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Chilaquiles Verdes
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
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- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 4medium tomatillos, husks removed
- ½small onion
- 2garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 to 2small serrano chiles, stems removed
- 1cilantro sprig
- Salt
- 5tablespoons neutral oil (such as sunflower or grapeseed)
- 8corn tortillas, each sliced into 6 wedges
- Salt
- ¼teaspoon chili powder
- 3tablespoons neutral oil (such as sunflower or grapeseed)
- 1small onion, sliced into rings
- ¾ cup/3 ounces crumbled queso fresco
- Salt and black pepper
- 8large eggs
- ½cup Mexican crema or sour cream
- ½cup cilantro leaves
For the Roasted Salsa Verde (optional; See Tip)
For the Tortilla Chips (optional; See Tip)
For the Chilaquiles
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the salsa verde (optional): Arrange a rack 6 inches from the broiler and set the broiler to high. Set a half-sheet pan lined with foil on the rack. Heat for 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Carefully add tomatillos, onion, garlic and chiles to the pan. Broil until blistered and charred, 10 to 14 minutes, turning once halfway through.
- Step 3
Transfer mixture to a blender. Add cilantro sprig and purée until almost smooth, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt.
- Step 4
Prepare the tortilla chips (optional): Heat a medium cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium and add 5 tablespoons oil. Cook tortillas in batches, frying until golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per batch.
- Step 5
Transfer tortillas to a wire rack or paper towels to drain, then place in a medium bowl. Season with salt and chili powder and toss. Taste and season accordingly. Once the oil has cooled, wipe out and reserve the skillet.
- Step 6
Prepare the chilaquiles: In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium, then add the salsa verde. (It should simmer upon making contact with the pan.) Simmer for 2 minutes, then taste and season with salt to your preference.
- Step 7
Stir in the onion, then add half of the tortilla chips and half of the queso fresco and toss to combine. Taste and season with salt, then add the remaining tortilla chips and toss again. Lower heat and cook until heated through.
- Step 8
In the reserved medium skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Working in batches, fry the eggs, cooking to preferred doneness.
- Step 9
Divide chilaquiles among plates. Top each with the remaining queso fresco, 2 fried eggs, 2 dollops of crema and cilantro leaves.
- If you are short on time, use 1 cup store-bought salsa verde and 6 ounces sturdy, thick-cut tortilla chips instead of making your own.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I first had chilaquiles in detention in a Mexican jail (for being an illegal immigrant) where families brought in food for their incarcerated. Best chilaquiles ever: Corn tortillas ripped into pieces (not sliced); fried in (probably) lard (butter works) alongside onions and leftover meat scraps (pork, bacon. tripe); when the tortillas are just the right amount of crispy, stir in eggs, cheese, and leftover veggies, chillies, garlic, epazote, cilantro, oregano, pepper. Heaven in hell's despair.
If you're in the Northeast, the regional brand La Niña Tortilleria chips are the best store-bought chips for chilaquiles. I've made chilaquiles with many different brands because I can't be bothered to fry chips when I'm hungry for breakfast, and they're the only ones that have never disintegrated when they cook in the salsa.
Somewhere between fresh tomatillos and store bought salsa verde, is salsa made with canned, drained tomatillos and the remainder of the salsa ingredients above. Very good.
Only four tomatillos with two serranos seems like it would make for extremely hot salsa verde. I generally use roughly the same amount of onion, garlic and chili for a couple pounds of tomatillos—well over a dozen of them. They fill up a sheet pan. Even then, the salsa is plenty hot for my heat-loving palate (and sometimes a little too hot for my less heat-tolerant partner). One tip for the salsa: Wait till everything cools before you add the cilantro, lest the cilantro cook.
Absolutely! I air fry tortilla chips all the time (more than I probably should) and it works like a charm. Nominal use of oil, no mess, and faster. You could also experiment with seasoning them with ground spices after the oil spritz.
Cooking the green salsa with fresh epazote and a bit of chicken broth powder is a game changer and for me, a Mexican, a must. Cooking the tortilla chips in the sauce (instead of just pouring it over) and cooking down the sauce will render a crispy bottom that is to die for while cheese melts on the top.
Love chilaquiles, but there's absolutely no way 5 tablespoons of oil is enough to fry corn chips in even if you're shallow frying.
