Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe: Crispy, Juicy Mexican Pork

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Slow cooker pork carnitas is the easiest path to the best tacos of your life: a pork shoulder rubbed with cumin and oregano, slow-cooked in orange and lime juice until it falls apart, then crisped in a hot pan until the edges turn golden and crackly. Juicy inside, crispy outside — that contrast is the whole point. The slow cooker does the hard work. Eight hours on low turns a tough shoulder meltingly tender, and the citrus in the cooking liquid keeps the pork bright instead of heavy. The real magic happens at the end: shred the pork, spread it in a screaming-hot skillet with a splash of its own cooking liquid, and let it sit undisturbed until the edges char. Do not skip that step — crisping is what makes carnitas carnitas. Crispy edges, juicy center — carnitas night done right. Recipe Info Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 8 hours (slow cooker, low) Total time: 8 hours 30 minutes Servings: 8 Calories: ~520 kcal per serving Pork, citrus and spice — carnitas starts h...
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Classic Apple Pie Recipe: Flaky Crust, Warm Cinnamon Filling

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This classic apple pie is the one every cook should have in their pocket: an all-butter crust that shatters into flakes, wrapped around warm cinnamon apples that bubble through the lattice. It tastes like every good autumn memory at once.

What separates great apple pie from soggy pie: macerate the apples to pull out their juice, then cook that juice into a syrup so the filling sets instead of swimming. Ten extra minutes that change everything.

Classic apple pie with golden lattice crust on a wooden table, a sliced piece showing the filling

Golden lattice, warm cinnamon apples.

Recipe Info

  • Prep time: 40 minutes (+ 1 hour chilling)
  • Cook time: 1 hour
  • Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes (plus cooling)
  • Servings: 8 slices
  • Calories: ~390 kcal per slice

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups / 320 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp / 6 g fine sea salt
  • 1 tbsp / 12 g granulated sugar
  • 1 cup / 225 g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-cm cubes
  • 6–8 tbsp / 90–120 ml ice water
  • 2½ lb / 1.2 kg apples (7–8 medium: Granny Smith + Honeycrisp), peeled, cored, sliced 6 mm thick
  • ¾ cup / 150 g granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup / 50 g packed brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp / 24 g cornstarch
  • 1½ tsp / 4 g ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tbsp / 15 ml lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp / 14 g cold butter, cut small, for dotting
  • 1 large egg + 1 tbsp milk, beaten (egg wash)
  • 1 tbsp turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Close-up of an apple pie slice, flaky buttery crust layers with tender cinnamon-spiced apples

Flaky layers, bubbling fruit.

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: Whisk flour, salt, and sugar; cut in the cold butter until pea-sized crumbs with a few larger flakes remain. Drizzle in ice water a tablespoon at a time until it just holds. Split into two discs (one larger), wrap, chill 1 hour.
  2. Macerate the apples: Toss the slices with both sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and lemon juice. Rest 10 minutes, drain the juice into a saucepan, and simmer 3–4 minutes until syrupy — then pour it back over the apples. No soggy bottom.
  3. Line the dish: Roll the larger disc on a floured surface into a 33-cm / 13-inch circle and line a 23-cm / 9-inch pie dish, letting the excess hang over the edge. Chill while you roll the top crust.
  4. Fill: Fill the shell with the apples, mounding them slightly in the center; dot with the small butter pieces.
  5. Top and crimp: Lay on the top crust (or weave a lattice), trim, and crimp the edges. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and cut vents if using a full top.
  6. Bake: 20 minutes at 200°C / 400°F, then 35–40 minutes at 190°C / 375°F, until deep golden and the filling bubbles thickly through the vents. Foil the edges if they brown too fast.
  7. Cool before slicing: Cool at least 3 hours — the filling needs this time to set. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if you must.
Apple pie ingredients flat lay, sliced apples, flour, cold butter, cinnamon sticks, sugar, nutmeg, lemon, rolling pin

Seven apples and real butter.

Tips & Variations

  • Cold everything. Butter, water, even the flour bowl — cold fat is what creates flaky layers.
  • Two apples are better than one. Tart Granny Smith holds its shape; sweet Honeycrisp brings the juice and flavor.
  • Slice thin and even. About 6 mm — thick slices bake into a crunchy top and raw bottom.
  • Cook the juice. Macerating releases a full cup of liquid — reducing it keeps the pie sliceable.
  • Vent the top. Trapped steam turns the filling to mush; slits or a lattice let it escape.
  • Foil the edges. They always brown first — a loose foil ring halfway through keeps them golden, not burnt.
  • Serve warm, never hot. Three hours of cooling is the difference between a slice and a landslide.

Nutrition Note

About 390 calories per slice (1/8 of the pie) — a celebration dessert. The apples bring fiber; butter and sugar do the rest.

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FAQ

Why is my pie runny?
Underbaked filling or skipped maceration — bake until juice bubbles through the vents, and cool 3+ hours.

Can I use store-bought crust?
Yes — a good refrigerated crust works fine with this filling; the maceration trick still applies.

Which apples are best?
A mix: firm tart (Granny Smith, Braeburn) plus sweet (Honeycrisp, Gala). Skip Red Delicious — they go mealy.

Can I make it ahead?
Bake 1 day ahead and hold at room temperature, or freeze unbaked up to 3 months and bake from frozen (+15 minutes).

Do I need to peel the apples?
For classic pie, yes — skins turn papery and bitter after a long bake.

Bake this classic apple pie this weekend — then tell us which apple combo you used. Save this recipe for every holiday that matters.


 

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