Pork Salsa Verde Enchiladas Suizas are a perfect use of leftover pulled pork or carnitas.
I love to make these Enchiladas Suizas with pork left over from my Pork Salsa Verde or Slow-Cooker Mojo Carnitas. It's also great with leftover turkey or chicken—especially those awesome rotisserie chickens from the grocery. When you don't have time to roll individual enchiladas, a wonderful alternative is to use extra-thick tortilla chips and make chilaquiles instead. The chips hold up well to the sauce and stay deliciously "toothy."
About the crema in Enchiladas Suizas...
The inspiration for this recipe (Rick Bayless' Mexico: One Plate at a Time) calls for a homemade Mexican crema. You make it with heavy whipping cream and either sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt. Although I won't recount it completely here, you let this concoction sit out at room temperature for 24 hours. This gives the bacterial cultures in the sour cream/buttermilk/yogurt sufficient time to thicken the heavy whipping cream, while at the same time developing some really fantastic flavor.
Sounds gross, doesn't it? It's safe, don't worry. If you have the time to do this, I highly recommend it. The finished crema has a texture and flavor that really can't be replicated with sour cream. Being Flipped-Out Food, however...to save time, I usually now opt for the Mexican crema I find in my grocery (which, in all fairness, has a good deal more ethnic items than I feel is probably the case elsewhere). A Mexican grocery, if there's one in your area, will certainly carry crema. If all else fails, just use sour cream. Your Enchiladas Suizas will still be fantastic.
Assembling your Enchiladas Suizas...
I am not going to lie: toasting the tortillas, dipping them in sauce, adding the meat, and rolling each enchilada one by one is a production. That's why these days, I either layer the tortillas as you'd do for a lasagna OR go the chilaquiles route, in which you coat extra-thick Mexican tortilla chips with your salsa, mix in your pork, and cover the whole thing with salsa, crema, and cheese before baking.
Whatever form of Enchiladas Suizas you choose to make, one thing I've learned from our three kids about this dish is that picky eaters do not appreciate tortillas or chips that are not coated with sauce, that get crispy and browned ("burned") in the oven. For this reason, I make sure that no naked spots are left in the assembled casserole.
When the Enchiladas Suizas are baked, sprinkle them with cilantro (unless you're a hater) and serve. I have been assured that the leftovers are great, despite cookbook warnings that the tortillas get soggy.
I hope that these Enchiladas Suizas will have your family saying "Olé!" Enjoy!
P.S. For more leftovers recipes, check out Using up Leftovers!
Pork Salsa Verde Enchiladas Suizas
An easy recipe for Enchiladas Suizas using pork and salsa verde.
Ingredients
- ~2 cups leftover Pork Salsa Verde or cooked chicken
- 2 cups Salsa Verde
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 56 oz. canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 large Vidalia onions, (one sliced into thin rings, the other chopped)
- 2 cups Mexican quesadilla cheese, divided
- 12-13 corn tortillas, (or see chilaquiles riff below)
- Chopped cilantro for serving
FOR CHILAQUILES RIFF
- 1 13 oz. bag of thick MEXICAN tortilla chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion; sauté until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Add your salsa, tomatoes, and broth; bring to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat. Put about ¼ of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Mix about ¼ of the sauce with your pork. Add ½ of the cheese and ½ of the crema to the remaining sauce.
- Soften your corn tortillas by brushing lightly with oil and baking 2-3 minutes on a rack in the oven. To assemble the enchiladas, dip both sides of the tortilla into the sauce in the baking dish. Add a portion of Green Chile pork (~2 tbsp, depending on the size of the tortillas), roll up, and place seam-side-down into your baking dish. Repeat until you fill the dish. Cover the enchiladas evenly with the remaining sauce. Cover with remaining cheese and onion rings. Bake until bubbling and golden, 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve immediately.
Notes
For Chilaquiles: Add your chips to an ungreased, 9x13" baking dish. Pour the salsa mixture over the chips, turning them as necessary to make sure they're all coated in sauce. Mix the pork with the remaining salsa and add to the chips, mixing to distribute the meat evenly. Drizzle with remaining crema and cover with remaining cheese and onion rings. Bake until bubbling and golden, 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve immediately.
Casserole-style: You can also make the enchiladas casserole-style by laying the softened, salsa-dipped tortillas flat across the bottom, adding your meat mixture, and topping with another layer of tortillas. Cover with the remaining sauce, cheese, and onion rings, and then pop into the oven. Bake and serve as directed above.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
RELATED:
Pork Salsa VerdePork Salsa Verde is an incredibly easy slow-cooker meal, with tender, juicy Mexican cuisine-inspired pork that yields enough for some fantastic leftovers.
Making green salsa: washing the peppers, giving them a char in the grill pan, and prepping them for the food processor. (My cookie baking operation is photo bombing in the lower right.)
Easy recipe for fresh salsa verde with poblanos, tomatillos, & onions. This salsa verde is great in my easy Green Chile Pork and Enchiladas Suizas recipes. Salsa verde meal plan included!
I would do anything to have these at my house right now! Even go to the grocery store and get the ingredients to make this!
Thanks, L & H!! It's totally worth it!
What a delicious dinner idea for a family dinner.
Thanks, Sandi.
These sound delicious and need to try my hand at making them now.
Thanks Prasanna!
My kids would go crazy for this and I"ll bet the leftovers are delicious too. Add a margarita and I am all set!
Thanks Karen! I second your vote for a margarita: the only required side dish!
I've never had enchiladas with pork before, I bet it's amazing! This is absolutely perfect for Cinco de Mayo!
Thanks Denisse! The pork used here is made with a slow-cook in salsa verde, so it's extra flavorful!
These look delicious! I love anything chicken and sour cream, though. 😉 And of course using leftovers for a dish is a plus!
Thanks, Raia! Great minds think alike!
I love enchiladas! Mexican food is probably one of my favorite types of cuisines to make! This looks awesome!
Thanks, Liz! You and me both!
Wow this looks delicious. I think plenty of sauce is a great idea. This would disappear quickly in my house any day of the week. And I love enchiladas with pork. Makes the flavor so authentic. Yum.
Thanks for stopping by, Ali! I hope you love it!
I've never made enchilladas before, but I absolutely love them! This sounds sooo delicious and very do-able!
Once I started making them at home, I never ordered them out again! Thanks, Tina!
Enchiladas Suizas is one of my favorites to order at a restaurant. I'm looking forward to making some at home - this sounds so good right now!
Thanks, Mackenzie! This is one dish I never order out anymore because the homemade version is so much better!