Pork Chalupas (a.k.a - Burritos)

Fair warning. These are not authentic "chalupas". As a matter of fact, they don't really resemble Mexican chalupas at all but rather burritos or chimichangas. This recipe is a modification of something my mother-in-law often made for Erin (my wife) when she was growing up. They called them chalupas in their house, so when I made them some of the ingredients and flavors changed, but the name did not. 

Essentially, this recipe makes an incredibly flavorful Mexican pork filling that could be used in any variety of ways. Burritos, nachos, tacos, etc. Oh, and it makes a lot. I mean like 8 Chipotle size burritos worth! In this particular post, it gets stuffed into a large tortilla with pepper jack cheese, rolled, toasted and topped with melted cheese. I hope you enjoy them. 

Ingredients  

1 package of burrito size tortillas (8-10 & I use flour)

1 pork shoulder or Boston butt (6-8 lbs)

1 packet Taco seasoning (Roughly 3 Tbsp if you have the big tub like me)
1 diced onion
1 14 oz can black beans (rinsed & drained)
1 14 oz can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles - drained)
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
8 oz block of pepper jack cheese (shredded)
8 of block of colby jack cheese (shredded)

Click here for a PRINTABLE RECIPE.

A few notes on the ingredients. A Pork Shoulder is often times labled as a "Boston Butt" or "Shoulder Butt". More than likely, it will also be "bone-in". Meaning the shoulder blade will be inside the meat. No problem. You will easily be able to pull it out during the pulling process after it has cooked. You can buy whatever size you'd like, but I'd say 6 lbs of uncooked meat = roughly 8 chalupas. DO NOT attempt to remove any of the fat cap before cooking! Much of it will render down in to the pork and make it ridiculously tasty.

Also, I highly recommend buying your cheese in blocks and shredding it yourself. When cheese is produced, it gets sprayed with a thin film of wax as a preservative. Store bought shredded cheese doesn't melt nearly as easily or smoothly because each shred is covered in wax. A full block however, only has a coating on the outside. If you shred it yourself, it will melt much more evenly and results in that stringy, stretchy cheesy goodness we all love. Trust me. A little more work will go a long way.

If you would like to make your own Taco seasoning because you are concerned about MSG or too much sodium, check out this recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning. 

Put the diced onion in the bottom of the crockpot. This will lift the pork off the bottom of the pot and keep it from sticking. Add the pork butt fat cap up. Top with the taco seasoning, black beans, Rotel and diced green chiles. 

Grab a spoon and mix the topping until everything is evenly distributed. Push some of the filling down around the pork so that the whole shoulder is covered. Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or until the pork easily shreds with a fork.

Using two serving forks, pull and shred the pork. You will need to remove the shoulder blade (it should come out clean and easy). There is going to be a good amount of extra liquid that doesn't get reabsorbed by the pork after shredding. You can either pour it off now or wait until after you are done making the chalupas. If you wait, make sure you don't put too much liquid into your chalupas when you assemble them. I pour it off now. Careful, the crockpot is very hot and heavy.

After you drain the pork, check to make sure all of the goodies (onions, beans, chiles & tomatoes) are evenly distributed throughout the pork mixture. 

Find a large & clean space on your counter. I like to use a large cutting board to assemble the chalupas on. A sizable plate would work just as well. You should have the tortillas, pork, shredded pepper jack cheese and a greased 9 x 13 pan. You will also need to extra plate/pan because the 9 x 13 will only hold 6 chalupas. At this point, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Add roughly 1 cup of pork to the tortilla and shape it into a long rectangle (see picture above) and add a 1/4 cup of the pepper jack cheese. Roll and add seam side down into the 9 x 13 pan. Repeat for all burritos. You may have some extra meat that doesn't fit into 8 tortillas. I'm sure you'll figure out what to do with it.

Hopefully they look something like this.

Put the chalupas in the oven at 450 degrees for 15ish minutes. The goal is to toast and crisp them up. Keep an eye on them because golden and toasted can go to black and crispy in a hurry.

Top with the colby jack cheese and return to the oven for 5 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Top with your favorite Mexican garnishes (salsa, sour cream, etc.) and enjoy!