These Pulled Pork Enchiladas are made with Pork Carnitas and topped with a delicious homemade Enchilada Sauce!
This post is part of a series of meals made using Easy Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork) that I posted last week. It freezes so well and defrosts quickly, making it great to have on hand for fast meals – like Enchiladas. However this recipe can be made using any pre cooked meat – shredded chicken in particular would be fantastic. It takes a mere 15 minutes to assemble (if that), then just pop it into the oven.
Pulled Pork Enchiladas (Pork Carnitas)
There are so many ways to make enchiladas, but this is definitely my favourite, made with Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork). Shreds of moist pulled pork are mixed up with golden kernels of corn and black beans encased in a tortilla and topped with enchilada sauce and gooey melting cheese…..just describing it makes me go weak at the knees.
It goes without saying that I love cooking (and eating), and I do love taking my time in the kitchen, experimenting or making things that require patience. But on a day to day basis, I don’t just whip up a Duck Ragu with Homemade Pappardelle. 90% of my mid week dinners take me less than 15 minutes of prep (90% of which are on the table in 15 minutes!).
This is one of those dinners. 15 minutes of assembling, then throw it in the oven to do its thing. No chopping required. Just opening a couple of cans and crisping up the pulled pork to get the crunchy brown bits, the crowning glory of Pork Carnitas.
Roll up the tortillas, top with enchilada sauce and cheese, then bake until bubbly and golden on top. I like to leave the edges of the Pulled Pork Enchiladas without sauce which lets them brown nicely and go a little crisp which adds great texture. But I use enough sauce that you could cover all the enchiladas, if you wanted to.
In my books, Pork Carnitas are the ultimate “freezer stock” for seriously tasty fast food. You can make enchiladas (obviously), quesadillas, tacos, soups, salads and burritos, to name a few. I also make Mexican Sloppy Joes, Mexican Spring Rolls and Taco Soup – I’ll be sharing my recipe for these in the coming weeks.
Whenever I make Pork Carnitas, I use the largest pork I can fit into my slow cooker so I can make as much as possible, then I freeze them in small batches for convenience. I usually defrost it in the microwave (usually 1 minute per cup of pulled pork). Then I always pan fry, not to warm it through but to get the brown crunchy bits. It only takes a minute or two, and is a “must do” in my books – Pork Carnitas without the brown crunchy bits is like sausage rolls without tomato sauce, it just shouldn’t be done. You can read more about my ravings on the brown crunchy bits in the recipe I shared for Pork Carnitas.
Though I love Enchiladas the most when made with Pork Carnitas, I often make this with other meat, usually shredded chicken as I always seem to have this on hand. I’ve also made this with diced beef too. But because the Pork Carnitas are already flavoured with Mexican spices, if I use another meat I add a sprinkle of spices – instructions for this are included in the recipe below.
This Pulled Pork Enchiladas is a great recipe to add to your midweek meal rotation – it’s so fast and SO delicious! I hope you try it!– Nagi x
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Pulled Pork Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 2 cups (packed) Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork) or other shredded meat (see notes)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup tinned black beans or red kidney beans , drained
- 1 can (15oz / 400g) corn kernels , drained
- 2 cups shredded cheese (any good melting cheese)
- 8 tortillas
- 3 cups (750ml / 25oz) Enchilada Sauce (homemade or store bought)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over high heat. Add the pork carnitas and cook until the bottom is nicely browned - about 1 1/2 minutes. Do not turn, just make the bottom crispy (to keep the pulled pork as moist as possible), then remove the pulled pork into a bowl. It does not matter if the top isn't heated through, it will heat in the oven.
- Add the corn, black beans, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and 1/2 cup cheese into the bowl and mix to combine.
- Spread 1/2 cup of Enchilada Sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Place 1/2 packed cup of filling (from step 3) into a tortilla and roll up and place in the baking dish.
- Pour over the remaining Enchilada Sauce, and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and scatter the cheese on, then bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden.
- Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
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Hi Nagi. Michelle from the Shetland Islands in the North Sea here. My family and I love your pork carnitas recipe. Tonight I decided to try your Pulled Pork Enchiladas recipe and your homemade Enchilada Sauce. It was awesome! My whole family loved it. I added some of the left over juice from the Pork Carnitas recipe when I fried it up. It was lush!!!
