We decided to try Chilaquiles in our travel to Mexico last month. Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of tortilla chips covered in a red or green salsa and topped with chicken and cheese. It's typically served for breakfast or brunch using the night before leftovers. We decided we wanted to top with our favorite salsa verde honey lime chicken.
For the chips: (we used chips from the store)
1/4 cup vegetable oil, for frying
12 corn tortillas, cut into 8 wedges each
Kosher salt
For salsa roja:
4 Roma tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1 medium jalapeño, sliced (remove the seeds for a less spicy dish)
2 cloves garlic
1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, divided
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Kosher salt
For serving we did:
Avocado or guacamole
Crema
Fried egg
Fry the tortillas. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add about a quarter of the tortilla wedges and cook, flipping once, until lightly brown and crisp.
Drain the tortilla chips. Drain the freshly fried tortilla chips on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat this process until all tortillas are fried, adding more oil if needed.
Make the salsa roja. Place the tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, and garlic in a blender or food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pour in 1 cup of the broth. Blend until smooth.
Cook the salsa. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the salsa and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 5 to 10 minutes (the consistency of the salsa will vary depending on the size and juiciness of the tomatoes). Add additional broth to thin out the salsa, if needed. Taste and season with salt as needed.
Coat the chips with the salsa. Add the tortilla chips and stir carefully to coat the chips. Cook until the tortillas are heated through, about 3 minutes. Taste and season with salt as needed.
Serve warm. Serve warm garnished with avocado or guacamole, crema, queso fresco, and/or fried eggs, if desired.
We used chips from the store, but did make the homemade salsa roja which was very simple! For garnishing we had salsa verde chicken, fried egg, queso fresco, sour cream, refried beans, corn, cheese, and cholula, of course.
Review:
Well, this is going to be a loaded one. We weren't really fans so we ended up modifying. I'm not sure if chilaquiles just aren't for us, or if we messed up. I've had them only once before and I recall liking them. Tyler's never had them. We didn't like how soggy the chips got once mixing with the salsa. I had hoped we could coat the chips, but they turned to mush pretty instantly. We quickly abandoned ship and turned them into nachos which was better, but still a bit soggy.
Notes for next time:
Leave it pro and try them at a restaurant
This gave Tyler the idea to do refried beans on nachos more often
Rating: 3/10, as is and 5/10 as nachos