Chilaquiles (Verdes or Rojos) are a classic Mexican recipe made with fried tortillas and a savory red or green sauce! Simple ingredients make this dish easy to cook at home!
Chilaquiles:
One of our family favorite dishes, I had to give you my version on the blog! This is the only thing that we eat for breakfast, every single day, every time we head to Mexico. I crave it so much at home when we return, I have to make it regularly. If you aren’t familiar, Chilaquiles consists of nothing more than corn tortillas that are cut into wedges and then fried in vegetable oil on your stove top. Don’t worry about the frying, it’s very easy to do and we use minimal oil for easy clean up! Once your tortillas are fried, you can use your blender to make a simple red sauce, or use our easy Salsa Verde Recipe if you like green sauce instead! The red sauce recipe is in the recipe card in full, or I’m also linking to the green salsa as well.
What are Chilaquiles Made of?
You will need at least 12 corn tortillas for this recipe. Yellow or white corn tortillas work just fine! The easiest thing to do is to stack them and then cut into eight equal triangles. Then we fry them up in just about 1/3 cup of vegetable oil. The tortillas fry really fast in 3 batches for about 2-3 minutes per batch. If you are feeling lazy/don’t have corn tortillas on hand, you can also make this recipe using about 4 cups of your favorite tortilla chips. My goal with this recipe was to keep it simple and use staples that are easy for everyone to find. For the red sauce we use tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, garlic, a bit of red onion, and a few other seasonings and just blend them all together. Our green sauce is made with tomatillo salsa, which I will link to in the recipe card. Once you have the sauce made and tortillas are fried, you simply heat your sauce on the stove and then add in your chips! Stir them gently just for a couple of minutes to coat in the sauce, you want them to be soft but not mushy.
How Do You Eat Chilaquiles?
You will love that this recipe is different than the typical nachos that you might be used to! You definitely need a fork for this saucy dish, and you can serve this up with any of your favorite nacho type of toppings. Cojita or Monterrey Jack cheese are great, as well as onions, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream. If you want to make this even more hearty, fry up a couple of over easy eggs to go on top. If you are a meat lover, try making some Shredded Chicken or even Taco Meat or leftover Pulled Pork would be amazing! We actually usually skip the meat, but I will say in Mexico I often had them with chicken and they were great! One of my favorites is just to serve it with a side of refried or black beans.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Chilaquiles (Verdes or Rojos)
Ingredients
FOR THE TORTILLAS:
- 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 12 Corn Tortillas
- Salt to taste
FOR THE RED SAUCE:
- 1 16 Ounce Can Tomato Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Chicken or Vegetable Broth
- 1/4 Cup Chopped Red Onion
- 3 Cloves Garlic Peeled
- 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper Optional or to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
FOR THE TORTILLAS:
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Stack the tortillas on a cutting board and cut the stack into eight pieces.
- When the oil is hot, add 1/3 of the tortilla pieces and cook, turning once with tongs for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned and becoming crisp. Use tongs to remove the tortillas to a paper towel lined plate, and sprinkle with salt as desired.
- Repeat with the remaining tortilla pieces, until they are all fried.
FOR THE SAUCE:
- Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until completely smooth.
- Wipe the pan clean that was used for frying the tortillas.
- Pour the sauce into the pan and warm over medium-low heat.
- Add the fried tortilla pieces, stirring gently and cook for 2-3 more minutes until the tortillas are coated in sauce and becoming soft.
- Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have some dried red chili peppers I’d like to incorporate into my sauce. Any recommendations on how to do so? LOVE all your recipes, thank you!
Chilaquiles is one of my husbands’ favorite breakfast and he is going to devour this dish. This post also has me dreaming of being in Mexico enjoying all the yummy food and beautiful scenery.
These chilaquiles are amazing!! That red sauce is something dreams are made of. So much flavor. I think next time I will try the green sauce. YUMM!!
This chilaquiles recipe quickly becomes addicting! The red sauce is amazing and the perfect compliment if you add shredded pork to these.
YUM! This recipe turned out so well! I love chilaquiles so much.
Oh my! I need this in my life. Must print your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
What is amazing recipe! It’s perfect for breakfast or for dinner… Super easy too!
This red sauce sounds AMAZING! I love a good crispy homemade tortilla chip and this sounds like the perfect pairing for it!
I was not familiar with this dish but it sounds delicious!! Oh I can only imagine how delightful it is to get this for breakfast every day! Makes you want to get out of bed!
Aww yeah. Now that’s what I’m talking about. I have never heard of this until today, but I am going to east SO MUCH OF IT!