Carnitas Enchiladas (Paleo & AIP)

I’m on a mission……. a mission to make ALL the Mexican food I’ve been missing. Now that I’ve nailed the taco thing, it was time to move on to my second favorite- enchiladas! One of the things I love about Mexican food is that you can make a giant batch of some delicious meat, and make at least 3 completely separate meals from it throughout the week without feeling like you are being monotonous. I basically survive off of my instant pot carnitas, and this week I made tacos, a salad, and enchiladas all using the meat I prepped on Sunday.

This recipe is a meal prepper’s dream, as it uses a number of things we usually already have made up- nomato sauce, sautéed squash and a delicious shredded meat. If you don’t have these living in your fridge or freezer already and are on AIP, do yourself a favor and start! They are not hard to make in bulk and work in so many recipes! When I made tacos earlier in the week I just tripled the batch and saved the rest in the fridge to use for this recipe. If you don’t have time you can use compliant store bought tortillas, nomato sauce and just use shredded chicken or ground beef in this. I’m sure it would be delicious!

Servings: 8
Total Time: 1 hour
Hands on Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

enchilada sauce:
2T avocado oil (divided)
2 C nomato sauce (recipe I used)
3t horseradish
1 white onion, chopped
1 T garlic powder
2t oregano
1 C chicken broth
1t salt

casserole:
2-3 C Instant Pot Carnitas meat
12 cassava tortillas (I like this recipe, or you can use the compliant Siete ones)
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 small yellow squash, chopped
1 C pureed instant pot liquid saved from making carnitas (if you have it)
1 C daiya cheddar cheese (AIP reintro)
sliced black olives
avocado slices or guacamole
2 radishes, sliced
lime wedges
green onion
chopped cilantro
1 C plain coconut yogurt (no added sugar)
2t apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Enchilada Sauce:

• Heat 1 T avocado oil in medium heat to a medium saucepan, add onion and cook until translucent.
• Add the rest of the ingredients (minus horseradish) and simmer for 15 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
• Stir in the horseradish until there is enough spice to your liking. 3t is mild, so add more if you like a bit of a punch!
• Let cool slightly and use an immersion blender or food processor until smooth. If the sauce isn’t the consistency you like, stir in a bit of water until it gets there.

Casserole:

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Saute squashes in remaining avocado oil.
• pour 1/4 of the enchilada sauce into a 9×13 casserole dish, evenly covering the bottom.
• Layer 4 tortillas (ripped in half if needed to fit depending on size).
• Layer 1-1.5 C carnitas evenly over the tortillas.
• Layer half the sautéed squash evenly over the carnitas.
• Layer on a few spoonfuls of the carnitas liquid if you have it. Then enchilada sauce.
• Repeat process for one more layer, then create a third layer of just tortillas topped with sauce.
• Sprinkle top with Daiya cheese (AIP reintro) and olives.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the sauce starts to bubble.
• Let cool slightly and serve with radishes, guacamole, green onion, cilantro and dairy free sour cream.
  
  

Dairy Free Sour Cream:

Mix apple cider vinegar with coconut yogurt and you are done. It’s that easy!