Ingredients
Chips
- 12corn tortillas, a day old, cut into triangles
- oil, for frying
- salt
Salsa verde
- 500 gtomatillos, husked
- 3serrano chillies
- ½onion
- 3 clovesgarlic
- a handful of coriander
- 250 mlchicken stock
- salt
To finish
- 4eggs
- 100 gqueso fresco, crumbled
- 100 mlcrema
- ½red onion, thinly sliced
- coriander
- sliced avocado
Directions
- Use tortillas that are a day or two old and dry. Fresh ones soak up oil and go limp rather than frying crisp.
- Fry the triangles in batches in hot oil until golden and hard, then drain them on a rack and salt them.
- For the salsa, boil the tomatillos, chillies, onion and garlic in water for about 8 minutes, until the tomatillos turn from bright green to olive, then blend with the coriander and a little of the cooking water.
- Fry the blended salsa in a spoonful of hot oil for 5 minutes, which deepens the flavour and takes off the raw edge, then add the stock and simmer to a pouring consistency.
- Have everything else ready and plated before the next step, because from here the dish has about a minute in it.
- Bring the salsa to a hard simmer, tip in the chips, and fold them through for 30 to 60 seconds only.
- That timing is the entire dish. Chilaquiles should be softened at the edges and still crisp in the middle, and thirty seconds too long turns the pan into a soggy casserole.
- Slide them straight onto warm plates.
- Top each with a fried egg, a spoonful of crema, crumbled cheese, raw onion rings, coriander and avocado.
- Serve immediately and eat immediately. There is no holding them and no reheating them.
Technique
- The Nahuatl chilaquilitl means greens or herbs in chilli broth, and the dish exists to turn yesterday’s tortillas into breakfast.
- Fry the salsa before you add stock to it. Raw blended tomatillo tastes green and sharp in a way cooking fixes in five minutes.
- Anyone who likes them properly soft should say so. It is a genuine and long-running argument in Mexico rather than a matter of right and wrong.
Substitutions
- Unsalted shop-bought totopos, which saves the frying.
- Tinned tomatillos, drained, if fresh are unavailable.
Variations
- Rojos, made with a red tomato and dried chilli salsa.
- With shredded chicken folded through.
- Divorciados, half red and half green on the same plate.
History
Fried tortilla chips simmered briefly in green or red salsa until slightly softened, then typically topped with cream, cheese, onion and sometimes a fried egg or shredded chicken, developed as a practical way to use up stale, day-old tortillas rather than let them go to waste, reflecting a broader pattern in Mexican cooking of resourceful, no-waste dishes built around leftover staple ingredients. Its name is generally traced to a Nahuatl word describing something broken up into pieces, referring to the torn or broken tortilla chips that form its base. Chilaquiles remain an especially common Mexican breakfast dish, closely associated with home cooking specifically, valued for using ingredients most households would already have on hand rather than requiring anything specially purchased.
Frequently asked questions
What is Chilaquiles?
Chilaquiles is a breakfast from Mexico: fried tortilla chips simmered in salsa with crema and egg. Fried tortilla chips simmered briefly in green or red salsa until slightly softened, then typically topped with cream, cheese, onion and sometimes a fried egg or shredded chicken, developed as a practical way to use up stale, day-old tortillas rather than let them go to waste, reflecting a broader pattern in Mexican cooking of resourceful, no-waste dishes built around leftover staple ingredients. Its name is generally traced to a Nahuatl word describing something broken up into pieces, referring to the torn or broken tortilla chips that form its base. Chilaquiles remain an especially common Mexican breakfast dish, closely associated with home cooking specifically, valued for using ingredients most households would already have on hand rather than requiring anything specially purchased.
How long does Chilaquiles take to make?
Chilaquiles takes 20 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Chilaquiles?
Yes, within limits. Unsalted shop-bought totopos, which saves the frying. Tinned tomatillos, drained, if fresh are unavailable.
What is the most important thing to get right in Chilaquiles?
Use tortillas that are a day or two old and dry. Fresh ones soak up oil and go limp rather than frying crisp.
