Oh what to do? What to do with two remaining pounds of pork shoulder? Raise your hand if you’re like me and love the burrito bowls at Chipotle; but sometimes we don’t want to wait in line, don’t have time to run by, or maybe it’s not in the budget this week… So we get creative and still satisfy the craving.

After our Cochinita Pibil burritos the other day, we had a remaining 2lbs of pork shoulder left over to cook off. I massaged the meat all over with some homemade taco seasoning (below) and let marinate overnight. We roasted the meat low and slow in a 275° for several hours ensuring it was tender and had reached about 195° and was shredding easily.

For the taco seasoning, whisk together in a bowl:
4tbsp ground chipotle chili powder
2tbsp ground cumin
1tbsp smoked paprika
1tbsp sea salt flakes
1tsp garlic powder (to make a marinade rub, mince 2 large cloves of fresh garlic into this mix instead of adding the powder)
1tsp onion powder
1tsp Mexican oregano
1tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/4tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/4tsp dried lemon peel (optional – use the fresh zest of one lemon and one lime if making a marinade rub)
Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for no longer than a month. Something tells me though, that this won’t sit around long!

To build the bowls, we sourced pantry staples and made something unique and flavorful. I washed, peeled, and cubed a medium sweet potato and placed it in the bowl of my InstantPot. I drizzled it with a little grapeseed oil and dusted the contents with a couple scant teaspoons of homemade taco seasoning, tossing to coat. I set the InstantPot to “Manual” and cooked the sweet potato for 4min (allowing it to remain on the “Warm” setting until ready to eat). The texture and flavor were perfect!

I simmered a cup of red quinoa in beef broth (vegetable would please equally well) for 30min until all the all the broth had been absorbed. I scooped some of the warm quinoa over a bed of my favorite Super Blend Slaw mixed with some fresh, roasted garlic cloves. For roasted garlic, I peel as many cloves as I want (usually about 4-6; it’s that good!) and place them in a piece of foil. I drizzle the cloves with a little grapeseed oil, toss in a generous pinch of kosher salt & fresh cracked black pepper, close the foil up like a teepee, and bake at 400° for 30-35min. (Don’t toss out the oil! It’s good for drizzling over the leftovers when packing away!)

I arranged a scoop or two of the sweet potatoes and some shredded pork. I finished each bowl with a squeeze of fresh lime and a scattering of fresh, chopped cilantro. Yum! What are some of your favorite burrito bowl fillings?