Mexican Carnitas Loaded Nacho Fries (2024)

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of McCain Foods. The opinions and text are all mine. #MyMcCainPotatoes #CollectiveBias

These loaded nacho fries are piled high with the most amazing Mexican pork carnitas, avocado, jalapeños and drizzled cilantro crema. They’re the perfect game time food to share with friends: delicious, messy and oh so amazing!

Back in college, any game was a good excuse to get together at our favorite sports bar with friends. We would order food and spend the evening watching football, basketball or soccer. No matter what the game was what I remember the most was how much fun it was to share the excitement of cheering for your favorite team with friends. Loaded nacho fries and chicken wings where always some of those must-have game-day watch party foods.

My college days are far behind me and I don’t go to sports bar much anymore. Now I really enjoy hosting those game-watching parties at home and making some of my favorite game day recipes for my friends and family.For this recipe, I started off with McCain® Seasoned Curly Fries Seasoned Potato Fries. We always have a few bags of McCain frozen potatoes in the freezer and the curly fries are one of my favorites, along with the Extra Crispy Crinkle Fries. They’re so easy to make, you just pull them out of the freezer and bake (or fry). And a really like that McCain products are made with real potatoes and they are perfect for adding to your game day spread. Right now and until 5/31/19, you can get $1.50 off when you purchase 2 participating McCain products at Walmart. You can submit your rebate & learn more details here.

The McCain Seasoned Curly Fries Seasoned Potato Fries really added a burst of flavor to this recipe so I decided to keep this loaded fries recipe kind of simple. I really like that that flavor and crunchiness of the fries combined with the juicy crispy carnitas really stands out. But you can add lots of other ingredients to these loaded fries from melted cheese and crumbled queso to guac and black beans. It’s all up to you!

Since I was cooking for a crowd I made two bags of McCain Seasoned Curly Fries and a big batch of carnitas. I really like that you can serve the fries both as part of a more complex dish like these loaded fries, on its own or with a dip. I also made a big batch of carnitas and I used the leftovers for tacos the next day.

Carnitas Nachos Loaded Fries Recipe

Ingredients for the carnitas loaded fries

• 1 package of McCain Seasoned Curly Fries Seasoned Potato Fries
• 2 cups of cooked Mexican carnitas (recipe below)
• 1 Hass avocado, sliced
• Juice of one lime
• 1/2 cup of Mexican crema or plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup of cilantro
• 2 jalapeño sliced
• chipotle chili powder
• lime wedges

Ingredients for the Mexican carnitas

• 4 lb boneless pork butt, fat removed
• 3 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 3/4 cup chicken stock

Instructions to make the carnitas

• Combine the salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, onion powder and garlic powder in a bowl and mix together. Season the pork with the seasoning mixture.
• Place the seasoned pork in the slow cooker and add the orange juice, lime juice and chicken stock.
• Cook in low heat for 6-7 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours or until the meat falls appart.
• Remove the pork from the slow cooker and trasfer to a cutting board. Using two forks shred the meat. Do not discard the juices in the slow cooker.
• Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking oil and place the shreded pork on the baking sheet. Add about 1/2 cup of the juices to the shredded meat and broil 3-5 minutes or until the meat becomes crispy on the edges.

Instructions for the loaded nacho fries

1. Cook the seasoned curly fries according to package instructions. I prefer to bake mine but you can also fry them.

2. Make the cilantro jalapeño crema by adding the cilantro, crema or yogurt and 1 sliced jalapeño, seeds removed, to a food processor. Pulse a few times until well combined.

3. When the fries have finished baking, and while still hot layer them with carnitas and avocado. Drizzle with the jalapeño cilantro crema and add some additional jalapeño slices and fresh cilantro.

4. Sprinkle with chipotle pepper powder or chili powder.

These Mexican carnitas loaded nacho fries were a total hit! I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easier and I served them right on the baking sheets so it kept the prep and the clean up to a minimum.

The McCain® products are great for dipping and layering and you can get them at your nearest Walmart.

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