Easy Carnitas Tostadas
by Marissa 22 Comments
I’m on a Carnitas tear I realize – this is the fourth post this week that includes it in some way. But you too could make slow cooker carnitas and serve it up for days just naming it different things. (Jim Gaffigan fan? You’re welcome (audio clip).) Today, it’s tostadas.
The trick to assembling a perfect tostada is to stack the crispy tortilla with just enough toppings so that you can lift it to your mouth and take a bite without everything toppling off.
I’m terrible at it.
I’m the same at a salad bar, building a mountain of lettuce, cucumbers, cauliflower, tomatoes, carrots, green peas, corn, mushrooms, pickled beets and croutons that no mere mortal could balance all the way back to the table without a rolling rogue tomato or two. So when you assemble these, try to be realistic. Or don’t.
When I decided to bake the corn tortillas instead of frying them, I wasn’t sure if they’d be crispy enough. They were. But you need to make sure that they’re crispy all the way to the center before removing them from the oven. Otherwise they’ll be chewy instead of having that lovely crunch.
If you happen to have leftover slow cooker carnitas in your refrigerator and a little tub of homemade refried beans (like we’ve had this week), you can whip these up in about 15 minutes for lunch or dinner, even breakfast – you could top them with an egg! (If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you already know that I want to top everything with an egg.)
- 4 small corn tortillas
- olive oil for brushing tortillas
- 1 cup refried beans (from a can or homemade)
- 2 tablespoons leftover cooking liquid from carnitas or stock
- 1 cup slow cooker carnitas
- shredded jack cheese
- avocado slices
- thinly shredded green cabbage
- cherry tomatoes halved
- sour cream
- cilantro leaves
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange tortillas in a single layer. Brush tortillas generously on both sides with olive oil.
- Bake tortillas until crisp, 10 to 12 minutes, flipping once halfway through cooking time.
- Meanwhile, heat refried beans in a small saucepan over low heat, adding water or stock if beans are dry.
- if carnitas has been refrigerated, warm it up by heating a skillet over medium heat. Add cold carnitas, olive oil and cooking liquid or stock; cook and stir until heated through.
- To assemble tostadas, spread each tostada with ¼ cup refried beans and top with ¼ cup carnitas. Layer with desired toppings and serve.
Comments
I wish I was having this for lunch instead of a protein bar…
Thanks, Shashi! I wish I could make them for you!
These carnitas look delicious! Wish I had some now…
Thanks, Norma!
oh these tostadas look fabulous!!! I am the same way at the salad bar! I don’t know why but I try to pile on as much as humanly possible. . I think it’s because I’m too lazy and don’t want to get up again 😛
I’m so glad I’m not alone! 😉 Some people seem to have so much restraint!
I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever succeeded at eating a tostada by hand without everything going EVERYWHERE. Forks are officially our tostada-eating default now.
These sound delicious! You have to love the richness of carnitas.
We need to switch to forks – no joke, the tostada pictured here ‘had a great fall’ when my husband took a bite. We got a good laugh out of it, but forks would certainly make for less mess.
I love this idea and what is better than dinner in 15 minutes! I think I’d have trouble spilling all that when I took the first bite but that’s what forks are made for, right?
Thanks, Maureen. And, you’re right, maybe next time I should try a fork! 😉
Hehe topping just enough is definitely a talent. I’m so bad at that and I often put too much on them! 😛
Oh gosh…that first photo got me! These look delicious! Nice recipe!