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+ servings
Mojo Pork or Cuban pork made in a slow cooker and crisped in the oven.

Mojo Pork a.k.a. Cuban Roast Pork

Rebecca Lindamood
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes
Of all the recipes published here on Foodie With Family over the years, this remains one of the best loved and for good reason. Fragrant, garlicky, crispy-edged yet succulent, this mouth-watering pork is as easy to make as it is wonderful and habit forming. The recipe yields a large amount making it perfect to feed a crowd or freeze for quick meals in the future.

Equipment

  • 1 Slow Cooker
  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 strainer
  • 1 baking dish or air fryer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 8-10 pound bone-in pork shoulder, make sure it fits into your slow-cooker. Cut to fit if necessary.
  • 1/2 cup frozen 100% orange juice concentrate
  • 1/3 cup lime juice fresh squeezed or bottled, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
  • 8 whole peeled cloves fresh garlic or 1 Tablespoon granulated dried garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons dry oregano leaves
  • 1 Tablespoon or more, to taste ground cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon or more fresh ground pepper
  • 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or a whole, fresh jalapeño, pierced with a sharp knife a couple of times
  • 2 stems cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Place untrimmed pork, fat side up in the slow-cooker.
  • Toss garlic cloves around the roast and scatter the salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes or fresh jalapeño around the pork shoulder.
  • Dollop the frozen orange juice concentrate over the roast. Pour the 1/3 cup of lime juice around the edges and toss in the cilantro stems. Cover and turn the slow cooker to "HIGH".
  • Allow to cook for 1 hour, turn the heat to ’LOW’ and continue cooking for another 7 hours or until meat falls apart when prodded with a fork. When the meat is tender, turn off slow cooker and place the slow cooker bowl in the fridge until it is cool enough to handle comfortably.
  • (If your slow-cooker doesn’t have a removable insert, transfer the contents to a large container with a tight-fitting lid and pop that into the fridge.
  • Use a spoon to remove the congealed fat from around the pork shoulder. Discard the fat.
  • Transfer pork shoulder to a large cutting board, preferably one with a groove to catch juices. Otherwise, keep the paper towels handy! Let sit while attending to the pan juices.
  • Pour the cooking juices that surrounded the pork through a fine mesh strainer positioned over a saucepan. Remove and discard any solids left in the strainer. Add the remaining lime juice to the cooking juices.
  • Whisk until evenly combined and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Allow to boil (while working on shredding the pork) until reduced to about 1/4 of the starting volume. Set aside until pork is fully shredded.
  • Pull the bone out of the pork and discard. Scrape as much fat as you can from the outside of the pork shoulder. Discard the fat.
  • Pull large chunks of the shoulder apart. It should naturally come apart at places where there is additional fat you can remove. Take as much of the fat out as you can without wasting meat.
  • Using your hands -or two forks- shred the meat into small pieces. When you’ve shredded all the meat, you can leave it as is or chop through it quickly with a knife to ensure that you have small bite-sized pieces.
  • When pork is fully shredded (and chopped, if desired) transfer to a 9? x 13? baking dish with sides. Pour the reduced pan juices over the pork and toss. Tightly cover the pan with foil.
  • If you plan on serving it immediately, put into a preheated 350ºF oven and heat for 25 minutes, or until hot all the way through. If you are preparing this ahead of time you can either place the pan directly into the freezer or into the fridge.

To reheat from chilled:

  • Place, still covered in foil, in a preheated 350ºF oven for 30 minutes, or until heated through.

To heat from frozen:

  • Place, still covered in foil, in a preheated 350ºF for 45 minutes, or until heated through

Nutrition

Calories: 152kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 18gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 462mgPotassium: 381mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 114IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 2mg

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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