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This dish is kind of like Disneyland for both the OCD list makers who obsessively plan meals weeks ahead of time, and for those of us (eh-hem, I’m using the collective “us” so I don’t feel so alone) who somehow make their way to the grocery store before 1 p.m. to find a fresh, juicy Boston Butt ready to roast. By the way, who came up with the name Boston Butt? I feel a little like Beavis whenever I say, “Boston Butt, hee-hee, hee-hee.” Smudge loves saying it. That’s weird. She’s eight years old. Maybe the pork-parts-namers were marketing to adults who act like 8 year old juveniles?
But I digress. This recipe is all about the low and slow and there’s not many better ways to cook it low and slow than a slllllllow cooker. Ahh, another Beavis moment, but I’ll let that one go.
You know how there are some of those crock-pot recipes where you have to brown the meat prior to cooking it, and then adding it into the pot and having to go through all of the extra steps? Sometimes I think that’s just counter-crock-pot-cooking. You won’t find that in this here recipe.
Just pop the butt into the pot, toss in some onions and flavorings, cover with a lid and ba-boom, dinner is ready to roll in 5-8 hours. Once it’s all cooked up and oh so tender falling apart because it’s from the marbled ButtI like to add in some hominy, carrots, fresh cilantro leaves and a squeeze of lime. Everything tastes better with a fresh squeeze of lime and serve it up with tortillas. You know, the Mexican way.
I started out this post with every intention of creating a recipe round-up to share some of my favorite pork in the crock-pot recipes. But I soon realized I was reinventing the wheel. And who really wants to do that when there’s already a fab resource that I visit for all things crock-pot where you better double up and scoot on over to do so.
If you don’t know Kalyn for her uber popular South Beach Diet-inspired blog Kalyn’s Kitchen, you should get to know her for her new blog, Slow Cooker from Scratch, where she showcases bloggers and their crock-pot recipes, sweet to savory and every Boston Butt in between.
3.87 from 15 votes
Slow Cooker Pork Posole Recipe
Spicy and comforting for a winter meal straight from the slow cooker.
Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time 4 hours hours
Total Time 4 hours hours 15 minutes minutes
Servings 10 -12
Ingredients
- 5 pound Boston Butt Pork Roast
- 1 onion sliced
- ½ whole head of garlic
- 16 ounces chicken stock
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 ½ large jalapenos cut in half and seeded
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 10- ounce can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles
- ⅓ cup cilantro leaves
- 2 carrots chopped
- 1 30- ounce can hominy
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Instructions
Layer half of sliced onion on the bottom of your crock pot. Cut roast into 3-4 large pieces and add to crock pot then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add half head of garlic (no need to remove paper wrap), the rest of the onion slices, chicken stock, bay leaves, jalapenos, lime juice and lime halves plus oregano and Rotel tomatoes.
**NOTE Some people have experienced a bitter taste because of the lime juice. You can make this optional and add at the end of cooking as a flavoring.
Cover and set to high and cook for 4- 4 ½ hours or until meat is tender and pulls apart like butter.
Remove meat from the crockpot and set aside to cool enough to handle and shred pork. Remove lime rinds and bay leaves and discard. Remove jalapeno slices and chop finely. Remove garlic, discard paper casings and chop finely and add jalapeno and garlic back to the crockpot with half of the pork, carrots and hominy. Cover and cook for an additional half hour or until warmed through and carrots are fork tender.
Reserve the other half of the pork for sandwiches, burritos or chili.
Related Recipes
Spicy Hominy and Chicken Soup Bloody Mary Gazpacho
Brined and Grilled Pork Loin Roast with Balsamic Rosemary Chile Glaze
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Samantha
Really amazing. Seemed like a lot of work to fish around taking things out and chopping and whatnot at the end so I chopped the jalapenos and pressed the garlic at the beginning. Omitted the lime and served instead as a garnish. Also, I added the carrots from the beginning. 30 minutes doesn’t seem like long enough to me as I’ve always just put them in my soups and stews for the whole time. Anyway, at the end all I needed to do was add the hominy and shred the pork… super easy. I served it on new year’s eve and it was a big hit.Reply
- Samantha
Oh and I almost forgot… I used like 4 times the broth. It looks like it has a lot of liquid in the picture but not sure where it all came from with only 16oz of chicken broth in the recipe.Reply
- Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thanks for sharing!
