of an orange, 1 tbs of chili powder, 1 diced jalepeno and 1 diced onion.

Set on high for 4 to 6 hours, and let the slow cooker do all the work.

Once the pork is cooked, you should be able to easily shred it in the crock pot in the sauce. Set your crockpot to the warm setting, and let the shredded pork simmer in the sauce until you are ready to serve.

Once the pork is ready to serve, fill your tortillas with a generous scoop. You can use either corn tortilla or flour ones, depending on your preference. I like to set both out for a BBQ, and let my guests choose for themselves. These are great to warm right over the grill too.

I like to add some cheese and a cilantro right on top, but you could put those in serving dishes and let folks add it themselves too.

Another garnish I like to have on hand for guests, is Lime Cilantro Ranch Dressing. You could just use sour cream, but I love the flavor of this dressing with this recipe in particular. I cheated and bought the dressing pre-made at my local Safeway store.

Other garnishes we like to put out for a BBQ include:

Cilantro
Lime Wedges

Homemade Pico De Gallo

Homemade Guacamole
Crumbled Cojita cheese
Sour Cream (or Lime Cilantro Ranch Dressing – my favorite option)!
Mexican Street Corn Garnish (see below for recipe)

How to make the Street Corn Garnish:

Have you been to the fair, or someplace else where they are grilling up Mexican Street Corn? It is one of my families favorites, and we like to make a version of it that is off the cobb, but perfect to top your carnitas with.

The key to this part of the recipe is to use fresh corn on the cobb. Canned corn will not have the same sweet, yet slightly crispy (and fresh) flavor.

Start by cutting the corn off of the cobb, and into a pan (or grill pan if you have that), heated over medium heat. Stir the corn around until it is cooked (you do not want it cooked too much, so you can retain some of that crisp – usually about 5 minutes on the stove for me).

Remove the pan from the heat, and transfer it to a bowl. Add the sour cream, Cojita cheese, chili powder, salt and pepper and mix.

I like to add a bit of lime juice from a lime wedge to the top as well, but this is optional.

It is that simple. You can now chill it until you are ready to use it to top your carnitas. Then add just like you would Pico De Gallo. It will add a sweet and savory taste that compliments the pork filling very nicely.

For a BBQ, I keep the pork carnita filling in the crock pot, so that it stays warm. I just keep some tongs on the side, and folks can help themselves. Put the spread of garnishes out over ice (like you would arrange a salad bar) and then the tortillas in a warmer. That way guests can help themselves to whatever they want to top their pork carnitas with.

There are so many flavors in this recipe, that it can appeal to a wide variety of tastes. My kids keep theirs simple (tortilla, meat and cheese). I add the works to mine. The key is that folks can dress their carnitas the way they like it, so it appeals to many. My favorite thing is that I can make the garnishes the day before, and the slow cooker does most of the work for the pork filling, so I can enjoy the BBQ with my guests too.

We also like to serve it with a homemade pitcher of Sun Tea too! Another great recipe for a BBQ event.