I made your Enchilada sauce and pork Carnitas. Loved the simplicity of the recipes and it’s all very delicious. I hid the beans using refried beans because my husband doesn’t “like” beans. Also Squeezed lime into the Carnitas. Wonderful!
Hi Nagi! Kim from Perth here! Enchiladas in the oven now.. for the pork just a heads up if you ( or hubby) doesn’t like cumin you can swap out ground fennel seed and it fills the gap perfectly and is delicious! I do this with every Mexican, indian, middle eastern recipe that calls for cumin! . I didn’t have oranges all I had was golden circle orange and mango juice , it worked perfectly!. For the enchilada sauce, I had about about 1 litre of salsa and 1 litre of hot salsa frozen from giant ALDI special buys bottles and so I blended them with stick blender. I didn’t use it all on top I think it was too much. Just wanted to share my substitutions. Cook from your shelves people! ❤️
What kind of tortillas,… corn or flour?
Hi Fred, either will work fine here, I usually use flour. N x
I’ve used your enchilada sauce recipe several times, never going back to premade! It’s yummy and idiot proof!
Are you using corn or flour tortillas?
I’m using flour here but either will work Karla. N x
These were very good! Will make it again. Also made the enchilada sauce and it is the best. I will never buy it again.
This was excellent! I wasn’t sure what to do with the leftover pulled pork, but your recipe was perfect.This is the first time I’ve made enchilada sauce and I’ll be following your recipe from now on.
I only have refried beans and pinto beans , can I use one of those?
My family loved this. A few days late for Cinco de Mayo but so glad I tried the recipe. Pork carnitas was amazing.
YESSS!!! I love hearing this! N x
I added green chilis to this recipe for flavor. It was super good definitely will make this again!
Yum! N x
Excellent – the tip for crisping the meat made a big difference AND your homemade enchilada sauce was very good – I’ve never made it from scratch, but will never buy a can again.
Wahoooooo!!! That’s great to hear Laura! N x
I have made your Carnitas recipe numerous times and it is delicious. I have not tried the enchiladas yet. I just have a question about the black beans. I have never used black beans in any recipe, because my husband is very picky. Is there an alternative to the black beans that can be used? Or what exactly do the black beans taste like? Thank you delicious Carnitas recipe.
Hi Teresa, red kidney beans work great as a black bean substitute here! N x
The first time I made these with pulled pork and they were excellent. The last two times I’ve used leftover crockpot salsa chicken and that’s pretty darned good too. The only change I’ve made is to use the whole can of beans because small bowls of orphaned beans growing fuzz in the fridge makes me sad
Sounds great Mary! N x
This really is the best shredded meat enchilada recipe I have ever made. I used her spices in her note to spice up my meat, They added so much flavor, perfect. And it was great the next day too, so you could make ahead!
That’s great to hear Kathi!! N x
Super good! Out of necessity I had to change one thing. I did not have enough canned enchilada sauce (which I wanted to use up), so for the bottom of the pan, I sauteed a small diced onion with about a tsp of garlic and added maybe 1/2 tsp. or so of cumin and some garlic salt. Once onion was soft I added a can of drained diced tomatoes. I also added a small can of diced green chilies, and when I put the cheese on top, I mixed the cilantro in with the cheese prior to using it. We loved this and will make it again! I’d love to hear if you all use corn or flour tortillas. I used corn and they were pretty difficult to use.
Perfect Janice!!! N x
Do you recommend make these with flour or corn tortillas? Thanks!
This is SO delicious!!!!! I made the pulled pork and the homemade enchilada sauce from the linked recipes, and the combination of all three was ridiculously good. Very easy to make all three – just requires a little investment of time to cook the meat. We will be enjoying this recipe again and again.
Thanks so much EJ! N x
These were scrumptious. I added some chopped red pepper, onion and some of the refried bean sauce to the mix. Such a quick and super tasty dish. Thanks again Nagi.
Sounds great Sherry!
Do you use flour or corn tortillas for this recipe? I like corn, but the photo looks like the flour ones. If I use corn, would i need more since they are smaller?
Hi Lizabeth, you can use whatever you prefer! Flour are more readily available here but corn are just as good!
Loved this! The corn and black beans were a great addition to pork enchiladas. Hubs said it was delicious. I made the homemade enchiladas sauce as well. I did two small caseroles and going to freeze 1 to reheat next month.
That’s the best Andrea! I love having meals ready to go in the freezer – N x