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- Circe
It worked!!! Some things I did that might help someone else:
1. Added lime juice at the end with the carrots
2. Also added with the carrots about 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander, another 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano, and 1 tablespoon dried summer savory
3. Left the lid off for the last 30 minutes while the carrots cookedCheers!
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- Chelsea
Hello! I would love to make this but do not have a slow cooker. I have a dutch oven and regular soup pots. Do you have any suggestions how I could make this sans slow cooker? Also, I wouldn’t be using the pork part of this meal (shredded rotisserie chicken instead) so maybe that would make it easier to make it into a non crock pot version. Thank you!
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- Andrea Felix
As a mexican I can tell you this might be one fine dish, but it is so not a Pozole (with Z For God’s sake) Pozole has dried chiles, garlic, onion, oregano, no carrots, no lime, no cilantro, (not all mexican food has cilantro you know?).
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- Carrie
I should have read further down in the comments! It was so bitter I threw it away.
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- Cook
Wow! Never put lime directly into a stew while cooking. This is a condiment that should be left until consumption by each person. Otherwise the noted bitterness will occur. The rule of thumb in Mexican cuisine is use lime for immediate consumption and lemon to marinade over time (think ceviche).
Posole this is not. Shocked this is so high when googling for slow cooker posole recipes.
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- heidi
Sorry you had that experience. It tastes good to me, but you of course can leave it out. I’ll make a note of it in the directions. Thanks!
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- DK
I tasted the bitterness that other users noted from leaving the lime rinds in, and would definitely leave them out of I were to make a similar recipe in the future. To boot, I think it was missing something: chili powder and cumin. This was ok, but I certainly wouldn’t make it again or recommend it.
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This recipe in no way is considered posole by a mexican, looks more like tortilla soup. Looks delish, just don’t call it posole.
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I made this tonight and I’m SO glad I read the comments because I was able to save dinner by taking out the lime. It had only been cooking for an hour and I can still taste the bitter lime flavor, but it’s not overwhelming. Still very good!
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- heidi
Hi Angelina, I guess I have more of a limey taster. Maybe it’s also the limes themselves, as to how potent they are. Thanks for sharing your results.
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I found your recipe and love being able to make meals in my crock pot. First attempt was with the whole lime although I only added one half. Yes, the rind can be too bitter was able to rescue the meal. To richen the broth I use a bit of Organic Better than Broth to the pot. I top it off with a choice of cilantro, green onions greek yogurt and lime wedges. It’s a hit in my kitchen…. a recipe to keep.
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- heidi
I’m so glad you made it your own recipe to your taste!
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- ebdrva
I made this tonight and also ended up with a very bitter broth. Besides the lime rind, I think the bay leaves also contributed to the bitterness. Depending on the brand, strength varies greatly. I think my brand new, extra large bay leaves combined with the lime rind to overwhelm the dish, even though I only put in two instead of three. To remedy it, I added 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup milk (gradually, tasting along the way) but it barely helped. Sorry to say it’s going in the trash.
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- Camila
I have been looking for a posole recipe to make in the slow cooker and am very excited to try this one! What size slow cooker did you use?
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This looks awesome–right up my alley!
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Nice way to use up leftover -chicken-,pork-,beef and vegs.
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- Eric
Same issue with bitterness from Lime. Had to toss the broth and veg and repurpose meat for something else. I would absolutely update your recipe to reflect the issue with bitterness from lime rind. The juice is ok perhaps, but research results that cooking lime rind will result in an overwhelmingly bitter taste. Sad, but probably quite good without lime rind.
