With a buttery, crispy flour tortilla wrapped around melty Pepper Jack cheese and incredible pork carnitas along with a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, this Carnitas Quesadilla is the best lunch I’ve had all week. If you’re making carnitas, add this one to your meal plan. You can thank me later.

Friends, this recipe for carnitas quesadillas is exactly what happens at my house in the days after I make a batch of my slow cooker pork carnitas or pork carnitas in the oven. Leftover carnitas are absolutely perfect for adding to salads, rice bowls, and more.

But, this quesadilla that makes me actively happy about those leftovers. As in, I wake up grinning thinking about lunch. Don’t judge me for that, okay?

Crisp buttery edges. A gooey tangle of cheese and shredded pork in the middle. A little cilantro, because it needs that fresh green pop. That’s the whole thing. And, since the meat freezes like a dream, once you start making carnitas, you’ll always have it on hand.

Carnitas Quesadilla

There are only a handful of foods I could genuinely eat every single week, and carnitas are darn near the top of that list. A batch usually goes pretty fast around here, but whenever there’s a cup or two lingering in my fridge and I’m feeling like treating myself, rest assured that I’m going to use it in this carnitas quesadilla recipe.

And, while I love cheesy quesadillas, I do not actually like my quesadillas overloaded with cheese. I know, I know. Hot take. But, it just makes me feel so lethargic. So, I err on the side of using just enough cheese to hold everything in place. But, if YOU want to add more? I’m on board. Follow your heart.

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Monterey jack cheese, Black Forest ham and spicy green chile are rolled up in boneless, skinless chicken breasts and baked to tender, flavorful perfection in this fun new (and easy!) twist on cordon bleu. This is what chicken cordon bleu would be like after a tour of the American Southwest!

Chicken Cordon Bleu is a classic of French cuisine that became a staple of American restaurants in the 1960s. Before long, home cooks realized how easy it was to make at home and started adding it to their rotation, too.

My family has long loved variations on the theme, including this chicken cordon bleu with creamy white sauce. But, this recipe for green chile chicken cordon bleu is my own Southwestern take, inspired by the classic. And, it’s the version I keep coming back to.

Green Chile Chicken Cordon Bleu

Having grown up in New Mexico and Arizona, I can confidently say that I am more familiar with the flavor profiles of Southwestern cooking than any other. It is absolutely my comfort zone.

So, if I have the opportunity to tuck my beloved green chiles into a dish, you can bet I’m going to try it. In many cases, they are a welcome addition, but here? They create pure magic.

The gentle, smoky spice of green chiles is the perfect foil for the creamy Monterey jack cheese, salty ham, and mild chicken. It is a match made in the land of enchantment. If you’ve been hunting for a new chicken recipe with real Southwestern kick, this is the one.

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Piled high with crispy pork, rice, black beans, corn, crunchy cabbage, and a generous squeeze of lime, this Carnitas Bowl is everything I want in one simple package. Twenty minutes. That’s all it takes. How can I say no?

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you already know how I feel about carnitas. I have been making them on repeat for well over a decade, and that shows no signs of slowing down. My slow cooker carnitas are the set-it-and-forget-it version for busy days, and these traditional Dutch oven pork carnitas are what I make when I want to go all out. Both are fantastic. And, both leave me with a fridge full of pork that I’m happy to use in new in delicious ways each time we have leftovers.

Carnitas Bowl

Growing up in the Southwest, I’ve eaten my fair share of burritos and tacos. And, I will never turn them down. But, every now and then I crave something a little different. And a bowl satisfies that craving perfectly by letting each ingredient shine on its own.

This carnitas bowl recipe is what happens when leftover pork carnitas meet a really good bowl. Rice on the bottom, all the good stuff piled on top, lime squeezed over everything. It just works.

Wait, you didn’t make carnitas yesterday, or last week, or pull them out of the freezer this morning? That’s ok. Don’t sweat it. Just make them now!

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Hot, crisp, juicy pork is tucked into warm tortillas to make these Carnitas Street Tacos. Topped simply with crunchy shredded cabbage, red onions, fresh cilantro, and plenty of lime, these tacos are street food at its very best. This has been one of my family’s favorite meals for several years now, and I never get tired of making it.

This recipe uses one of my most essential ingredients for meal prep, pork carnitas. The meat is incredibly tasty and easy to make, and it’s why people always end up coming back for seconds. My family loves this meat so much that I’ve even got a shortcut for making pork carnitas in the slow cooker.

Carnitas Street Tacos

I have to give credit to one of my amazing friends here, because Sandra actually introduced me to these tacos over 10 years ago. She made them for us during a girls’ weekend and we all fell in love with them immediately. I’ve been making them ever since.

As I’ve played with adapting this recipe over the years, I’ve found that simple is best. The sharp flavors of the cabbage and red onion are brilliant with the savory pork. Add in a drizzle of lime and fresh cilantro, and each taco packs so many layers of flavor. This is my favorite way to eat them, hands-down.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Tortillas – While classic street tacos are made with corn tortillas, I prefer flour tortillas for the taste and texture when heated. Both flour and corn work well though. 

The Meat – I fill each taco with a portion of pork carnitas.

Cabbage – I top the meat with finely shredded green cabbage for extra crunch. Iceberg lettuce w

Crisp vegetables, creamy pasta, and a delightfully spicy chipotle dressing collide in this Southwest Pasta Salad. Between the ease of prep and how well it keeps in the fridge, this recipe has been on repeat in my kitchen lately.

Frankly, I adore a good pasta salad. They are so perfectly versatile! I mean, I have dozens of them on this site alone. And, I’ve loved using our family’s classic chipotle ranch recipe for salads, burgers, and more for years now. So, it was only a matter of time until I crafted a pasta salad around that spicy and tangy dressing. This salad makes those flavors shine!

Southwest Pasta Salad

Friends, I can’t stop coming back to this dish. Between the textural contrast of crunchy vegetables and creamy pasta, and the flavors of tart lime and spicy chipotle peppers, every single bite stays fresh and interesting. No matter how many times this meal shows up at the dinner table, my boys will always be up for seconds.

And, on those nights when we do have leftovers, this pasta salad keeps very well in the refrigerator for several days. It’s become one of my favorite lunch options when I need to grab something quick and easy.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Pasta – I typically use ditalini for this pasta salad. Tiny pasta is the move for almost any pasta salad because it holds plenty of sauce, and is already