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AND toppings galore…
Because I know of no other way to do it.
PLUS, I am a fruit freak and any chance I get I am going to add a few slices or mango or some fruit salsa. To me, fruit enhances just about every meal. So clearly, I am pretty pumped about all the pretty berries (and even watermelon, corn and peaches) filling up my grocery produce section. YEAH for mid spring and early summer produce!!!
SOO. I know that these Carnitas Chilaquiles with whipped jalapeño cream seem like they are some hefty Chilaquiles, and that’s mostly because they are. I hear you, to be honest, I wouldn’t be able to eat these before noon, I just can’t do a giant meal like this so early in the day. BUT anytime after that, these would totally be fair game.
They are what I am calling LOADED Chilaquiles. Which by they way, Chilaquiles are basically just fancy nachos that get lightly fried and tossed with red or green salsa. They can be made all different kinds of ways, but I went heavy on the Mexican and just threw in some homemade carnitas. So you see, HEFTY yes, but so good! And so worth every ounce of effort. Trust me on this one.
Making the carnitas is easy. All they involve is a pork roast, a handful of spices and some beer… OR some coke, which according to my neighbor Vern, is very traditional in Mexico (he’s semi loony though….JK,JK,JK). He’s says you can’t make carnitas without a can of coke. I personally say otherwise since I never drink coke and therefore never have it on hand. Per his request though, I tried making my carnitas with a can of coke and yes, they were awesome. Still not sure whether that can of coke was any better than a can of beer though, but I will let you guys decide that one.
Either beer or coke will work, but please, tell me your thoughts!!
Once you have your carnitas, it’s time to make some KILLER Chilaquiles. Oh but, just a FYI – you will have a lot of left over carnitas, so be prepared to make your fair share of burritos, tacos, salads and quesadillas with all the leftover meat. Hey, you’ll have meals to last till Monday. YEAH!!
Ok so, you have your carnitas, now you need to make a little sauce in the blender, simmer it, add some tortillas chips, cover said tortilla chips in carnitas and cheese, and throw it all under the broiler to melt.
Make a quick whipped jalapeño cream (OH MY GOSH, this stuff is awesome. Sweet, spicy and way better than a boring dollop of sour cream or crema).
Remove the Chilaquiles and immediately start topping.
And by toppings, I do mean add everything that could possibly be good on Chilaquiles, which really just means FRIED EGGS. I mean, duh.
Oh and ok, and some fruit salsa or sliced mango, but we already chatted about this.
You really NEED the eggs though. Like no questions. Also, cotija cheese and fresh cilantro would be awesome. Oh, and avocado too, if that’s your thing…obviously it’s totally my thing.
And then you could be all prim and proper and start dishing out the meal. OR… you could just go Gerard family style and dig in with a fork. Did I mention that no one ever taught us Gerard kids (at least me and my brothers anyway, not speaking for the cousins) any table manners? And my mother was a debutante… guess she decided to go the other way!
Oh well, when it comes to eating, table manners aren’t really all that fun anyway.
Carnitas Chilaquiles with Whipped Jalapeño Cream.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 561 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Carnitas
- 1 (2-3) pound pork shoulder or butt
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt + 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 (12 ounce) Mexican beer
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 limes juiced
Chilaquiles
- 1-2 cups Carnitas
- 1 ounce fire roasted tomatoes lightly drained, 28 can
- 2-3 in chipotle chilies adobo finely chopped (I used 3)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion diced (optional, i left mine out)
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 8-16 ounce bag of tortilla chips
- 1 cup grated monterey jack pepper jack or cheddar cheese or a combo of all three
- 3-5 fried eggs
- fruit salsa sliced mango, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro + cotija cheese for topping
Whipped Jalapeño Cream
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 Jalapeños finely chopped and seeded if desired, or 1 large
Instructions
Carnitas
- Combine seasonings (salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, onion powder, chipotle chili powder, oregano, cayenne, garlic powder) together in a bowl and mix until combined. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Rub the pork all over with about 1/3 of the seasonings. Once hot, add the pork and sear on all sides until golden brown (about 2 minutes per side). Next add the pork to the crockpot and sprinkle all over with remaining seasonings. Pour in beer (or coke), orange juice, and lime juice, then cook on low for 10-12 hours (oven version in the notes). Check once or twice if possible. Before serving, use forks or kitchen tongs to shred the pork in the crock pot. Mix to combine with the remaining liquid in the crockpot. This will make more pork than you need for the Chilaquiles, so be prepared to make some tacos, sammies or burritos as well!
Chilaquiles
- In a blender, combine the tomatoes and the chipotles chilies, blend until almost smooth.
- In a very large, deep skillet, heat the oil. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until lightly caramelized. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Pour in the tomato mixture and simmer, stirring until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth and boil the sauce over high heat until just thickened slightly, about 2-4 minutes. Season with salt and remove from the heat. Sir in a handful of chopped cilantro.
- Pre-heat the broiler. Gently stir the tortilla chips into the sauce, making sure they are well coated. Top with shredded carnitas and cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you are using). Place under the boiler to melt the cheese. Remove and top with mangos and or fruit salsa, avocado, cilantro and cotijia cheese. Dollop with whipped jalapeno cream. Serve immediately.
