My husband and son just drove to Atlanta, and ate at a Waffle House. We don’t have any Waffle Houses here in South Texas, probably because they don’t serve chilaquiles, our quintessential breakfast comfort dish. I love ya, waffles, but you are not chilaquiles.
Chilaquiles are Comfort Food
Chilaquiles are simply tortilla chips covered in sauce, and any other topping you prefer to include. In my mind, you can compare it to Welsh Rarebit, or English style beans on toast – Just a simple comfort dish that can be jazzed up, or served up plain..
The name may give the impression that chilaquiles are loaded with chile peppers, but really I have never had a spicy batch. Sure, they can have a little bit of spice, but in the morning, I can’t handle anything too bold. Life is bold enough for me in the morning, so my chilaquiles have to be kind and gentle. Free free to add more chiles if you like, but make a separate dish for me.
Make Your Own Tortilla Chips…Or Not.
Making your own tortilla chips is completely the way to go, but of course store bought work just fine too. Try to buy a brand that is lightly salted, with not too much flavoring. You want your chilaquile sauce to be light and delicious, and not overwhelmed with salt.
Chilaquiles is a great dish for experimentation, so feel free to pile on different toppings, such as shredded chicken, pulled pork, pan fried tempeh, or tofu cutlets. We usually pile on the cheese, Mexican style crema and onions, and only occasionally add chicken. For such a messy comfort dish, we are purists.
One of the best toppings for chilaquiles is fried eggs, which works well for either breakfast or a light supper. In fact, this is my favorite quick evening meal when the boys are home.
And between you and me, I do hope they come home soon.
Chilaquiles Verdes (Chilaquiles in Green Sauce)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 seconds
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Breakast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
About 2 handfuls of tortilla chips per person (I make my own chips)
Sauce for 4 servings:
1 lb (500g) fresh tomatillos
2 tbsp. (30g) chile piquin/chile serrano
1 tsp. salt (4g) or to taste
1 clove garlic
Toppings: 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (112g)
1 avocado, chopped 1/2 onion, sliced
Chopped cilantro
1 cup shredded cheese (115g)
Instructions
Remove the husks, wash and boil the tomatillos, about 10 minutes. Drain and discard water. In the same saucepan, puree the tomatillos along with the garlic using an immersion blender.
Grind the chiles and salt together in a molcajete. Stir in the tomatillo puree. Warm the sauce for approximately 30 seconds in the microwave right before you assemble your chilaquiles. Arrange the shredded chicken over the chips. Pour some of the warm sauce over the chicken and chips, and top with the avocado, onion, cilantro and cheese.
So damned good. And reminds me of breakfast with Rosemary Kowalski who advised half chilaqiles, half migas.
NANCY! so good to get your note. Rosemary is a classic, more so than chilaquiles. I love her. And you!! hope you are well!!
mg