This delicious Mexican Chilaquiles Rojos recipe has triangles of corn tortillas simmered in salsa, and served with cheese, shredded chicken, eggs or beans.
Chilaquiles are probably among my top ten favorite foods of all time.
That’s a pretty strong statement to make, but I’m sticking by it!
I first had chilaquiles three years ago while traveling through the Yucatan Peninsula and exploring Mayan Ruins.
The first morning of the trip, I woke up with a serious hankering for some fresh juice. I have no idea why, but for some reason I had it stuck in my head that I needed a huge glass of freshly squeezed tropical fruit juice.
After wandering around peering into restaurants, I noticed a place where patrons were sipping juice with breakfast. Perfect!
Now, three years ago I didn’t have the adventurous palate that I do today.
I perused the menu and completely looked over the chilaquiles, molletes, and huevos rancheros. I kid you not, I ordered pancakes.
Luckily for me, my husband was brave enough to order a platter of chilaquiles. Â I was thinking to myself: What is chilaquiles? However, after tasting them, I quickly abandoned my pancakes in favor of what I can only describe as a dish somewhere between breakfast nachos and deconstructed enchiladas.
After that morning, I never looked back!
I even had a chance to devour some on my most recent trip to San Diego.
I love both chilaquiles verdes (front) and chilaquiles rojos (back).
I know the question in your mind right now:
How to Make Chilaquiles Rojos?
Here’s how I make them. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Assemble the chilaquiles ingredients. For the amounts of each ingredient, please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Next, I cut homemade corn tortillas into six wedges and arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet.
After spritzing with a bit of oil, I bake them for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until crisp. (Sometimes, if I’m really lazy, I’ll just use pre-made tortilla chips instead. If you try it this way, I wouldn’t add any salt to the sauce as pre-made chips are usually already salted).
While the chips are baking, I make an easy chilaquiles sauce. Place the tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, garlic, vegetable oil, salt, and cumin in the bowl of a blender or large food processor and puree until smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a non-stick pan or a cast iron skillet and set the heat to medium-high. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Next, then reduce the heat to low and add the chicken broth. Taste and add salt as needed.
Transfer the baked chips to the skillet and fold gently into the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes or until chips have softened and absorbed some of the salsa flavor.
Serve with toppings of your choice!
Save some time with this great 3-in-1 Avocado peeler, slicer and pitter tool.
This Mexican chilaquiles recipe gets better when you top with cilantro, cotija cheese, shredded chicken, avocado, onion, eggs, beans or pretty much anything your heart desires!
Here’s the Recipe!
Mexican Chilaquiles Rojos Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 corn tortillas - cut into triangular wedges
- 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
- 1 jalapeno - seeded
- 1/2 of a medium white onion - roughly chopped
- 2 cloves peeled garlic
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Optional Toppings
- Cotija cheese
- Shredded cooked chicken
- Eggs
- Beans
- Cilantro
- Mexican Crema
- Avocado
- Pickled Jalapeno
- Radish Slices
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the tortilla wedges in a single layer on two 13 x 9 baking sheets. Lightly spray with oil and bake for 15 minutes or until crisp.
- Meanwhile, place the tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, garlic, vegetable oil, salt, and cumin in the bowl of a blender or large food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a skillet and set the heat to medium-high. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then reduce the heat to low and add the chicken broth. Taste and add salt as needed.
- Transfer the baked chips to the skillet and fold gently into the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes or until chips have softened.
- Serve with toppings of your choice!
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Please note that chilaquiles recipes are sometimes called: chilaquiles mexicanos.
Also, chilaquiles is often misspelled as chilequiles, chilaquilles, chilaquilas, chilaques, chillaquiles, chilakiles, chilaqueles, chillaquilles, chile quiles, chilquiles, chilaqules, chilequilles or chiliquiles.
Your chilaquiles look wonderful! I live in San Diego…could you tell me where you ate while you were here? Thank you!
Hey Lucy. The best my mother and I have had so far here is Cotijas in Santee. Hopefully us both being Mexican carry a little weight on this subject. : )
As with most things, its an individual taste thing!
Thank you so much for this recipe! :’)
So glad you like it!
What do you usually serve with this? Rice, eggs, guac?
I usually have it with scrambled eggs 🙂
Those were delicious, thank you for the recipe 🙂