How to Make Chilaquiles

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Chilaquiles in Salsa Verde

  • 2 lbs tomatillos, approximately 18-20, husks & stems removed, roughly chopped
  • 1 white onion, roughly chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, whole
  • 3 Serrano chilies, stems removed
  • 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 12 ounces (about 2 quarts) fresh fried tortilla chips
  • 1/2 of a red onion, sliced thin
  • Mexican crumbling cheese, such as cotija
  • Mexican sour cream
  • chopped cilantro
  • Refried beans
  • Fried eggs

Remove husks and stems from the tomatillos.  Rinse and chop in quarters.  Place in a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.  Add the chopped onion, whole cloves of garlic, and stemmed Serrano chilies to the baking sheet and drizzle with 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.  Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until tomatillos are a yellowish color and blistered with brown spots.  Stir halfway through roasting.  Place the tomatillos, garlic and onion from the pan into a blender.  Be sure to dump in all the juice for the best flavor .  Purree everything except the serrano chilies.  Add one Serrano chili to the blender at a time, making sure that the dish is not too spicy.  The 3 Serrano chilies gives the salsa a “medium” spicy flavor.  Add more or less chilies, according to your personal preference.  Blend ingredients well, for about 30 seconds on medium speed.

Warm more olive oil in  a large pot. Pour the tomatillo purree into the large pot and simmer.  Add 1/2 a cup of water to the green salsa. season with 1 the one teaspoon chicken bouillon ( knorr suisa) and 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.  Simmer to desired consistency.  Meanwhile, caramelize the red onion slices to be used as a garnish.  Add the tortilla chips directly to the pot and cover with green salsa.  Make the fried tortilla chips at home by frying day-old corn tortillas, or purchase freshly fried tortilla triangles from a Mexican market.  Remove fried tortillas from the stock pot and place in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Add chopped cilantro, caramelized red onion and Mexican cheese.  If cotija or other dry Mexican crumbling cheese is not available, replace with shredded Monterrey jack cheese.  Place in a warm oven for just a few minutes while you prepare the plates.  Serve with refried beans, fried eggs, Mexican sour cream and more cilantro and green salsa to your liking.  Serves 8.

For detailed photos keep reading.

What to buy: fresh tortilla chips, serrano chilies, tomatillos, cilantro and white onion.  Not pictured, garlic, red onion, sour cream, Mexican crumbling cheese, fried eggs and refried beans.

Remove husks and stems from tomatillos and rinse.

Remove the very top of the tomatillos and cut into quarters.  Roughly chop white onion.  Remove stems from Serrano chilies and skin from garlic cloves.

Drizzle with olive oil and toss.  Don’t forget about the cloves of garlic, not pictured here.  Roast at 400 degrees, mix once during roasting.

Ready to puree! Notice the color change in the roasted tomatillos.

Carefully pour the roasted veggies into the blender, making sure to add all the juices.  Do not put the Serrano chilies in at this point.

Veggies ready to be pureed.  Keep the Serranos out and puree vegetables first so you can control the spice level.  3 Serrano chilies makes a medium salsa.

Puree for about 30 seconds or until you can not detect any skins or large pieces of vegetables.  Add more roasted Serrano Chiles if it is not spicy enough.  The recipe detailed about calls for 3 Serrano chilies, but we prefer really spicy green salsa and add up to six roasted Serrano chilies.  Add with care – you can always put more chilies in the salsa but it is difficult to save a salsa that is too spicy.

Set green salsa aside and saute red onions that will be used for a garnish.  This topping is optional, but this is how the fine restaurants in Mexico plated their chilaquiles.  The caramelized red onions give the plates such a nice flavor boost.  More common is the use of raw chopped white onion.

Onions are ready.

Heat some oil in the same stockpot and simmer.  Add 1/2 cup of water to thin the salsa.  If desired use vegetable stock or chicken stock in place of the water.

Season with 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon.  If you are using chicken broth the bouillon may not be necessary.

Add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, or more according to your taste.  Remember, you can always add more later, and some tortilla chips will already be very salty.

 Add the tortilla chips to the pot and coat in green salsa.

Place tortilla chips coated with green salsa into a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  Garnish with caramelized red onion, cheese and cilantro.  Place in the oven for a few minutes while you fry the eggs and plate the refried beans.  Don’t leave the dish in the oven too long or the chips will become soggy.  The ideal chilaquiles are slightly soft on the outside and crunchy in the inside.

Fry some eggs.  Use oil, it won’t kill you just this time…  As with any dish, feel free to reduce the oil in any of the steps outlined.  Use just a bit of spray oil if you have to, but please don’t complain to me when it doesn’t taste as good as that buffet in Cancun (yes, Hilton Cancun, I’m talking about you and the best breakfast brunch ever.)

Here it is again.  YUM!!!  Fill me up all day dish, that I love.  An all time favorite that I prepare for house guests.  If you haven’t had Mexican Chilaquiles you are missing out.  For most Mexican chefs no recipe is needed; its viewed as a simple everyday food.  After several years of practice and I finally have the flavor of the chilaquiles I used to eat at Saks restaurant in Mexico City.

This is actually my recipe for cooked green salsa as well.  Some chefs call for lime juice at the end of preparation.  I only like lime in fresh green salsa.  Put sliced limes on the table for those who are looking for that flavor.  Another note, I usually serve this with refried black beans.

Jayne, this one was for you.  Thanks to Beccacrocker for letting us hang out all weekend and use your test kitchen your lovely granite photographs photograph so well.  Thanks Kathy Talbot for the RS class you did on this years ago.  Muchas gracias a Adriana por todo lo que me ensenaste en la cocina.