When Kayla came a bit ago, she brought with a big pork roast and said that her and Spencer couldn’t use it so would of I? YES please. I never turn down free meat.
I started to debate how I was going to use it. We’re big fans of pulled pork…or just a roast cooked in sauerkraut but instead of either of those, I made chalupa meat. It’s one of those recipes I forget about and don’t make as often as I should. Karl and I have been on a Mexican Food kick so this was perfect.
Here’s the recipe:
This came from a church cookbook from Lawler, Iowa. The lady who wrote the recipe was our neighbor when we lived in Lawler. She was a chatty and often talked when we were out mowing lawn at the same time.
This time when I made it I wanted to try it in the instant pot. It would be so much easier. I did include the original recipe with the original instructions so those of you who don’t have an instant pot could make it as well.
Here are the modifications I used with the Instant Pot…I put all of the ingredients listed in the Instant Pot along with 8 cups of water. I used the meat setting and put it on for 70 minutes. I like the meat to peel apart.
I did quick release. I drained the water off but reserved it. I put the meat on a cutting board and shredded it, cutting it into bit sized pieces.
I used a potato masher and mashed the beans….then added the meat and stirred. It was dry so I added back some of the liquid. From there I added salt and pepper to taste.
That’s your Chalupa Meat. From there we all eat it a little differently. Sometimes as a meat for tacos. Sometimes as a filling for burritos…my favorite way is this….
Bake tator tots in the air fryer or however you do that.
Put them in a bowl. Put chalupa meat over this….then some shredded cheese.
I pop it in the microwave to melt the cheese then eat with sour cream.
This is my lazy way to eat it. If I’m feeling a little more ambitious and I have them in stock, I might add tomatos or banana peppers…I’m not a jalapeno girl but for some of you, you might enjoy that.
The original recipe says feeds 8. That is a lie. This could easily be enough meat to double that amount.
I made a batch and Karl has been having it all week for his lunch at work…Truthfully it’s been my lunch here too. That’s how I know this will feel way more than 8 people.
The meat does end up with a “not so typical” taste. I think it’s the cinnamon in the recipe and so often we don’t associate a cinnamon flavor with meat. If you give a try, let me know what you think.
That sounds like a really interesting recipe, Jo. Thanks for sharing!
What does Kayla’s husband do? I know the other girls husbands farm and just wondered! If you’ve mentioned it before, I missed it or forgot.
Carmen…Kayla’s husband is and Electrician. He works more on the industrial side of things. He’s really good at it.
We were making Chalupa when I worked at a bar/cafe in Nebraska back in 1986 for the thursday Mexican special of the day. YUMMY! But no cinnamon. We added in onions and cans of diced green chili, served over chips with lettuce/cheese and diced tomatoes/sour cream. So when my kids were still at home, I made roasters full of this and froze it. Like you said great with chips or in a tortilla burrito.
This is the way we make it also. It is more Mexican this way.
The chili peppers in the recipe do you mean fresh like poblano which are mild or maybe the canned version of them? Thanks! This is interesting but I would have to start with less cinnamon. Do have a lot of venison that might work with this!!
Toni
You could use either. I use canned ones as living rural in Iowa like we do, I don’t always have access to fresh.
Yum! FYI, cinnamon is a traditional addition to Mexican recipes (i.e. mole, red chile and the like)…. I almost always add a small dash to dishes that call for red chile, and even some with dices tomatoes. If no one asks you, don’t tell them you added it because it might bias them against your dish. My husband has finally come around to appreciating it. The cinnamon imparts a very slight “sweet” taste and helps to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. A lot of people just add sugar but I don’t like to add sugar if I can help it! I certainly don’t need any extra ;) Thank you for sharing this recipe, I will definitely have to try it.
Another great recipe for the Instant Pot! Wish we had had this when camping with kids & dogs in the Rockies years ago. Now I want to put the meat base together and freeze It for future use when sewing takes priority. Thanks.