This is how you make 5 AWESOME freezer friendly Mexican Meals for 4 people in 1 hour for $50. Includes free printable shopping list (by recipe and consolidated) and labels!
“You can feed 25 people with just one pork shoulder. It’s incredibly cost effective!”
In this post I want to share with you how you can make 5 freezer friendly meals for 4 people in 1 hour for just $50. All the meals are made using just one batch of Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork). Pork Carnitas are incredibly cost effective because a little bit goes a long way. A 2.5kg/5lb bone in pork shoulder (2kg/4lb without bone) will make about 10 cups of shredded pork which is plenty to make 5 to 6 meals for 4 people.
To put that into perspective, you can feed about 25 people with one pork shoulder. On average, each serving is about 80 – 100g (3oz) of pork which might not seem like much, but because the meat is shredded it seems like more.
My Pork Carnitas recipe is made using a slow cooker which uses a lot less energy than cooking slowly in the oven for 3+ hours, and it keeps the pork incredibly moist. Plus there’s also the added benefit that you can just “set and forget” it. It only takes 5 minutes to prepare so it’s a really easy recipe – no fail!
“Making these 5 meals together is time and cost efficient because there are so many common ingredients.”
I calculated the cost in Australian dollars based on current prices at my local supermarket. If you are in the US, it will probably be even better value as even taking into account foreign exchange, groceries in the US are noticeably better value than in Australia.
If you love Mexican food as much as I do, you’ll happily dine on these for 5 consecutive nights. Otherwise, each of these will keep in the freezer for 2 to 3 months so there is certainly no rush.
What We’re Making
To Use in the Recipes
1. Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas – this will take you 5 minutes to prepare to put in the slow cooker, then set and forget.
2. Homemade Enchilada Sauce – this recipe is a classic, simple recipe that takes 10 minutes to make. It makes around 3 1/2 cups which will be used for Mexican Pizza, Pulled Pork Sliders as well as the Mexican Enchilada Stack. You can buy Enchilada sauce if you prefer. It will cost more but will save you a bit of time.
The Meals
3. Mexican Pizza – topped with Pork Carnitas, corn, capsicum (bell peppers) and made using Lebanese flatbreads as the base which are cheaper, healthier and bake crispier than pizza bases.
4. Mexican Sliders – soft white rolls piled high with Pork Carnitas, Enchilada Sauce and caramelized onion. These are simply divine.
5. Taco Soup – all the flavours of a taco, in a bowl!
6. Quesadillas – crispy on the outside, and filled with Pork Carnitas, corn, capsicum and caramelised onions. And cheese of course!
7. Enchilada Stack – tastes just like an enchilada, but in lasagna form with tortillas used in place of the lasagna sheets.
What You Need
1. A copy of the recipes we are making (click on the links above). If you have RecipeTin app, you can just pop them in with just a tap – you can even create a Pork Carnitas collection if you want! Just open each recipe using the built in browser, put it in Print view then tap Save Recipe.
2. Ingredients for each recipe. I’ve put together a shopping list with each recipe listed PLUS a combined shopping list. Click here for a PDF Printable version or click here for an Excel version.
3. Print out the Labels. They include instructions for cooking so you don’t have to pull out the recipe again.
4. Follow the instructions below to prepare the meals. You can pop those into your RecipeTin app too!
Hope you find this useful! Just leave a comment if you have any questions and I’ll respond!
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Freezer Friendly Mexican Meals
Ingredients
- PDF version or Excel version of Shopping List (combined + individual recipes)
- Labels for food to be frozen.
Instructions
Night Before or In the Morning
- Cook the Pork Carnitas per the recipe instructions. It will only take you 5 minutes to prepare to put in the slow cooker.
- When the Pork Carnitas are ready, shred the pork and pour over the juices from the slow cooker. You can store the cooked pork in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Preparation
- Brown the Pork Carnitas: Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan. Add half the Pork Carnitas and press down lightly with a spatula to help them brown evenly. Once the underside is brown and crispy, remove from the pan and set aside (about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes). Do not flip - only one side should be crispy (see notes). Repeat with remaining Pork Carnitas.
- Make the Enchilada Sauce as per the recipe.
- Make the caramelised onion (for the Quesadillas and Pork Rolls) at the same time you are making the Enchilada Sauce (both are fairly low maintenance). Use the directions from one of those recipes and double it (the quantities and directions are the same).
- Dice the capsicum and set aside.
Assemble each of the meals as per the recipe instructions. Ensure you follow the instructions for making the recipes to freeze.
Recipe Notes:
If you want more ideas for recipes you can make using Pork Carnitas, have a look at my Pork Carnitas Collection!
Hello, Nagi. I made a couple of these recipes previously and they were delicious. I was wondering what size tortillas you use for the Mexican Lasagna Enchilada Stack. I assume it was either 6″ or 8″ but wasn’t sure which. Thanks for letting me know!
Hi Sarah, the larger size makes life so much easier!! N x
Nagi, although I haven’t started to cook these particular recipes, having a printable and organized list of ingredients makes planning that much easier. Love the way you organized the ingredient list for us!
P.S. — Your recipes, tips and videos are really helpful. It’s exciting to be able to cook foods from many different nations, and I’m doing it successfully thanks to you.
Hi, as someone who doesn’t eat pork would love to see a beef or chicken version!
Give this one a go Rachel – https://www.recipetineats.com/mexican-shredded-beef-and-tacos/
Yay! Back at work this week and made a pledge to make a huge meal Sunday to freeze. Made your beef enchiladas today and have 4 meals in the freezer (doubled the recipe). I’ll make this next week. Also made the apple crumble cos we are exhausted after a long weekend with 2 little kids & #reward. Yum!
Hi Nagi I love all your recipes. I am off overseas so leaving loads of meals for my son in freezer. I have cooked the pork carnitas meat separated the cooking sauce if I freeze these separately when reheating and cooking pork in frypan on one side do you add the cooking sauce heated afterwards or before. I’m confused sorry.
thanks
Sarah
Hi Sarah, when browning the pork, add the juices 🙂
Thank you for these awesome ideas! We had carnitas tacos with homemade salsa verde tonight (best carnitas ever thanks to your crisping step!), and now we have quesadillas, enchilada verde casserole, and meat for sliders stashed in the freezer. I froze the last 1.5 cups of meat and the remaining liquid from the carnitas to go in soup next week. I love having meals in the freezer. It feels like money in the bank!
How could I make these using chicken instead? We don’t eat pork much & have many Jewish friends who won’t eat it.
Absolutely delicious. My boys LOVE these Carnitas. So easy too. Give it a go. You won’t regret it.
What size labels are you using for the ziploc bags? Thanks.
Love the look of this recipe. Can I ask; when adding the cooked juices to the shredded pork before browning off in a frypan, do you sieve out the onion, chilli etc and just add the juice?
Hi Julie! Good question – I will update the recipe 🙂 No, I don’t find that it’s necessary to do that because the slow cooking makes it so soft it just blends in with the shredded meat. Love to hear what you think!!
Wow, what a line up! Your pictures are AMAZING! It’s tricky, but I think it’s the pizza for me (I can have the mexican sliders on the side, right?!)
But of course! Why stop at the sliders? Just have the whole spread – buffet style!
I have seen a lot of posts for freezer meal plans, but no post has ever moved me quite like yours. Every recipe looks soooooo tasty, I want to eat them all right now. Pinning, sharing, and most importantly, MAKING! Thank you so much!
Thanks so much Meggan! Glad you like the look of this! 🙂