If you'll recall, I made pork carnitas a couple of months ago and used them to make yummy tacos and sliders. I had leftover pork that I put in the freezer and pulled it out to make this fantastic pork carnitas skillet frittata with purple potatoes, shallots, cheese, black beans and salsa verde. This is a really unique brunch offering or a weeknight breakfast-for-dinner treat!
You'll be a Star if You Make this Pork Carnitas Skillet Frittata for Brunch
Frittatas make for an excellent brunch offering, especially if you kick it up a notch and add some not-so-common ingredients. This is super easy to make and a no-fuss way to feed a small group at brunch. You can easily add a simple side salad to this frittata and you're done! Let's breakdown the process.
Pork Carnitas are delicious and versatile!
Once you make my Pork Carnitas, it's truly the gift that keeps on giving. For starters, you can make awesome sliders and tacos with these fork-tender chunks of pork. Second, this pork freezes well so you can pull it out and make more awesome recipes with it, like the pork carnitas skillet frittata I'm sharing now.
One thing I've been trying to focus on is not just sharing a great recipe, but also finding as many ways to enjoy the recipe as possible. I did this with my recent Romesco Sauce recipe and with Bobby Flay's Pickled Red Onions. It's great to know how to make yummy things, but even better if you have a bunch of ways you utilize these recipes - especially if it's sauces and toppings.
If you are making a batch of pork carnitas, you might not be cooking for a big family or a roomful of dinner guests. You might only be cooking for two or three people. This can totally work to your advantage, because you can freeze the cooked meat and re-use it for other things. For example, making an awesome frittata!
I really love having ready-to-go food in my freezer and was thrilled when I remembered I had this pork on hand. It was a great way to re-purpose cooked food and took very little time to throw together.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. Taking the time to make delicious food for our loved ones is a way we can connect at the end of our days. Gathering around a table, without our cell phones and tablets, and sharing a meal is an important part of the human experience.
Pork Carnitas Skillet Frittata
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 portions 1x
Description
Need an awesome Sunday brunch recipe? My pork carnitas skillet frittata should do the trick. Potatoes, cheese, beans and more. Lick-the-plate delicious!
Ingredients
For the potatoes:
- 1 ½ cups, sliced mini purple creamer potatoes (about 15 - see note#1 for substitute)
- ¾ cup of sliced shallots or regular onion (two small shallots or ½ of medium Vidalia)
- 1 teaspoon or so olive or neutral oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon of maple syrup (optional)
For the quiche filling:
- 8 eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
- ¼ cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese (see note#2)
- ¼ cup shredded jack cheese
- 1 ½ cups chopped pork carnitas (see note #3)
Toppings:
- 3-4 tablespoons of black beans
- 1 tablespoon Cotija cheese (or shaker parmesan - see note #4)
- 1 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro (or basil)
- ¼ cup salsa verde
NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE: A 9-10” cast iron skillet, or other oven safe pan the same size. You can also use a pie plate if that’s what you have on hand.
NOTE: Prep and cooking times do not include making the pork carnitas.
Instructions
- Plan your time and make sure to preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Hold the tiny purple potato on both sides as you slice into thin rounds. Do this for all the potatoes. After they are sliced is should total about 1 ½ cups. Set aside in a pan.
- If you’re using shallots, slice into rounds. I you’re using regular onion, slice into small thin strips or dice if you prefer.
- Turn heat on medium and add oil, salt and pepper to potato pan. Toss potatoes for a minute then cover and turn heat to low. Let them steam on low heat for about 7-10 minutes. Mine took about 7 minutes. Remove lid and test tenderness with a fork. Give potatoes a toss, then add the shallots and cook on medium heat a few more minutes until shallots are cooked through and potatoes are crisping a little.
- At the end, add the maple syrup, give the potatoes one final mix then set aside to cool a few minutes. If you need a snack at this point, take a small scoop of potatoes and eat them.
- Crack and beat your eggs in a large bowl or use your blender to mix. Add salt and heavy cream and beat again until combined. If using blender everything can go in blender at once. If beating by hand I found it’s better to beat eggs first, then add cream and salt.
- Shred the parmesan cheese and add the jack cheese to the pile. Toss together so the cheeses are blended.
- Lay all your pork carnitas on a cutting board and press them down with a fork. Then give a rough chop so the pieces are small and resemble pulled pork.
- Add a splash of oil to your skillet (or other oven safe pan or pie plate) and lightly coat the whole pan using a pastry brush or paper towel.
- Add potatoes and onion to bottom of skillet and lay potato slices out flat.
- Add cheese on top of potatoes and spread out.
- Add pork on top of cheese and spread out.
- Pour the egg into the skillet. Cook in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until frittata is cooked through. My oven runs hot so your might take a little longer.
- While the frittata is cooking you can chop your cilantro or basil, get your black beans drained and rinsed, and get your salsa verde and cotija cheese out.
- FINALY ASSEMBLY: Once the frittata is out of the oven and cooled for about 10 minutes you can spoon the black beans over the top, sprinkle some cotija (or shaker parmesan) and garnish with the cilantro or basil. I serve the salsa verde on the side.
Notes
- If you cannot find the purple creamer potatoes at your grocery store or want a more affordable alternative, you can use Yukon gold or Russet potato. Depending on the size of the potato you may need one or two potatoes. Slice the potato the same way I do in the video – into thin rounds a little less than ¼” in thickness. Cook with the same method, with the lid on until potatoes are tender, then turn potatoes and add onion. Remember: you only need enough potato slices to cover the bottom of your skillet or pie plate plus extra for your potato snack.
- You can really use any cheese you want. I like the slight sharpness of a fresh grated parmesan cheese with a melty cheese like jack. You could also use cheddar or a combo of cheddar and Swiss. I think those flavors would work well with this.
- The pork carnitas. It took about 11 “chunks” of the pork to make 1 ½ cups of chopped pork.
- I had cotija cheese in my freezer so I used as a topping. It is a saltier cheese so taste it first if you’re adding to top of frittata. You can also use some shaker parmesan or nothing at all.
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