Whipped Jalapeño Cream
- Add the greek yogurt, cream cheese, honey and salt to a mixing bowl. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the Jalapeños. Store in the fridge until ready to serve or up to 1 week.
Notes
*To make the carnitas in the oven, Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Combine seasonings (salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, onion powder, chipotle chili powder, oregano, cayenne, garlic powder) together in a bowl and mix until combined. Heat a large dutch oven over medium-high heat and add oil. Rub the pork all over with about 1/3 of the seasonings. Once hot, add the pork and sear on all sides until golden brown (about 2 minutes per side). Remove from the heat and sprinkle the remaining seasonings over the pork. Pour in beer (or coke), orange juice and lime juice, cover and cook for 3-4 hours. Check once or twice if possible. Before serving, use forks or kitchen tongs to shred the pork in the crockpot. Mix to combine with the remaining liquid in the crockpot. This will make more pork than you need for the Chilaquiles, so be prepared to make some tacos, sammies or burritos as well! *Chilaquiles sauce inspired by [Food and Wine | http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chipotle-chilaquiles].
I feel like everyday should involve food as awesome as this. Yes, it should!
I made the Whipped Jalapeno Cream for my fish tacos….DELICIOUS! Unfortunately it seems like jalapenos are not as spicy so I had to put almost 2 big ones WITH seeds to get any heat.
Hi Tina,
Fantastic!! I am so glad to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and I appreciate you making it! Have a great weekend! xx
1 ounce mexican beer or coke 12, coke is traditional
Is this a typo in the recipe? Does it really call for 1 oz of beer? And does that mean 12 oz coke?
Thanks! I have loved all your recipes that I have tried so far!
Hey Mindy! I am so sorry, that was a type. You need 1 (12 ounce) Mexican beer. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
This was a delicious meal. You are right, it is a heavy meal but it was great! The freshness of the jalapeño cream and avocado on it just rounded out the flavors. This is definitely a keeper recipe!
Thank you Jackie! xTieghan
The salsa is perfect: i modified the ingredients and added rotisserie chicken meat instead of pork. The crema is just a little too sweet to my taste. But everybody loved the complexity of tastes that is found in Mexican cuisine. Thanks
I am so glad you loved the salsa! Thank you! xTieghan
love your blog and recipes, but the recipe is hard to follow…looks like you’ve made notes after the ingredients and it’s hard to tell how much to use of certain ingredients…. 1oz of tomatoes or 28 oz… ?? obviously it’s not 1 oz… but this made shopping and putting it together difficult…
So sorry about the trouble. Recipe is all fixed. Let me know if you have other questions.
hey tieghan! I’m having the same issue still – the recipe says 1 oz of tomatoes, but there’s a note at the end that says 28 can? same with the amount of pork and coke – could you let me know how much to get of each?
Hello- can you please clarify above question? 1 oz or 28 oz of tomatoes?
Thank you!! I am excited to try it.
Hi Brandy,
You will want to use 1 can that is 28 ounces for this recipe:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
I just made this last night and both my husband and I enjoyed it. It was a LOT of work, but I still managed to get it out on time for dinner. I completely forgot how long it took, so I had to halve the time and cook on high in the slow cooker. The flavor was great, I love cilantro and went a little crazy with it in this recipe. I was sad that my avocadoes did not work out because they could have made this dish that much better. But I think my favorite parts were the fried eggs and the jalapeno cream.
I am so happy you enjoyed this recipes!! Sorry it was a bit more work than you expected though! Thank you so much! 🙂
I just found your blog and your photography is INCREDIBLE! I can’t wait to make these this week! Looks amazing.
Thank you so much!
Hi Tieghan,
I am in the middle of making this recipe. I cooked my pork in the crock pot, but the picture of your pork on the plate looks like it is coated in something. I know the recipe says to dip the chips in the sauce, but are you to coat the pork in the same sauce too? I will say, that the pork has a great flavor/taste, but doesn’t look like yours at all.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Tracy
Hi Tracy!!
I did not dip my pork, but my guess is that the sauce my pork cooked in reduced down more than yours has. You can dip the pork in the red sauce if you’d like. Either way they should be great! Hope you love the recipe! 🙂
This looks amazing! I’m a big chlaquiles fan! The Whipped Jalapeño Cream sounds amazing. This dish is on my to do list!
I wanted to pop by after making this for dinner last night. It was fantastic. The slight sweetness of the carnitas melded so well with spicy chilaquiles sauce. Just wonderful. I think several of my friends are already looking to make it themselves.
I’ve only been following your site for a couple of weeks, in which time I have made this and one other recipe (the caramelized pork ramen), and bookmarked many more. I love and admire everything about your presentation. I can relate to much of what you say. Your recipes are fantastic – complex and simple at the same time. I’ll be first in line for your cookbook. 🙂
Hey Kacie!!! Thank you so much for this beyond kind comment! I am thrilled you loved the Carnitas!!! THANKS!! 🙂
It was awesome! Thank you for the recipe!
SO happy you loved it! THANKS!