Leftover Carnitas Waffle Fry "Nachos"
with lettuce / cheese / sour cream
We use waffle fries instead of chips for a fun twist on nachos. With leftover carnitas from Monday, these "nachos" come together fast, feed a crowd, and are easy to customize with your favorite toppings. First featured in 2017, this recipe received great reviews from our Cook Smarts community.
Smarts: In testing we liked frozen waffle fries (Alexia makes a sweet potato waffle fry that was great here) as a base for their ability to hold up to toppings, but you could try these with tater tots or other frozen fries if you'd like to experiment! Tortilla chips will work too.
Ingredients
- Onions, medium - 1/2, diced
- Lettuce, romaine - 1 heart, chopped
- Tomatoes, medium - 1, diced
- Cilantro - 1/4 cup, chopped
- Waffle fries, frozen - 20 oz (use sweet potato waffle fries if you can find them; sub tortilla chips)
- Cheese, any pre-shredded blend - 6 oz
- Slow-cooker carnitas (leftover from Monday) - ~3 cups
- Lime juice - 2 tsp
- Sour cream - 1/3 cup (sub plain or Greek yogurt)
- Salsa, any type - 1/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
-
Onions - Dice onions. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
Unlock this meal along with hundreds of smart meal plans and never stress about "What's for dinner?" again
Try for freeLearn More
Make
-
Cook waffle fries according to package directions (if using tortilla chips heat oven to 350F / 177C degrees; spread chips out onto a sheet pan, top with toppings according to Step 3 below, and then bake for 5 to 10 minutes, until cheese has melted).
-
When fries are cooked, remove pan from oven and turn on oven's broiler (skip this step if using tortilla chips).
-
Top fries (or chips) with cheese, onions, and then leftover carnitas. Place under the broiler and broil until cheese is melted and carnitas are warmed through, 3 to 4 minutes (watch the nachos closely so they don't burn).
-
Finish nachos with a squeeze of lime juice and cilantro. Serve with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa at the table so that everyone can customize. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
I surprisingly loved this. I also added a few extra embellishments including avocado. I used jackfruit instead of carnitas and probably should have browned them before putting them under the broiler. Used sweet potato waffle fries that were a tasty crispy alternative to the chips.
1 Helpful22 reviews
Kid friendly and approved. We've made this a few times now. Not gonna lie - they are the bombbbbb
0 HelpfulDidn't bother with the soyrizo, but used some sazon and other spices for the beans and lentils. Very yummy!
0 HelpfulGood, but needed more waffle fries! I think the recipe (4 serving) calls for a standard size bag, so adding more waffle fries would use part of a bag, and that would be sort of annoying. Probably why it is how it is.
0 HelpfulSurprisingly good. Actually liked this meal better than the bowl. Used Alexa sweet potato fries, and everyone thought all the flavors worked well together.
0 HelpfulStore was out of waffle fries so we used tots instead. Left off the lentils since beans and soyrizo felt like it would be filling enough and it was. Really yummy!
0 HelpfulI've never thought to put taco-type ingredients on top of sweet potato waffle fries. These were very tasty!! My family gobbled it up. Great use of leftover pork.
0 Helpful