For the BEST Carnitas Burrito, we’re stuffing them FULL of crispy pork, cilantro-lime rice, black beans, and all your favorite toppings. This easy family meal is infused with Mexican spices and ready in under 30 minutes! It’s hearty with all the best flavors making this a weeknight favorite.
Pork Carnitas Burritos- The EASY Way!
This is another easy and tasty Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas leftover recipe. The pork is tender, juicy, and has that signature crispiness when it’s pan-fried in a little oil. This is a step you don’t want to skip if you’re looking for the best stuffed pork burrito recipe.
It’s packed full of the most pleasing flavored cilantro lime rice and hearty black beans. Check out the full recipe for Cilantro lime rice for more details and tips for the best results.
Why I LOVE this recipe!
- Easy – If you have leftover carnitas this recipe just becomes that much easier. Make the rice, heat the pork, and build your burrito. That’s it.
- Quick – Because this recipe is so easy, it’s also quick. After the rice is ready, the remaining recipe takes minutes to make.
- Signature Carnitas texture – Carnitas are to be tender and juicy with crispy, caramelized ends that uplevel the taste through texture.
- Kid-Friendly – This hand held meal is fun for kids to eat with their hands. And you can switch up ingredients to their liking.
- Versatile – Switch up the toppings, rice, and even beans to make this a totally customizable meal.
- Aromatic – My favorite addition to this pork carnitas burrito recipe is the rice. It is infused with cilantro which is very aromatic, bright, and citrusy. Plus the freshly squeezed lime juice adds that extra punch of flavor.
- Scalable – This recipe for carnitas burritos make 4 large stuffed burritos. If that’s too much at the time, you can easily scale the recipe to fit your needs. Cut the recipe in half for two burritos that make for a quick and easy lunch.
What to Serve with Carnitas Burrito
Since this dish has classic Mexican flavors, it will pair well with many of your favorite Mexican style side dishes. There are both classic options and some healthy options to keep it light.
Side Dish Ideas
- Mexican Style Crock Pot Refried Beans
- Easy Mexican Rice
- Mexican Roasted Vegetables
- Mexican Street Corn Casserole
- Chips and salsa- Pick your favorite
You can choose one or add a few sides to make a wholesome, well rounded dinner.
Recipe Notes
This Carnitas Burrito recipe is as simple as promised! Just under 30 minutes for a family friendly meal.
In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.
Ingredients + Substitutions
What is in a Carnitas burrito? We fill these up with the best carnitas and some of our other favorite fillings.
- Carnitas– I always make these burritos with our family’s favorite slow cooker carnitas, but you can use pre-made carnitas, leftovers from a restaurant, or whatever you have on hand.
- Rice – This infused rice is made with jasmine rice, cilantro, and lime.
- Carnitas – Use leftover slow cooker pork carnitas to make this recipe quick and easy. You can also make the carnitas and serve them immediately in these stuffed burritos. Switch out the carnitas meat for chicken or beef for another burrito dish.
- Tortillas – I like to use large flour tortillas. If you use smaller shells, simply increase the number you need.
- Black beans – You can use homemade black beans, canned black beans or try my doctored canned black beans. They add protein and make this burrito even more hearty. Pinto beans and refried beans would also be tasty in these stuffed carnitas burritos.
Fillings
- Sour cream
- Pico de gallo
- Shredded cheese
- Shredded romaine
More burrito fillings
- Guacamole
- Corn salsa
- Queso
- Jalepeno ranch
- Jalepenos
Recipe Tips
- Crisp the Carnitas – For that signature texture of pork carnitas, do a quick fry with a little oil. Allow the pork to sit untouched for 3-5 minutes to carmalized all the seasonings and juices from the carnitas. Toss and cook another 2-3 minutes.
- Warm Tortilla – Heating the tortillas in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds makes it more pliable and easy to handle when rolling up your carnitas pork burrito. We load these with some hearty ingredients, so having the shell be pliable will give you the best rolled burrito. You could also warm the tortilla in a skillet for a few seconds on each side.
- Fill and Fold – There’s a few tricks on how to fill and fold a burrito. The first was to warm the flour tortilla.
- Lay the warm tortilla shell down and fill the center with the cilantro lime rice, black beans, crispy pork carnitas, shredded romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, and pico de gallo.
. - Fold in the sides towards the middle and then the bottom up towards the middle.
- Roll the burrito over and tuck in the shell while rolling completely. This keeps all your yummy fillings inside and makes it easy to hold.
- Lay the warm tortilla shell down and fill the center with the cilantro lime rice, black beans, crispy pork carnitas, shredded romaine lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream, and pico de gallo.
- Seal the burrito – This is optional, but once the burrito is rolled add it back to the heated skillet seal side down for about 15 seconds. This quick and simple step will seal the tortilla shell in the back for better handling. Cut in half and enjoy!
Recipe Short Cuts
If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this recipe even faster!
- Prep the toppings – On extra busy weeknights you can plan ahead and have your ingredients prepped and ready to go.
- Make salsa ahead of time – Just like prepping the ingredients, having the pico de gallo already made will allow this to come together easily. Plus, sitting over night will allow the flavors to meld together for great flavor.
Recipe Variations
If you love this recipe as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!
- Carnitas Burrito Bowl – Fill your bowl with the rice, beans, carnitas, lettuce, and other toppings for a quick and easy meal. Top with crunch tortilla strips!
- Wet Carnitas Burrito – Roll up your burritos with carnitas, rice, beans, and cheese. In a baking dish, pour about ½ a cup enchilada sauce and place the rolled burritos on top. Cover with the another ½ cup enchilada sauce and extra shredded cheese. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Carnitas Breakfast Burrito – Crisp up the carnitas and the scramble in 2 eggs to the meat. Add to a warm tortilla with pico de gallo, avocado, and sour cream. A super easy and delicious breakfast burrito.
More EASY Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!
You can check out all of my Easy Dinner recipes here, or see a few of our other leftover carnitas recipes below.
Carnitas Burrito
Ingredients
For the rice
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 lime
For the burrito
- 16 ounces carnitas
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 4 large flour tortillas, (burrito sized)
- 1 cup black beans, 1 can, drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup pico de gallo
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
Instructions
- Prepare rice per package directions. Once done, mix in juice from one lime and chopped cilantro. Set aside.
- While the rice is cooking, heat the oil over high heat in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, add the carnitas and cook for 3-5 minutes without stirring, then toss and cook 2-3 more minutes until carnitas are heated through.
- Wet a towel (or paper towel) to damp and wrap the tortillas. Microwave for 30-60 seconds or until they are soft and pliable.
- Lay each tortilla flat and layer on 1/4 of each ingredient on the tortilla- rice, beans, carnitas, sour cream, pico de gallo, cheese, and romaine lettuce.
- Once the toppings are in, fold over the two end edges and then roll the tortilla tightly and lay seam side down.
- Cut in half or wrap in foil and serve.
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