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Maple Blueberry Bacon Breakfast Carnitas
PIN THIS RECIPE!I’m writing this post right now as I sit at my mechanic. My toes are cold. And I’m kinda bored because the show that is on their tv is from the 70’s, but thankfully I have my computer, so I can complain a lot to you all. Actually, it’s not from the 70’s. It’s Hawaii Five-O, and all I know is that this man is definitely wearing too much blush. And has much too furry side burns.
My car just needed some routine maintenance because she is getting old and senile, so I took her in for a face lift. As much as I love my car, I’ve been considering getting a new one. But the thing is, I bought that car when I was 16, with cash. So having a monthly car payment seems scary to me. I understand that’s what normal people do, but it’s nice to not do that. I’m going to start looking at cars. I have a plethora in mind, so it may be hard to choose. So hard, that I’ll probably not end up buying a car. Until this one dies, in the middle of an intersection, with no friendly drivers around. Big purchases are frightening. Maybe they’ll be less frightening if I have money someday. Doubtful. Mo’ money, mo’ problems.
I’m pretty sure I love hanging out with couples. I’m not really sure why, but I think I’m good at it. Being the 3rd wheel is my specialty. Thankfully I have extremely cool couple friends. I spent my Friday with my first excessively good looking pair of friends. My friend Adam, who created BodeeFit, and his wife Emily took me out to dinner. And we went fancy. To The Capital Grille. Never in my life have I ordered food that expensive. I got the seared tenderloin with butter poached lobster tail. Yeah, crazy good. Also crazy expensive. I was shocked to see the bill. How do people do that every weekend? That’s whack.
My second good looking couple I hung out with were my friends Ben and Sarah. They have the nicest house ever. Mostly because Sarah is extremely Type A and keeps it perfect. I sometimes wish I had that kind of personality. I would do laundry way more often. I just want my house to look like theirs. Someday. Probably not though. But really, I mostly hung out with Sarah because the Broncos game was on, and if you’re into sports or have a friend from CO, you know every football fan was in depression mode Saturday night. So instead of watching the entire 15 hour game, Sarah and I gossiped over mimosas. Now that’s my kind of football game.
Have you ever had the blueberry breakfast pork sausage at Whole Foods? It’s stupid delicious. And that’s where this recipe was inspired from. I have no clue what seasonings they put in their pork, since I’m too lazy to pay attention, but I guessed. So it wasn’t quite as delicious, but it still rates up there. Or I wouldn’t have blogged about it. I’m honest to you. I like you.
Caveman Feast Giveaway winners will be announced tomorrow!
PrintMaple Blueberry Bacon Breakfast Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2–3 pound pork shoulder roast
- 2 cups blueberries (I used frozen, just thawed them first)
- 1/2 cup apple juice (the real stuff)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (or less, if need be)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- lots of salt, your call
- dash of black pepper
- 4–5 strips of bacon
- fresh parsley, chopped (to garnish)
Instructions
- Place pork roast in the slow cooker.
- Pour in the apple juice into the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Pour the maple syrup over the roast then add the cinnamon, dried parsley, dried sage, nutmeg and salt and pepper on top of the roast. Then finish by topping the roast off with blueberries.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. I did this overnight.
- Once the pork is done cooking, pull the meat out and shred. Pour some of the remaining liquid in the slow cooker on top of the pork to keep in moist and flavorful.
- Now cook the bacon in a pan on the stove top. When the bacon is done cooking, remove half of the fat, leaving behind some in your pan. Then place the bacon on a paper towel covered plate and let cool. Dice into pieces.
- Take half of the diced bacon and mix with your newly shredded pork. Mix together.
- Place your bacon fat pan over medium high heat. Use your hands or a large spoon to collect a ball of the shredded pork and bacon, then press down to create a patty. Put on skillet, press down more with a spatula, and let cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until crispy, then flip.
- Once your carnitas are crispy, add to plate, top with more bacon and some fresh chopped parsley.
- Eat up. An egg on top of this would be AWESOME. I know, I did it.
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You May Also Like:
Blueberry Breakfast Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Breakfast Bacon & Maple Meatballs
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Oh, Hi! I’m Juli.
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63 thoughts on “Maple Blueberry Bacon Breakfast Carnitas”
How do you get your bacon to look so perfect and flat?? Mine alaways comes out curled and sometimes too fried… What brand do you use?
