Nick and I recently returned from 2+ weeks in Italy and while I cannot say enough good things about the food and culture there, I am ready to get back to my usual routine. I am equally sad it’s over and excited to be eating home-cooked meals with a variety of different flavors. It also means, EASY meals. With work emails, piles of laundry, and adjusting back to time zones, this week is filled with the easiest of recipes. So here we are with a post I’ve held off for awhile… it’s a secret weapon of mine. I love to cook food that feels fancy or restaurant-made but is secretly super easy.

Carnitas is one of those foods but lucky for us, Trader Joe’s has an incredible carnitas meat that takes out the hours of slow cooking pork and takes us straight to the flavoring, crisping, and eating!

This recipe turns the fatty pork pieces into crispy, crunchy edges and turns the juicy pieces into flavorful filling for tacos, burritos, breakfast hash, salads, nachos, and everything in between. I will be using the leftovers for salads and breakfasts all week this week!

Want to see an example? Try Crispy Carnitas Tostadas. All I did here was use leftover Crispy Carnitas meat, layered it on top of a baked corn tortilla with shredded cheese, beans, shredded romaine, and pico. If you want to try recreating these, simply bake corn tortillas with a bit of olive oil at 350F for 5 minutes, carefully layer the cheese, beans and meat on top, bake for another 5 minutes, then add the fresh ingredients and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Trader Joe’s carnitas meat

1 medium yellow onion

1 jalapeno

1 tbsp. worcester sauce

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. paprika

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp. olive oil/avocado oil

red chili pepper flakes

salt & pepper

Serving Size: 4

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place carnitas meat in a microwave safe bowl with a lid.
• Microwave for 8 minutes.
• Meanwhile, dice the onion.
• Carefully take the carnitas meat out with a kitchen towel or oven mitt.
• Using a fork and sharp knife, shred the meat in the bowl.
• Heat olive oil in large skillet.
• Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until translucent.
• Add the shredded carnitas meat into the hot skillet.
• Cook and crisp the meat and onion together for 3-4 minutes.
• Then add the worcester sauce, red wine vinegar, garlic, paprika, salt & pepper.
• Crisp the meat, tossing every few minutes for approximately another 5-6 minutes.
• Top with red chili pepper flakes. Enjoy!