Cuban pork is marinated overnight in a powerful mojo sauce then cooked until succulent and juicy. Recipe includes instructions for how to roast or cook pork shoulder in the crockpot. This pork tastes fantastic served with pickles, mustard, and swiss cubano style.
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time2 hourshrs
Resting Time30 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs5 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Cuban
Keyword: cubano, gluten free, ham, pork, pork shoulder
Combine all ingredients (except the pork shoulder) in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Place the pork shoulder in a large plastic bag and pour the marinade over it. Refrigerate overnight.
How to Roast Cuban Pork Shoulder
Preheat oven to 425°F and place a metal rack over a sheet pan. Remove the pork shoulder and wipe away any pieces of garlic or herbs -- they will burn. Discard the marinade. Season all over with salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes.
Lower temperature to 375°F and flip the pork shoulder over. Continue to roast for 1 hour 30 minutes. Rest pork shoulder 30 minutes before slicing across the grain.
How to Cook Cuban Pork Shoulder in the Crockpot or Slow Cooker
Remove pork from marinade and trim away any excess fat. Season with salt and pepper and place in the slow cooker along with about 1 cup of the marinade. Cook on the "low" setting for 8 hours. Allow meat to rest for 30 minutes before slicing across the grain.
Notes
Cuban Marinade aka Mojo (mo-ho) - a traditional cuban mojo sauce is made of oil, garlic, and sour oranges. If you live in Florida, you can find sour oranges easily. For the rest of us, we have to settle for a combination of orange juice and lime juice to create the signature sour orange effect.Pork Shoulder - You may find pork shoulder with or without the bone. It's a little difficult to cut around the bone but will taste great either way. Pork is sometimes available with the skin on. Roasting? Go ahead and leave (most) of the skin on. My overall recommendation is to remove 3/4 of the skin prior to marinading as this will allow more of the marinade to penetrate the meat. Using a crockpot? Remove the skin and trim away excess fat.Chef's Tip - I wish I had scored the meat prior to marinading because more of the flavor would have penetrated through the thick skin-fat layer to the meat underneath it. To do this, cut in a criss-cross pattern every inch or so all the way through the fat layer. Then marinade, and you will have a beautiful cross-hatch effect + flavor all the way through.*This side by side comparison was based on a roast pork recipe inspired by the movie Chef. You can find that recipe here.