Gabby-
Try baking your bacon in the oven instead of frying in a pan. Comes out perfectly flat and no spattered grease on your clothes! Line a baking sheet with foil and bake at 375. I usually check on it about 15 minutes in and drain some of the grease into a coffee cup (to save for cooking with!) and then check it every couple minutes until done to your liking.
Nice, I had thought about it but always thought it would take too long… Will definitely try it! Thanks!
1. This looks ridiculously good.
2. My car is also becoming old and senile. This morning, something went wonky with my electrical system and now my car is communicating with me exclusively in German.
3. “Gurt anlegen” means “fasten seatbelt” in German.
4. If you’re ever in Ohio, my husband and I would be happy to have you as our third wheel!
I feel your pain. I too drive old cars, but I married a shade-tree mechanic! He can literally fix/build anything and he doesn’t follow sports. Yep, luckiest girl on the planet. It is always cheaper to fix your old car so just keep fixin it. It drives me absolutely INSANE when I hear people say, “hey, my car is almost paid off… I’m gonna start shopping for a NEW one!”. Really. My head just about explodes. Some people just have to have the latest and greatest rather than fix their water-damaged kitchen floor. I’m trying not to judge. Recipe looks great! I even have some blueberries hanging out in the freezer to try it with!
This looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it. I was so happy when I read the recipe and it said crock pot. I LOVE CROCK POTS as much as you like hanging out with couples (you crack me up). Anyway I guess you can call me lazy too because crock potting is so much easier and makes eating Paleo so much easier. Can’t wait to try. I made a pork sausage “stuffing” dish last week (http://ourfullplate.com/recipes/paleo-pork-and-butternut-squash-stuffing/) and I used a blueberry maple sausage from my local organic grocery store and it was delish too. Love your recipes. You are my inspiration. Keep it coming. And yay to no car payments. I have been driving my car now for 9 years. Woo hoo!
My family has a tradition of only buying cars we can afford to pay cash for. So, no car payments…..but I’m currently driving a ’96 Subaru. (great car, but it’s starting to leak a bunch, so I’m searching for a replacement, too)
I can’t wait until I can have sugar again–less than 2 weeks to go! I’m making more crockpot recipes lately and this looks soooo tempting.
Thank you for honoring the loveliness that is the fruit and meat combination!! My taste buds thank you 🙂
New cars have gizmos and widgets and doodads I’m sort of looking at a new car too, and that might what be I’m looking forward to the most. After the better gas mileage. And comfier seats.
★★★★★
Making this tonight for noms tomorrow. End of discussion.
No car payments are the best…..my husband and I still drive a 99 oldsmobile and it looks terrible, BUT everything under the hood runs like a top….never ever had to take it to the shop yet except for a oil changes and when it hit 100,000 miles we had a tune up done. BEST CAR EVER….you are being responsible!
You kill me with your recipes, lady! I’m definitely going to try this, but with raw honey instead of maple syrup. I don’t even like pork much, except bacon, but can for sure eat it like this. Shredded, slow cooked meat is awesome.
Don’t feel too bad about getting your car in for maintenence BEFORE it has issues. You could be like my husband and Iand have your car stop working. On the highway. At the start of your roadtrip back home. With a dog and a cat in the back. Yep. But I will have to find the blueberry breakfast sausage at my local whole foods – it sounds delicious!
I think it takes skill to be a 3rd wheel, can’t let it be too obvious that you’re single and it bothers you as well as act like you’re cool enough just to be 1 person. i feel ya!
This is my kind of recipe!! I’m a big fan of pork shoulders anyways, but the sweetness component takes it to a whole new level. Plus bacon, plus refrying it, PLUS eating it with an egg…Yum.
Juli,
I am new to your website and I have to tell you that…I LOVE IT! I have Celiac disease and I have been very frustrated with food. I find myself saying…”I hate food”. I just hate going to the store. Food just seems to be my enemy. It makes me sick(literally). I have been gluten and dairy free for a year now but still wasn’t feeling my “normal”. So I have decided to go Paleo(no grains). I have been a quinoa freak lately. But just learned that it could be making me sick. Very frustrating! But good Paleo recipes are hard to come by. I have just given up because I couldn’t find ANY good ones. Until, I found your website. You have given me hope! Grogery shopping has been fun this week. I have tried several recipes and they were so flavorful and most delightful. I’m just not creative with ingredient combinations. You have a gift of knowing the right combinations for great flavor.Thank you Juli! You have inspired me! God Bless 🙂
I agree, that whole foods sausage is da bomb! I’m going to have to try this (re)creation you’ve come up with!
