This pulled pork enchilada casserole is one of those delicious leftover pork roast recipes. Just fill the tortilla shells, roll, add the sauce, and bake until the cheese is melty, and the sauce is bubbling. Add some fresh toppings to take this over the top in both flavor and texture.
What are Carnitas Enchilada?
Carnitas Enchiladas (Pulled Pork Enchiladas) are a delectable alternative way to eat enchiladas. Rolled Tortillas filled with leftover Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork) or other pre-cooked meat such as a rotisserie chicken, adding corn and shredded cheese. Drenched in a rich and tangy enchilada sauce and a bit more cheese.
Slow Cooker Pork Roast
This recipe makes a quick and scrumptious mid-week meal when using leftover pork roast. However, you can let your pork roast cook in the slow cooker during the day, come home and still make these in 30 minutes.
Carnitas are a fabulous filling for enchiladas. These are easy to whip up and they are juicy with full flavor all on their own. Turn these into enchiladas carnitas and you have a winning recipe that your whole family is sure to love.
How to Make Pulled Pork Enchilada Casserole?
The carnitas are mixed with a corn and shredded cheese, wrapped in tortillas, and lined up in a casserole dish. Then you pour on the sauce, add more cheese, and bake.
Thirty minutes later, you end up with enchiladas that are cheesy, rich, and perfect for piling high with sour cream, shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes, or Pico de Gallo and serving to friends and family.
Restaurant Style Plating
Restaurants have this way of making everything look delicious with their plating tricks. Here is one idea on food plating that is so easy to do. Use the sour cream to drizzle over the enchiladas.
Make this fancy by mixing sour cream with a bit of milk to thin it out a bit. Add this to a small squeeze bottle and squeeze over the enchiladas with your desired toppings.
What Kind of Tortilla are used for Enchiladas?
Use the type of tortilla shell you enjoy. Corn tortillas are traditional for enchiladas; however, for this recipe I like using flour shells. I have used low-carb flour shells with great success too.
Just get shells that are 6, 7, or 8-inches in diameter as they will fit in the baking pan the best. I try and get the 8-inch in diameter shells as it holds a bit more of the filling and still fits nicely in a 9 X 13 baking pan.
Make a Pork Shoulder Picnic Roast in a Slow Cooker
This recipe is great if you have pre-cooked leftover pork. However, making the pork in a slow cooker the day of works nicely too.
The hardest part of this recipe is making the meat and that is done for you in the slow cooker. Everything else takes just minutes to prepare.
Here is how I make my pork shoulder picnic roast.
4 Pounds Pork Shoulder or Butt Roast Can be 3-5 pounds
16 Ounces Salsa Verde 1 jar
1 Small Jalapeno Finely chopped (optional)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Add the pork roast to a slow cooker. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
Pour Salsa Verde over the pork and add the jalapeno on top.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
Remove pork to a cake pan. I found this is the best way to shred the pork without losing the juices all over your counter. Once the pork is shredded, add back into the juice in the slow cooker.
Make this Pork Roast in the Oven
Set the meat on a rack set into a roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. Continue to cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the shoulder reads 185 degrees F, about 4 hours. Remove the pork from the oven and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes.
Pork Roast Internal Temperature
Medium-rare temperature of pork is 145-150 degrees Fahrenheit. You can find out more using the new temperature guide. Well done is considered 160 degrees Fahrenheit and coking this pork roast slow creates a tender and juicy meat that is perfect to eat as is of use in a variety of recipes.
Freeze the Pork for Future Leftover Pork Recipes
The cooked pork makes a great freezer meal to create magic any day of the week.
Once the pork is prepared according to the recipe and cooled, add the meat and juices to a freezer container or large freezer bag. This can also be portioned into smaller sizes to feed just a few people.
Once the meat is in the container, freeze for up to 3-6 months. Make sure that the container is labeled with what is inside and the date.
Thaw in the refrigerator overnight – you can also thaw in the microwave on a low setting if needed. I prefer in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, it is ready to use in your favorite recipe.
You can Freeze This Pulled Pork Enchilada Casserole
This recipe makes 10 tortilla shells, which will fill a full-size casserole dish. If you have leftovers or want to make this in smaller batches as a freezer meal for future quick weeknight dinners, just freeze this unbaked.
Add all the fillings, sauce, and cheese wrap well in plastic wrap, then foil. Make sure to label and freeze for up to 4 months.
I suggest that if you plan on freezing this, use a container that can go from the freezer to the refrigerator to the oven safely. Therefore, I often use a foil pan for freezing as I know it will not shatter like a glass pan can. When you are ready to bake, remove from the freezer, thaw, and bake.
If you like this type of recipe, you may enjoy the Taco Skillet Bake it is another easy and delicious recipe.
Make these corn fritters year round as a delicious snack or fun side dish.
Top this casserole off with a fruit salad that comes together in minutes.
I often look through the recipes at All Free Copycats. There are so many recipe ideas to choose from. If you would like even more ethnic recipes, you might find just the right one in their blog post about 22 Copycat Mexican Restaurant Recipes.
Pulled Pork Enchilada Casserole
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Kitchen Essentials
Ingredients
- 10 Large Tortillas Flour or Corn 8-inches
- 3 Cups Pork Diced Cooked
- 1 ½ Cups Cheese Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend or any good melting cheese
- 1 ½ Cups Corn 1 can 15 ounces corn or Frozen corn thawed
- 19 Ounces Enchilada Sauce
- ½ Cup Cheese Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
- 2 Cups Cabbage Shredded
- ½ Cup Cilantro
- 1 Cup Tomatoes Diced
- ½ Cup Sour Cream
- 3 Tablespoons Milk Optional – used to thin the sour cream if drizzling on top.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread ½ cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan.
- In a mixing bowl, add the diced pork, cheese, and corn mixing to combine.
- Divide the pork filling between the 10 tortilla shells. You can use a corn shell or flour shell 8-inches in diameter. Adding about 1/3 to ½ cup to the middle of the shell and roll it up tightly. Place in the baking dish with the seam-side down.
- Pour remaining Enchilada Sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle on the rest of the shredded cheese.
- Bake uncovered in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Make this fancy by mixing sour cream with a bit of milk to thin it out a bit. Add this to a small squeeze bottle and squeeze over the enchiladas with your desired toppings.
- Serve 1 or 2 enchiladas per person. Top with your desired toppings such as shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and sour cream or Pico de Gallo if desired. Enjoy!
Your Own Private Notes
Notes
Make a Pork Shoulder Picnic Roast in a Slow Cooker
This recipe is great if you have pre-cooked leftover pork. However, making the pork in a slow cooker the day of works nicely too. The hardest part of this recipe is making the meat and that is done for you in the slow cooker. Everything else takes just minutes to prepare.Here is how I make my pork shoulder picnic roast. 4 Pounds Pork Shoulder or Butt Roast Can be 3-5 pounds
16 Ounces Salsa Verde 1 jar
1 Small Jalapeno Finely chopped (optional)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste Add the pork roast to a slow cooker. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
Pour Salsa Verde over the pork and add the jalapeno on top.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Remove pork to a cake pan. I found this is the best way to shred the pork without losing the juices all over your counter. Once the pork is shredded, add back into the juice in the slow cooker.