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- Molly
Amazing flavour! I found you by pinterest by searching for a pork recipe. So I made this last night, I couldn’t find Hominy so had to use chick peas instead. The recipe is so simple and the pork literally fell apart! We were not sure what to serve it with; so dalloped greek yogurt on the top and used this recipe as an excuse to open some CC’s. With the left overs tonight we are going to try with rice (Hubbies idea) & CC’s (my idea). Thanks for sharing :)
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- Sharon
Yum, going to try making my posole in crock pot next time. To serve this “old Mexico” style omit lime and cilantro when cooking and then serve them as a garnish along with thin sliced radishes, green onions, chopped cabbage (sort of like Vietnamese Pho). You want a posole that has a lot of broth to serve this way.
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- heidi
Great idea on serving it old style and in the crockpot, makes for an easy dinner or lunch. Or in my case, breakfast!
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- Nicole
I made this last night and had the same issue with bitterness. I will definitely make again, just without the lime. Thanks for the recipe!
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- Bari
I made the stew tonight and it was delicious, except the broth turned out bitter also. The recipe didn’t say when to add the cilantro, so I threw it in with the carrots and the posole. I’m wondering if the bitterness came from the cooked cilantro. Or is it definitely from the lime as mentioned by Are? Any thoughts?
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- heidi
Hi Bari, the cilantro at the end is perfect as a garnish. I didn’t have any bitterness with my version so I’ll update the recipe to add at the end to taste. Thanks!
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- Are
I’m made this for dinner tonight and I must say PLEASE OMIT the whole lime in the stew. It made it very bitter. Im trying to fix it now :(
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- heidi
Hi there, I didn’t have that problem with the bitterness from the lime. You can certainly omit or add in at the end to taste.
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- Michele
I had the same problem!!! I should have trusted my gut and just used the juice…at the end. Otherwise very tasty.
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This looks so good I could cry… I love the simplicity! A slow cooker dinner is a winner for me every time!
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I’ve never heard of this dish before, but when I saw it I thought it said Rosole (in Polish Rosol means clear chicken broth) so I assumed that’s what it was but made with pork BUTT!! Haha Lovely, comfort food recipe Heidi.
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I would give my right arm for a plate of this right now.
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- melissa rideout
I don’t have a crock pot right now- you’re saying, “wth- a mormon housewife with no crock pot” I threw this in my trusty orange Le Cruset and it’s in the oven on 200 right now. I’ll let you know how it turns out!!!
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Oh Heidi, this looks utterly divine! So inviting. :)
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I have to feed an army it seems over the holidays. This is a keeper. Time to pull out the slow cooker! thanks.
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This is just a bowl full of deliciousness!
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This looks so yummy! And saying Boston Butt makes me totally giggle. It’s like I’m 7.
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Oh Heidi, this is just stunning. I feel comforted by just looking at it. Amazing flavors!
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What I’d give for this meal. Thanks for not making me dirty more pans. Half the fun with slow cookers is just sticking the butt in there and lettting it cook.
Giggling at the Beavis references, can’t remember the last time I heard that name! :)
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Looks good! I might have to try this! But because I “Jewish-lite” I might have to subsitute chicken or a cut of beef.
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- GuessWho
A Great substitute too pork is ox tail a little bit more pricey but worth the results.
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I missed the dinner invite. What gives? Posole is my fave.
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How did you know I was looking for crock pot recipes? :) Thanks!
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Fan-friggen-tastic! I need to get some hominy. Once I do I am making this!
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- vaqueiro
Do you find you have trouble expressing yourself?
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Heeeeeaven help me.
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Yaay, you used your slow cooker! I can’t wait to feature this on Slow Cooker from Scratch, and thanks for the shout out!
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This recipe looks absolutely perfect! I just love your pictures!
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I love posole and this recipe looks perfect for weeknights. Thanks Heidi!
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