I CAN’T WAIT TO EAT THIS
Your recipes rock and this one looks no different. Thanks for making paleo food interesting!!!
Umm are we the same person? My car is going crazy too. I need a new one, but car payments are scary when I paid cash for my car. I’m not looking forward to buying new tires on Friday. That shit is expensive.
Oh, I’m always the third wheel too. Except for girls weekends. Those involve a lot of wine and watching New Girl.
Can you guarantee that eating your food will help me get muscle ups? Because that would be awesome.
I can’t tell you how good that looks! My husband loves carnitas and I made some last week that were super tasty, but you can be sure that they weren’t THIS good! I think I need to make me some more carnitas this weekend!!! Can’t wait to try! Thanks.
OMFG! YES!! YES!! YES!! So making this for Saturday morning family breakfast…Bacon!!! G’ah!!! I’m so excited!
Would this be good if I just left it at the pulled pork step??
absolutely!
Mmmm…this sounds DELISH!
On a side note though…DON’T DO IT!!! I just recently gave up my car payment after 15 years of car payments for a cheap-o car from Craiglist and I have NEVER been happier!!! I paid $1500 cash for a car that runs (pretty) great and has little issue. It isn’t super shiny and new…but it gets me from point A to point B and I am not paying someone else for a car I get to drive. Plus, when times are tougher…I don’t have to worry about that someone else coming to get my car.
As our parents and gparents use to say, “Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean you have to. If everyone jumped off the Empire State Building, would you jump too!?” I think in this case, our parents were ACTUALLY right. I still envy and long for those super shiny cars that everyone else has…but man it is nice to know I have one less stresser in my life than them.
I TOTALLY agree Leah!
WOW!! These sound wonderful! Minus all the fat that is used when you make the real carnitas! A must try for sure!
Thanks!
★★★★★
Threw this in the crockpot last night and woke up this morning to the best smelling house! Didn’t have any bacon but crisped up the pork in some coconut oil and topped with an egg and half an avocado. So good! I’m in love with your recipes. And you. Haha thanks!
Looks sooooo good–going to make this tomorrow! Question–If I don’t have a slow cooker (I know, for shame), do you think I could just braise this over the stove in a dutch oven?
yeah i’m sure that would work!!
pork defrosting now.
cant wait to try this.
DON’T HAVE A CAR PAYMENT! Learn from your cousin! Car Payment = less Lulu gear! Enjoy NOT having a car payment until, like you said, your car completely dies or someone else steals it and runs it off a ledge! xxoo Can’t wait to see you in February!
Just made these… OMG! Delish! Maybe the best recipe I’ve made from your site, and I’ve made a ton of them, and loved every one… You rock!
Julie great recipes! I want to give this one a go. The shoulder is bone in?
mine was, but you dont have to use bone in
Such an interesting flavor combination! I cant wait to try this.
This is your BEST recipe yet!! I LOVED this!! Yummy! I have yet to try a bad recipe though and am a HUGE fan! Keep em coming….we’re hungry 😉
★★★★★
So I’m making this tonight, with a few substitutions: raspberries instead of blueberries (what I had in freezer, and have you had pork with raspberry sauce….OMG!!! So good) and had to use coconut sugar instead of maple (none of that eithrr, made a syrup with some of the raspberry juice). I’m guessing its still going to be pretty awesome, and I can’t wait to make it the “right” way!
Great recipe! I mixed a beaten egg with a bit of the shredded pork/bacon before frying it up. Holds it together and tastes like heaven.
★★★★★
Don’t dive it until it breaks down. That brought back a horrible memory. Mine broke down in the middle of an intersection with a dump truck on my a$$. In Boston. Nice driver and Boston Do Not go together! I seriously got out and ran to the corner so I wouldn’t get hurt! Should have heard me on the phone with the tow truck driver trying to convince him to Get Here NOW !!
Holy Majoly.
