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Comforting and satisfying, chilaquiles make for an easy, hearty breakfast or lunch.
In This Recipe
Red or Green Sauce?
Other Salsas
Toppings
Chilaquiles. Chee-lah-KEE-less! I mentioned I wanted to make chilaquiles to a Mexican friend the other day and you should have seen the smile and look of rapture that came over his face.
This is true Mexican comfort food, what your mom made you for breakfast when she had some stale tortillas that needed to get used up.
What Are Chilaquiles?
Chilaquiles are basically corn tortilla pieces that are fried, cooked in salsa, and sprinkled with cheese. They are often served for breakfast with eggs and a side of beans or nopalitos.
My mother grew up with her mother making them with green chile tomato salsa and grated longhorn cheese, a Tex Mex version.
Chilaquiles With Red or Green Sauce
I recently brought some homemade salsa verde over to my friend Arturo's house and he made two traditional Mexican versions for me, one with the salsa verde, and one with a red chile sauce made with dried ancho chiles. Recipes for both follow.
Do you like enchiladas? Chilaquiles are basically the same ingredients, but with a lot less work. No rolling.
More Salsas for Chilaquiles
Feel free to use store-bought salsa in this recipe, but if you're inclined to make your own from scratch we've included recipes for homemade salsas at the end of our recipe. Here are a few more options:
- Simple Cooked Tomato Salsa
- Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Ways to Top Chilaquiles
Make your chilaquiles your own—here are some popular toppings:
- Eggs, fried or scrambled
- Shredded chicken, pork, or beef
- Refried beans
- Nopalitos
- Guacamole
Finish your dish with some of these tasty garnishes:
- Crumbled cheese, such as cotija or queso fresco
- Crema Mexicana or crème fraîche
- Chopped cilantro
- Chopped red onion
- Sliced avocado
More Tex-Mex Favorites
- Mexican Lasagna
- Tex-Mex Chopped Chicken Salad
- Huevos Rancheros
- Mexican Street Corn Nachos
- Tamale Pie
From the Editors Of Simply Recipes
Easy Chilaquiles
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time15 mins
Servings4 servings
It will help with the frying if your tortillas are a little dry. If they're fresh, cut them first, put them in a warm oven for a few minutes first to dry them out a bit, then proceed.
For easy homemade salsa verde and red chile sauce recipes, look at the bottom of the page.
Ingredients
12 corn tortillas, preferably stale, or left out overnight to dry out a bit, quartered or cut into 6 wedges
Corn oil, or other neutral oil for frying
Kosher salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups red chile sauce or salsa verde, store-bought or homemade (see end of recipe for homemade versions)
Sprigs ofepazote, optional
Garnishes
Cotija cheeseorqueso fresco
Crema Mexicana or creme fraiche
Cilantro, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
Avocado, sliced or roughly chopped
Method
Fry the tortillas:
In a large sauté pan, coat pan generously with corn oil, (1/8 inch), heat on medium high to high. When the oil is quite hot, add the tortillas, fry until golden brown.
Remove tortillas to a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess oil. Sprinkle a little salt on the tortillas.
Wipe pan clean of any browned bits of tortillas.
Heat the salsa:
Add 2 tablespoons of oil to pan, bring to high heat again. Add the salsa and let salsa cook for several minutes. If you have a few sprigs of epazote, add them to the salsa.
Add fried tortillas to the salsa:
Add the fried tortilla quarters to the salsa. Gently turn over the pieces of tortilla until they are all well coated with salsa. Let cook for a few minutes more.
Remove from heat. Serve chilaquiles with garnishes and fried eggs and beans or nopalitos.
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Red chile sauce
Take 4 dried ancho chiles, remove seeds, stems, and veins. Heat chiles lightly on a skillet on medium heat to draw out their flavor. Put chilies in a saucepan, pour boiling hot water over to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Add chiles, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 1/2 cups of chile soaking liquid to a blender. Hold down lid of blender tightly while blending, blend until completely puréed. Strain through a mesh sieve into a frying pan to make the chilaquiles.
Salsa verde
Put 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed, into a saucepan, cover with water by an inch. Add 1 jalapeno, stems and seeds removed. Add 2 cloves garlic. Bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until tomatillos have changed color and are cooked through. Use slotted spoon to remove tomatillos, jalapeno and garlic to a blender. Add a cup of the cooking liquid. Blend until completely puréed. Add salt to taste.
- Vegetarian Mexican
- Brunch
- Gluten-Free Breakfast
- Easy Breakfast
- Vegetarian
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
264 | Calories |
10g | Fat |
40g | Carbs |
5g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 4 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 264 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 10g | 13% |
Saturated Fat 1g | 6% |
Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
Sodium 898mg | 39% |
Total Carbohydrate 40g | 14% |
Dietary Fiber 7g | 24% |
Total Sugars 5g | |
Protein 5g | |
Vitamin C 15mg | 74% |
Calcium 69mg | 5% |
Iron 2mg | 9% |
Potassium 445mg | 9% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.