Whole30 Pork Carnitas with sweet potatoes is one of my favorite frozen meal prep recipes! It's delicious, filling, Whole30 & Paleo friendly, and it takes no time at all to prepare this healthy meal for your busy week!
Recipe: $11.68 | Per Serving: $2.92 | Yield: 4
This post is part of a series about homemade frozen dinners. Please see How to Make Homemade Frozen Meals for more information.
Why this Pork Carnitas Meal Prep is Special
This is not an intensive meal prep! There's almost no prep. You're basically just tossing frozen foods into containers to make a balanced meal for your freezer.
This dish may seem weird at first - mashed sweet potatoes in frozen little pucks? I was also suspicious, but it's not weird at all. They don't have anything added at all, not even salt!
For the sake of time, I also used Trader Joe's pre-cooked carnitas, but you could definitely make your own delicious slow cooker pork with higher quality meat, if your budget (and time) allows.
Ingredients for a Pork Carnitas Burrito Bowl (Courtesy of Trader Joe's!)
I told you this recipe was easy and now I'll prove it! You can get all of the ingredients from your friendly Trader Joe's. However, you can find nearly all of these ingredients at several other grocery stores.
- 12 oz Pre-cooked Carnitas OR 2 cans of Black beans for vegetarians (use all the carnitas or 2 cans of black beans)
- 12-16 oz Frozen Cauliflower Rice (use the whole bag)
- 10-12 oz Frozen Spinach (use half the bag)
- 16-18 lbs Frozen Mashed Sweet Potatoes (use about 2/3 of the bag)
- Trader Joe's Salsa Autentica (use about 1/2 the jar)
Not Convinced Yet?
No! Not at all - starting with mostly frozen ingredients helps a lot. It's a good starting point for your frozen meal options.
I'd suggest the microwave, but remember that every microwave is a little different, so be sure to check them every 90 seconds or so. If you're heating it after it has thawed in the fridge overnight, you just dump the contents into a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl/plate. Microwave on high heat for about 2-3 minutes. If you're microwaving from frozen, I recommend two to three 90 second intervals. You'll want to stop and stir/check it in between.
Make sure the food is "piping hot" i.e. steaming visibly since you're not cooking them ahead of time. For more cooking methods, please see this post.
In general, all frozen meals will keep their quality for 2-4 weeks. If you use a completely airtight container, like these glass containers, it will keep for much longer. This frozen meal, packed in a plastic container, lasted about 6 weeks in the freezer without any sign of freezer burn.
Beans do get freezer burn more easily than most of the other ingredients here. If you plan to use black beans and will be freezing this for longer than 4 weeks, I'd recommend mixing them with the cauliflower to help keep them covered and hydrated to minimize the risk of freezer burn.
You sure can! As long as you cook it first!
How to Meal Prep Pork Carnitas & Sweet Potato Bowls
- First, shred the pork. It's already cooked, but it needs to be shredded. You can do this with two forks or with your hands.
- Next, dump the bag of cauliflower rice and half the spinach into a large bowl. Stir to combine. If these items were frozen poorly, they might have huge chunks. You can choose to nuke it for 20-30 seconds so you can break up the chunks, or if they're small enough, you can leave them. I would not want to fully thaw and then re-freeze the vegetables as this starts to become a riskier situation (from a food safety perspective). Add about 1/2 cup of salsa and stir completely.
- Divide the cauliflower rice mixture into 4 containers. It should take up about half the container. Top with 1-2 Tablespoons of additional salsa.
- Divide the shredded pork among the 4 containers.
- Add about 4-6 mashed sweet potato cubes to each container.
- Close, seal, and toss them in the freezer!
How long did that take? 6 minutes?
Dietary Modifications and Substitutions
Paleo: Yep!
Vegetarian: Not with pork, but yes with Black Beans!
Low FODMAP: the combination of sweet potatoes, cauliflower rice, and any onions/garlic in this meal makes it high in FODMAPs. I would select another meal, or simply replace those items with low-FODMAP alternatives such as frozen bell peppers, corn, peas, and white rice or potatoes instead of sweet potatoes. More suggestions here.
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Hungry for more?
- Need to pull something together from the ingredients in your pantry? Check out some ideas here!
- A delicious chicken and rice meal prep freezer bowl!
- Whole30 Pork Salad with Cilantro Habanero Dressing! (SO GOOD)
- Gluten-Free Zucchini and Tomato Summer Galette
Let me know what you think about this recipe by commenting and rating below! I'd also love to hear if you make anything else from Frugal Nutrition, so tag me on Instagram!
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Whole30 Pork Carnitas Meal Prep
Description
This easy frozen meal prep comes together in just a couple of minutes - and makes enough for four servings!
Ingredients
- 12 oz cooked pork carnitas or shredded pork (use 2 cans black beans for vegetarian/vegan)
- 12 oz frozen riced cauliflower
- 16 oz frozen chopped spinach
- 12 oz frozen mashed sweet potato (or fresh)
- 3/4 cup salsa
Instructions
- First, shred the pork with two forks or with your hands.
- Next, pour the riced cauliflower and spinach into a large bowl. Stir to combine. If these items were frozen poorly, they might have huge chunks. You can choose to nuke the mixture for 20-30 seconds so you can break up the chunks, or if they're small enough, you can just leave them.
- Add about 1/2 cup of salsa and stir completely.
- Divide the cauliflower rice mixture among 4 containers. It should take up about half the container. Top with 1-2 Tablespoons of additional salsa.
- Divide the shredded pork among the 4 containers.
- Add about 4-6 mashed sweet potato cubes to each container. (Approximately 2-3 oz. each container)
- Close, seal, and toss them in the freezer!
Notes
For vegetarian/vegan, use 2 cups black beans.
Any suggestions for recipes or tips you'd like to see on Frugal Nutrition in the future? Drop a comment below!
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