Turkey Carnitas

There’s no better way to use up leftover Thanksgiving Turkey than Turkey Carnitas.  They’re perfect for Taco Tuesday, game day and a BIG crowd pleaser!

You guys, my head is spinning in 100 directions.  Does that ever happen to you? I feel as though I have a very long to do list and I’m getting nothing accomplished.  I’m a list person.  I write lists just to cross items off said list.  It’s therapy.  Unless it’s a week like this week and I’ve crossed nothing off my list.

I am headed out-of-town tomorrow to attend America’s Baking and Sweets show with my sister.  I’m SUPER excited as we’ll be attending a COOKIE class host by ally McKenney of Sally’s Baking Addiction.  Yes, that Sally.  Are you jealous?  Well you should be because she is demoing a brand new cookie recipe and I’ll be in attendance.  I’m pumped!  I’m also super excited as this is the first year I will be attending this show and I’m looking forward to all things baking right before the holidays.

THE HOLIDAYS?!  Seriously how is Thanksgiving only 2 weeks away?  I’ve got a slew of recipes to show you and I haven’t even started yet.  Well until now.  I present to you Turkey Carnitas which are perfect for all that leftover turkey you’ll be having in 2 weeks.

So, I’m holding myself to a new standard.  To share a recipe with you every day (minus the weekends) until Thanksgiving.  I’ve got sides, desserts and leftovers so there is no time to spare.  But first up these delicious Turkey Carnitas.

I cooked up that baby this past weekend, complete with a fabulous presentation and used the meat for all things leftovers.  I’m got 2 more leftover dishes to show you after these Turkey Carnitas, which are amazing by the way.  Turkey cooked in a Mexican broth and stuffed inside a taco tortilla boat, I mean come on.  What game day lover isn’t going to love that?!

Also, these really couldn’t be easier and it’s a great way to eat the leftover turkey AND you could even do it on #tacotuesday.  As for us we served these on GAME DAY!  The Saturday after Thanksgiving is a big day around here for us.  We invite a bunch of friends over, watch the football games and EAT.   And Lucky for me, I always host the big day, so  I always have a lot of leftover turkey meat.

We love Mexican food in this house but we hate leftovers.  Therefore, I combined our love of Old El Paso products, sports, Mexican food and used the leftovers.  Why do I have turkey leftovers before Thanksgiving?  Well because I’m a food blogger and a turkey literally landed on my doorstep last Friday at 7a.m.  Thank you, UPS, the bird has landed.

Therefore, I got to work on trying our some recipes on all of our friends when they were over the other weekend for game day.  we always like to serve a big spread and I like to make a main dish that is really going to feed a crowd.  These turkey carnitas fit the bill.  What’s nice about them to, is everyone can personalize their own boat with various toppings from the toppings bar.

I started by simmering the turkey in a broth of chicken stock, onion,  garlic, jalapenos, an orange peel,  cinnamon stick and a bay leaf.  When those flavors hung out together and most of the liquid was absorbed, I heat a skillet and added some canola oil.  I placed the turkey meat into the skillet to fry it up a little bit and added some cumin, ancho chili powder and some coriander.  Let that get all married together and boom, the turkey meat was finished.

I then added 2 tablespoons of the leftover broth from cooking the turkey into a bowl of the Old El Paso fat-free refried beans to get them a little more loose.  I spread the bean mixture onto the bottom of whole wheat tortilla taco boats, added some turkey meat and then went to town on the toppings.  I love a good carnita with lots of toppings.  I added some corn, cilantro, queso fresco and some spicy radishes.

These turkey carnitas are AMAZING and I will be the first to admit, I’m not a fan of leftovers, especially thanksgiving leftovers.  But, with a little bit of help from Old El Paso, you can turn leftovers into something delicious that the whole family and fans will love.

Print

Turkey Carnitas

Prep 5 mins

Total 5 mins

Author Strawberry Blondie Kitchen

Yield 8

There's no better way to use up leftover Thanksgiving Turkey than Turkey Carnitas. They're perfect for Taco Tuesday, game day and a BIG crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups cooked turkey meat
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 2 strips of orange peel
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 package Old El Paso Taco Boats Whole Wheat Tortillas
• 16 Old El Paso Fat Free Refried Beans
• 1 package Old El Paso Stand 'N Stuff™
• Toppings of your choice; Queso fresco, lime wedges, charred corn, cilantro, radishes, sour cream

Instructions

1. In a small pot, over medium high heat, add turkey, chicken stock, onion, garlic, jalapeno, cinnamon stick, orange peel and bay leaf and bring to a boil
2. Cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed reserving about 2 tablespoons.
3. In a medium skillet, heat the oil until hot. Using a sloated spoon remove the turkey from the both and add to skillet.Add chile powder, cumin and coriander and still to combine.
4. Cook until the turkey is browned and crispy on all sides. Set aside.
5. On the bottom of each Old El Paso Taco Boats Whole Wheat Tortillas, place 1 tablespoon of refried beans. Spread to cover the entire bottom.
6. Top with some turkey carnita meat.
7. Add additional toppings of your choice

Courses Main

If my son had it his way, he would eat tacos every night of the week.  Although for him, he prefers hard shells, so I heated through some Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff™ (why didn’t I think of those) and he was a happy camper along with a few of our friends whom I didn’t know preferred hard shells as well.  so be sure to think of your hard shell loving friends and grab a box of those too!

So make sure you head out to Walmart and grab some Old El Paso products and turn your Thanksgiving leftovers into Turkey Carnitas.  I’m giving you guys double duty here.  You don’t even have to tell the family and tailgaters you used the Thanksgiving bird.  It’ll just be our little secret.

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