I've always dried/crisped the tortilla strips in the oven, then tossed them in the frying onions for a minute or two before adding the other ingredients. Like crouton-making, it's a way to use up stale, scrap, and mismatched tortilla bits. Then, like hash, the whole chilaquile skillet is a way to turn last night's leftover meat or beans (or I suppose even potato/veggie bits, for the vegetarians) into a hearty weekend breakfast (or dinner).
The article that lead me to the recipe said recipes aren't rules but guideposts so using what I had I sauteed diced green pepper, onion,garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. When softened added drained chopped tomatoes and simmered for about 10 min. I heated corn tostadas in the toaster oven then broke into pieces and stirred into the sauce and topped all with shredded cheddar cheese and cooked until almost dry and cheese melted. I topped that with a fried egg. Very, very tasty.
My chilaquiles recipe: Medium heat, non-stick pan cut up some corn tortillas and lightly fry up in a few tablespoons of oil and a pat of butter Add some scrambled eggs and lightly toss with tortillas top with cheese and melt in pan plate and top with herdez salsa (red or green) and chopped onion, cilantro, goat yogurt, etc. basic and fast
You need at least a cup of oil to properly fry the tortillas.
Try sauteeing chopped king oyster mushrooms if you can find them (or any kind of button mushroom) with a little worchestershire or soy sauce. they will give you that meaty quality and they taste great in chilaquiles. I speak from experience!
Marco, do whatever you want and skip the eggs! I like avocado and radishes. I don’t know what is authentic, but since I think of chilaquiles as “leftovers” anyway, I like to add what I can find in my fridge that appeals. I like chorizo, too. Intercontinental Hotel in Monterey, CA served them with marinated skirt steak! By the way, everybody, chilaquiles made with the brown mole from the glass jar with the yellow lid from the grocery store is also delicious. I love chilaquiles!
Given the size variation of tomatillos & serranos, it would be helpful to have weights. Four tomatillos plus two serranos seems disproportionate.
Most store-bought tortilla chips and packaged corn tortillas are devoid of corn flavor. The one widely available product that I've found to most closely simulate freshly fried totopos is, I kid you not, Fritos. You'd be hard pressed to find a store-bought chip with more intense corn flavor. But usually what happens at my house is I make extra tortillas for dinner, the night before, from good masa harina, like that from Masienda. Let those dry out over night and fry them for breakfast.
Delicious. Made salsa with about 1.5 lbs tomatillos and used half for the recipe. No serrano but some chopped poblano, onion and about 8 cloves of garlic added to the tomatillos when roasting. Also added some dried jalapeño for heat after blending. Baked tortilla Chips from 8 corn tortillas.
Cut the onion slices in half, dry the tortillas overnight if possible, use some chiles when cooking, used a hatch, one serrano and a vidalia extra cilantro
In addition to serving a fried egg, I added some cooked chicken (store-bought) to the dish shortly before serving.
Added some lime juice to the salsa and made it great! So yummy
I made this with arugula salsa verde and homemade tortilla chips as a way to use up some old arugula and corn tortillas - it was so delicious and a departure from my usual breakfast.
Grew my first tomatillos this summer. What a lovely way to use them. Loved this with some lightly mashed and fried black beans! I used the air fryer for the tortilla chips to save a few calories.
Frying your own tortillas is best. I like to make this as a casserole with layers of chips, cheese, salsa baked at 400 until it's bubbling and lightly golden on top. Saves well, freezes well and the family loves it.
Finally a real recipe - I actually heat the salsa and slowly simmer the chips a few at a time - the secret is not too soft still crunchy -
I'm in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where there is no such thing as a tomatillo to be found. Is there a good (or goodish) substitute?
A very lazy version of this is in regular rotation at our house. I use La Nina chips and Herdez salsa verde and start at Step 6, adding in a protein to sizzle with the sauce. A word of caution to stick to the recipe at that point: Nothing about assembling the chilaquiles is going to make any sense, but if you resist the urge to add more salsa, cook the onion more, etc., they will turn out perfect.
I made a big batch of the salsa verde a day in advance and it helped the flavors blend and enhanced. My family thought the salsa was the most important part of this recipe.
This is a very easy and very flavorful dish! It's become one of my daughter's and my favorites!
Honestly, this recipe just created a "day after the restaurant nachos" with eggs over them. The sogginess of the meal was just not a pleasant mouth feel or taste.
Made a tiny amount of tasty salsa verde--might triple or even quadruple!
I think the amount of salsa is a bit too little for 4 servings. My first half of chips didn’t get evenly covered. If you are making for four make more salsa. And I added avocado,
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