I have made about 25 recipes from your site now (thank you thank you!!) and this is the best. I’ve made it 4 times in the past two weeks. Seriously. I cannot get enough. I’ve used whatever pork butt they have that day in the store, and frozen blueberries (not even bothering to thaw.) And when I didn’t have apple juice one time, I used broth instead, which worked just fine. I could seriously eat this for 3 meals a day. Frying the patty in the bacon fat is the clincher, though I’ve been known to eat it cold in shredded form right out of the fridge, too. 🙂
★★★★★
fun, different and easy recipe. my pork didnt hold well together to make patties…so i ended up just browning it up a little and throwing some fried eggs on top.
can i just say you have the BEST paleo website. it is easy, accessible, and the recipes are easy and practical. thank you for your time, effort and creativity! i keep looking for other paleo websites that are better, but it is truly impossible. keep em coming!!!
★★★★★
Made the pork, and it was amazing! Would definitely make this again. The flavors just blend so well!
★★★★★
I cannot stop eating this!
★★★★★
This was YUMMY!!! I will be blogging about it as my Favorite Recipe of the Week. Thank you! Perfect balance of savory & sweet (see what TV food shows have done to us all)!
★★★★★
This is so delicious!!! It was perfect to eat right out of the crockpot too but even more awesome fried up as a carnitas. I was drawn to the recipe cause it was bluberries and meat. I’m always on board for any meats and fruit mix. Thank you! 🙂
I made this roast for dinner the other night. It was a huge hit! It made enough to use as many lunch leftovers. So easy and so good, thanks!
★★★★★
This was amazing. Loved every bite! Thanks!
★★★★★
Insanely good! My husband, kids and I all loved this! So fast and easy too. Made it the night before so I just had to reheat over bacon grease and we had breakfast in 5 minutes- a huge bonus for our crazy morning household.
★★★★★
Made this last night and had the leftovers this morning. OMG is right. My husband and 7 year old both said this was “top 5″…such a compliment.
Tip: if you make sure to pour a good amount of the crockpot juice into the shredded pork, mix it with your hands, and then form patties, it stays together quite nice in the pan. Just don’t touch it until it’s nice and crispy.
This will definitely be in my “breakfast for dinner” rotation. Thank you!
Holy Sh*t. You just changed my life with this dish.
It is beyond easy to make, and crazy delicious.
I am the crazy person who tagged you on Instagram this morning.
…..because it was THAT good.
i am a follower for life. 🙂
★★★★★
So I made this dish this past weekend for me and 14 others vacationing at a friend’s house. (Obviously I made two crock pots worth)…. RAVE REVIEWS!
Holy cow it was good – we topped it with a cooked egg and named it “Chicken, Pork, Pork”.
This will definitely go in my rotation for something different at breakfast – I can’t wait to make it for my husband!!
Hi Juli – will the pork cook too quickly since the crockpot is relatively empty? When I cook meat in just a bit of liquid, the cooking time always seems WAY too fast 🙁
you shouldn’t have that issue
Would a beef roast work instead of pork? I don’t have pork onhand….???
YUM!
★★★★
Dear Juli, you had me at Carnita.
I read a few recipes, a few blog entrees and now I bow as your humble blogee. Well done. Looking forward to the cookbook.
Anastasia Beaverhausen III
★★★★★
Your recipes have changed my life. I’ve tried every single recipe in the paleo kitchen and they’ve all been MAGIC. Thank you!
I swear this weekend was the 800th time I made these breakfast carnitas. They are SO DELICIOUS! I usually serve it with pan browned sweet potatoes (browned with coconut oil, paprika, garlic powder and black pepper). I put a couple of sunny side up eggs over the top of all of it so the drippy egg yolk gets all over everything to make it taste that much better.
This is also a recipe that my mother keeps making now as well ever since I dropped off leftovers to her and dad. It’s her go-to when family is in town or on vacation.
★★★★★
I bought a new cookbook last week for Paleo crockpot recipes (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1511850957?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00). I opened the book randomly to page 10 and there was this recipe. It’s a newer book. I looked all through it then and kept finding other recipes from other books I have. There weren’t any acknowledgements in it either. Just thought you should know (if you didn’t already).
★★★★★
Not surprised, people do this kind of thing all the time. Try to just stick with authors that you know and know are legitimate. We don’t rip people off but many people are happy to do that to people.
Just unfortunate that they are making money off of your recipe!! I reviewed the book online and mentioned how I bought it only to realize most of the recipes I already had in other books and that it did not acknowledge where the recipes originated from. Lesson learned on my part!!
PS.. just shared your recipe with 6 coworkers after talking about it in our main office. YUM!!
★★★★★
perfect! i think people really take those reviews into consideration! thanks for doing that!