Our amazingly generous “Enchiladas” #FoodieExtravaganza sponsor, Melissa’s Produce, recently gifted me with a super-crazy-oh-my-gosh insanely large box of dried chile peppers to help inspire a unique and flavorful enchilada recipe. All thoughts, ideas, recipes, pictures, and general silliness contained within this post are solely my own and not necessarily that of our sponsor.
Dried ancho chile peppers and fresh lime juice make these flavorful pork enchiladas truly something special without burning off all of your taste buds. These cheddar cheese-covered enchiladas are sweet, tart, smoky, and packed with flavor. They’re perfect for people who aren’t crazy about spice but still want to enjoy some delicious Mexican food.
At some point, even I have to admit that I’m a little bit crazy. After signing up for this month’s Foodie Extravaganza “Enchiladas” event, I realized that not only did I not have any idea how to even make an enchilada but that I’d never actually eaten one either. A normal person would have googled the hell out of “enchiladas” before even moving forward, but as y’all have most likely learned by now, I am anything but normal. Instead of searching online to discover what actually makes an enchilada an enchilada, I decided to wing it and create my own unique version.
So, is my smokey lime-flavored version of an enchilada a true enchilada? I really don’t know. You’ll have to tell me because I’ve got absolutely nothing to compare my recipe against. However, if I were to go to a Mexican restaurant and the waiter or waitress were to serve me up a big ol’ plate of these shredded pork and sweet potato enchiladas, I’d have absolutely no problem gobbling them up. I’d venture to say that it would probably even become my new favorite restaurant as well. Honestly y’all, after eating these cheese-covered beauties I’m not sure I even want to brave eating a traditional enchilada. I have a crazy feeling that I would be seriously let down.
Ingredients:
Pork:
- Water
- 3 Dried Ancho Chiles
- Juice of 10 Limes
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Sea Salt
- 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, Peeled & Thinly Sliced
- 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 (4 to 6 lb) Pork Shoulder Roast
- 1 (14.5-oz.) Can Petite Diced Tomatoes
Sauce:
- 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Sea Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
Enchiladas:
- Water
- 1 Sweet Potato, Peeled & Finely Diced
- 5 Cups Shredded Pork
- 2 Cups Enchilada Sauce (Divided)
- 6 Soft Flour Tortillas
- 1 (8-oz.) Brick Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
- Sour Cream
- Lime Juice
Directions:
Pork:
- Fill a small pot with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cut the ancho chiles in half and then remove the stem and seeds. Place the chiles in the boiling water and turn off the heat. Allow the chiles to soak in the water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the chiles and place them in a food processor with the lime juice, honey, and salt. Purée until smooth; set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork and brown on all sides.
- Arrange the sliced onion in the bottom of a crockpot, place the browned pork on top of the onion slices, pour the ancho chili sauce over the pork, and then pour the diced tomatoes over everything.
- Cook for 8 to 10 hours on low heat.
- Remove the pork from the crockpot and place it on a large plate or platter. Cover with foil and allow to sit for 1 hour. Shred the pork with a fork or your hands, removing all of the bones and excess fat.
- Place the shredded pork in one bowl and the remaining sauce in another. Tightly cover and refrigerate overnight.
Sauce:
- Carefully spoon the fat off of the top of the sauce and discard.
- Place the remaining sauce along with onion slices and tomato into a food processor along with the remaining sauce ingredients. Purée until smooth.
- Place the sauce in a pot over high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook for 5 additional minutes, stirring occasionally.
Enchiladas:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the finely diced sweet potatoes in a pot of water over high heat, bring to a boil, and then cook until slightly tender. Drain well.
- Combine the diced sweet potatoes and shredded pork with 1 cup of the enchilada sauce.
- Divide the shredded pork mixture among the flour tortillas. Fold in the sides of the tortillas and then roll to seal.
- Place the enchiladas sealed side down in a baking dish.
- Top with an additional 1 cup of enchilada sauce.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil, top with shredded cheese, and then bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is melted.
- Thin some sour cream out with a little bit of lime juice and drizzle over the enchiladas before serving.
Suggestions:
- Even though ancho chile peppers are not really hot, you may still want to wear gloves when taking the seeds out of them as a precaution.
- There are a lot of steps to this recipe but none of them are hard or take too much time. Browning the pork ahead of time helps to add flavor and boiling the sweet potatoes helps them to soften up nicely. Please don’t skip these steps.
- The length of time you cook your pork in the crockpot will depend on the size of the meat you use. You want to cook the pork until it is fork-tender and easy to shred.
- Refrigerating the sauce overnight makes it easier to remove the excess oil from the sauce. If you want to make the enchiladas the same day, try using a gravy separator to remove the excess oil from the sauce before puréeing and boiling it down.
- I suggest using large flour tortillas for this recipe. I used medium-sized ones and found them a little hard to roll up without the filling falling out everywhere.
- You can find dried ancho chile peppers at your local market or online at Melissa’s Produce.
Improvements:
- Serve topped with finely chopped fresh cilantro.
- You will most likely have some pork and sauce left over. Stir the leftover sauce into the leftover pork and then use it to make tacos.
- If you prefer your enchiladas to be spicy, try using different chile peppers to get the desired result. Melissa’s Produce has a great selection of dried peppers to suit everyone’s taste buds.
- Serve with diced avocado or this Roasted Corn Salad with Chile Vinaigrette.
Ingredients:
- Water
- 3 Dried Ancho Chiles
- Juice of 10 Limes
- 2 Tablespoons Honey
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Sea Salt
- 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, Peeled & Thinly Sliced
- 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 (4 to 6 lb) Pork Shoulder Roast
- 1 (14.5-oz.) Can Petite Diced Tomatoes
- 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Sea Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Finely Ground Black Pepper
- Water
- 1 Sweet Potato, Peeled & Finely Diced
- 5 Cups Shredded Pork
- 2 Cups Enchilada Sauce (Divided)
- 6 Soft Flour Tortillas
- 1 (8-oz.) Brick Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
- Sour Cream
- Lime Juice
Directions:
- Fill a small pot with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cut the ancho chiles in half and then remove the stem and seeds. Place the chiles in the boiling water and turn off the heat. Allow the chiles to soak in the water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the chiles and place them in a food processor with the lime juice, honey, and salt. Purée until smooth; set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork and brown on all sides.
- Arrange the sliced onion in the bottom of a crockpot, place the browned pork on top of the onion slices, pour the ancho chili sauce over the pork, and then pour the diced tomatoes over everything.
- Cook for 8 to 10 hours on low heat.
- Remove the pork from the crockpot and place it on a large plate or platter. Cover with foil and allow to sit for 1 hour. Shred the pork with a fork or your hands, removing all of the bones and excess fat.
- Place the shredded pork in one bowl and the remaining sauce in another. Tightly cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Carefully spoon the fat off of the top of the sauce and discard.
- Place the remaining sauce along with onion slices and tomato into a food processor along with the remaining sauce ingredients. Purée until smooth.
- Place the sauce in a pot over high heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook for 5 additional minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the finely diced sweet potatoes in a pot of water over high heat, bring to a boil, and then cook until slightly tender. Drain well.
- Combine the diced sweet potatoes and shredded pork with 1 cup of the enchilada sauce.
- Divide the shredded pork mixture among the flour tortillas. Fold in the sides of the tortillas and then roll to seal.
- Place the enchiladas sealed side down in a baking dish.
- Top with an additional 1 cup of enchilada sauce.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil, top with shredded cheese, and then bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes uncovered, or until the cheese is melted.
- Thin some sour cream out with a little bit of lime juice and drizzle over the enchiladas before serving.
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