Special thanks to Ashli Ahrens for sending in this wonderful recipe. I promised her that I’d try it out … and I did. And we all win. I’ve probably cooked more than 100 crockpot recipes through the years, and this one sits right at the very top.
Ingredients
–approximately 3 lbs. thick-cut pork chops (bone-in or boneless and butterflied)
–envelope of fajita or taco seasoning (reg or hot)
–1 white onion, cut into rings
–1 (16 oz) jar green salsa
–½ cup fresh cilantro, stems removed but not chopped
–2 cloves garlic (or more) peeled and crushed
–2-4 fresh whole serrano chile peppers
Directions
Rinse and pat dry the chops. Lay them out on a cookie sheet with sides or jelly roll pan (to contain the mess) or use the “shake in bag” method. Sprinkle or coat chops liberally with fajita seasoning, making sure to coat both sides of each chop. (You can mix any remaining seasoning with the rest of ingredients when putting in crock pot.)
In crockpot, begin with a layer of half the onion rings in the bottom, then half the meat, half the garlic, half the salsa, some cilantro and a pepper or two. Then finish by layering the rest of the onions, meat and so forth until you run out of ingredients. The point is to layer and distribute the ingredients so all the seasonings come in contact with the meat.
Cover and cook in the crockpot on low for 8-9 hours until the meat falls off the bone and apart easily. (Note: the concoction won’t necessarily look very “pretty” when you uncover it after 8 hours, but trust me, it will be fine.)
Gently remove the pork with slotted spoon or tongs to a cutting board. Strain and discard about half of the remaining liquid from the crockpot, reserving the rest. Discard the cilantro leaves, the peppers and onions if you desire. (I usually keep the onions in with the meat and trash the other things.)
Shred the meat with two forks, being sure to remove all the bones. There will be some smaller bones so look carefully. When deboned, mix the meat with the reserved juice and keep warm to serve.
We usually serve this on soft corn or flour tortillas with the usual Tex-Mex fixins. Any leftover meat can be frozen as well. Enjoy!
Editor’s Note: I kept the entire remaining liquid and just dumped the shredded pork back in. I served the mixture on two corn tortillas, topped with sour cream, avocado and cheese. Amazing!
3 Comments
Fly little recipe, FLY! Kevin, I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed it as much as we do. Thanks for trying it and for sharing it with your readers.
This looks great!!!
been making a similar recipe for some time but this sounds like it’s been kicked upstairs to a better place. Can’t wait
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