This post has kindly been supported by The Hatch Chile Store. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The popularity of Chilaquiles has grown exponentially over the last 10 years because it tastes so good! (see google trends data here). As more folks try it and love it, more and more restaurants and food trucks offer the dish.
So what are chilaquiles exactly and how do you pronounce the word? Chilaquiles (chee-la-key-less) is a Mexican comfort food made by stirring crispy tortilla chips into a simmering chile pepper sauce (can be red or green chile sauce) to soften them. The soggy chips are then generously topped with Mexican cheeses and garnished with eggs, meat, cream, onion, cilantro, avocado, olives, beans, or salsa.
You may think, “Eewww…. soggy tortilla chips??? Why would I want to eat soggy tortilla chips????”
Chilaquiles are delicious when eaten correctly. When they are smothered in cheese and toppings and eaten immediately after being cooked (when the chips can still hold a little bit of their shape) the dish really is comfort food at its best!
chilaquiles, a Mexican dish consisting of strips or pieces of corn tortillas that are fried, then sautéed with green or red salsa, and topped with cheese, crema (a sweet, thin cream sauce), and onion. Pulled chicken may also be added during the cooking process, and casserole versions of the dish are popular.
What are chilaquiles in English?
Chilaquiles is a spanish word taken from the original Native American language of Nahuatl, and loosely means “chile water + edible plant”. The word chīlāquilitl is thought to be the ancestral name of this dish. Translating this word is a bit tricky; it’s one of those words that doesn’t really have an easy English equivalent because it was translated by Spanish colonists who heard the Nahuatl word.
Breakfast Chilaquiles with Hatch Red Chile Sauce
The absolute best tasting chilaquiles should be made with famous Hatch chiles. Red or green, the flavor simply can’t be beat (in my humble opinion). When researching this article I wanted to create a very simple, yet super delicious, chilaquiles recipe for you to try, so I just had to use Hatch chiles!
I grew up in New Mexico, the home of the famous Hatch chile pepper. Their popularity is growing exponentially as well and I cook with it all the time because it’s so stinking good! I cook up large batches of red and green chile sauce, then store it in zipper bags in the freezer to use whenever I need it. I save a ton of time with most of my Hispanic cooking when my sauce is already done!
I have several recipes for red and green chile sauce right here on The Goldilocks Kitchen. You can check them out here (scroll to the bottom), or simply order your prepared and pre-packaged Hatch chile sauce from The Hatch Chile Store. That’s where I get all my chile!
To make my breakfast chilaquiles, I thawed out 1 cup of homemade red chile sauce in a skillet, and whisked in 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to give it a bit more depth of flavor and help the chilaquiles sauce taste authentic (because the red sauce for chilaquiles is a tomato chile pepper based sauce).
I skipped the more traditional (and laborious) step of cutting, frying, and seasoning stale tortillas to make homemade chips. Instead I added a few handfuls of my favorite store-bought tortilla chips to the simmering red sauce. Call me a heretic, but I wanted this recipe to be really easy, delicious and fast (and it is). Homemade tortilla chips are great if you have the time, and are usually a little thicker than store bought so they will take longer to get soggy in chilaquiles. If you want to try homemade chips in your next batch of chilaquiles, go for it!
After just a minute or two of stirring, the chilaquiles are ready to be plated, topped with all manner of goodness, and hoovered up by all. Score a win for a terriffic weeknight meal that takes like 15 minutes to make!
Eggs are a great option for chilaquiles if you are pressed for time. Shredded cooked meats or chorizo are also excellent but you’ll need to cook them ahead of time. In fact, I do prefer my chilaquiles to be topped with some delicious carnitas. Most grocery stores stock ready-made carnitas that you simply have to reheat to eat.
It is said that chilaquiles were born out of a necessity to use up leftover foods so they wouldn’t go to waste. Go ahead- throw the kitchen sink on top of your next batch of chilaquiles too
The Best Mexican Chilaquiles You’ll Ever Make | Epicurious 101
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