Chilaquiles Verdes
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Chilaquiles Verdes is a traditional Mexican dish, made with crispy fried corn tortillas and salsa verde. In this easy homemade recipe, we’re using thick crispy tortilla chips and green enchilada sauce to make chilaquiles in just 15 minutes!
It’s delicious for breakfast with an egg on top, or for dinner with shredded chicken or pork!
Table of contents
With the popularity of Kurt’s Famous Chilaquiles Rojos, I knew I had to create a chilaquiles verdes that was just as delicious and easy to make! Since the recipe basically consists of two things, green sauce + fried corn tortillas, I knew that the sauce had to be incredibly flavorful.
That’s when I turned to my Green Enchilada Sauce recipe. It’s very similar to salsa verde, the only difference is that there’s vegetable broth in the sauce. This makes it a sauce instead of a salsa. It actually works really well for this recipe because the chips soak up the sauce perfectly!
Now on to the next part of the recipe, the fried corn tortillas. In our house, we cheat this part and purchase really thick, crispy Mexican tortilla chips at either Costco or a Mexican market. They work perfectly with this recipe and saves the step of frying corn tortillas.
While this might not be the most traditional chilaquiles recipe ever, it’s pretty darn close and easy to make in 10-15 minutes. This is our go-to breakfast:
- After a hike – time to carb load!
- When we have friends or family in town – it’s easy to make a big batch of chilaquiles for a crowd!
- When we’re feeling lazy and want something quick and delicious for brunch – it’s the weekend, let’s relax with a big plate of saucy chips!
- At least one weekend a month – this is honestly one of our favorite brunch recipes, you’ll catch us making it at least once a month at our house!
Ingredients you’ll need
- Green enchilada sauce (or salsa verde) – I’m always going to recommend making your own sauce if you have time. I always make a double batch of this green enchilada sauce, just so I have extra on hand to make enchiladas one night, then chilaquiles verdes on the weekend. If you don’t have any homemade sauce on hand, you can pick up a jar of your favorite green enchilada sauce, tomatillo sauce or salsa verde at the grocery store.
- Thick tortilla chips – it’s super important to find thick, hearty store bought tortilla chips for this recipe. Thin tortilla chips will not hold up! We purchase the La Fortaleza Tortilla Chips at Costco for this recipe. If there is a Mexican brand of tortilla chips at your grocery store, I recommend checking those out first as they’re normally thicker than the American brands of tortilla chips.
For the toppings
One of my favorite things about chilaquiles is how easily you can make it your own! I’m going to list all of our favorite toppings below, plus a few extra ideas. Feel free to add as many or few as you like!
- Cotija cheese – while this is my favorite cheese for topping the chilaquiles, any salty, white crumbly cheese will work for this recipe. Feel free to substitute in queso fresco if cotija can’t be found, or in a real pinch, you can use feta cheese.
- Sour cream – Mexican crema is a more traditional topping for chilaquiles, but we always have sour cream on hand, so that’s what we use! Feel free to use either to add a cool creaminess on top of the chilaquiles.
- Cilantro – fresh cilantro leaves add color, flavor and texture on top of the chilaquiles. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, you can leave it off, or substitute in diced green onions for that pop of color and flavor on top of the dish!
- Red onion – I love the crunch and bite that raw red onion adds on top of the dish.
- Jalapeno – just like the onion, diced jalapenos add a nice crunch on top of the dish, as well as some spice!
- Avocado – a few slices of creamy avocado compliments the flavor and textures in this recipe.
- Eggs – chilaquiles are commonly topped with a fried egg or scrambled eggs. We actually prefer the recipe without eggs, but if you want to add some eggy goodness on top, go right ahead!
- Black beans or refried beans – black beans, drained and rinsed from a can, can be added on top of the chilaquiles. Refried beans are perfect for serving on the side.
- Guacamole – to keep this recipe easy, we simply add sliced avocado on top, but if you’re feeling the guac, go ahead and scoop it on top. My homemade recipe only takes 10 minutes to make!
- Pico de gallo – for a bright, fresh flavor on top, try sprinkling on some pico de gallo!
Step by step instructions
- Be sure to find thick tortilla chips. I can’t stress this enough! You really need a thick, hearty bag of tortilla chips for this recipe to work properly.
- Add the enchilada sauce to a large pan or dutch oven on the stove. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the tortilla chips to the sauce. Toss for 3-4 minutes or until all of the chips have been covered in the sauce.
Spoon the chilaquiles out onto four separate plates and add the toppings of your choice. If you want to add eggs, I recommend cooking the eggs while the sauce is simmering in the pan. The eggs can be fried, scrambled, poached, totally up to you!
Tips and tricks
- Using more or less tortilla chips will determine how saucy the chilaquiles are. For a more saucy dish, use 6-8 cups of tortilla chips, for a less saucy dish, use 8-10 cups of tortilla chips. In the recipe you see pictured throughout this post, I used 8 cups of tortilla chips. This is a happy medium that I find to be perfect for making chilaquiles!
- Chilaquiles should still be slightly crunchy when you serve them. For this reason, you want to serve them immediately after the chips are tossed in the sauce.
- Leftover chilaquiles can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I like to add them back to a skillet over high heat to reheat the sauce and give the chips back a little of their crispy texture. You can also eat them cold, straight out of the fridge, with a fork and some extra cotija cheese. Just saying from experience, that’s not a bad idea either! 😉
- While this recipe is delicious for breakfast or brunch, you can also eat it for lunch or dinner. There’s no timeframe on deliciousness in our house! When I’m looking for a quick and easy dinner, these chilaquiles verdes are always on the menu.
Can you add meat to chilaquiles?
Yes! Chicken and pork are both delicious additions to chilaquiles verdes. I recommend adding shredded chicken or pork to the enchilada sauce before the chips are added to make the chilaquiles.
You can use shredded chicken pulled from a rotisserie chicken. Or try this Instant Pot recipe for taco seasoned shredded chicken, or this chicken birria recipe.
For the pork, you can use this slow cooker chipotle pulled pork recipe, or this Instant Pot recipe for pulled pork taco meat.
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Chilaquiles Verdes
Ingredients
- 16 ounces green enchilada sauce, click link for recipe
- 8 cups thick tortilla chips
Toppings
- ½ cup cotija cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- ½ jalapeno, thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add the enchilada sauce to a large pan or dutch oven on the stove over medium high heat.
- Bring to a simmer over medium high heat, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the tortilla chips to the sauce.
- Toss for 3-4 minutes or until all of the chips have been covered in the sauce.
- Spoon the chilaquiles out onto four separate plates and add the toppings of your choice.
Notes
- Be sure to find thick tortilla chips. I can’t stress this enough! You really need a thick, hearty bag of tortilla chips for this recipe to work properly.
- Cooked, shredded chicken or pork can be added to this recipe. I recommend adding 1 cup of cooked, shredded meat to the sauce before adding the chips.
- If you want to add eggs, I recommend cooking the eggs while the sauce is simmering in the pan. The eggs can be fried, scrambled, poached, totally up to you!
- Using more or less tortilla chips will determine how saucy the chilaquiles are. For a more saucy dish, use 6-8 cups of tortilla chips, for a less saucy dish, use 8-10 cups of tortilla chips. In the recipe you see pictured throughout this post, I used 8 cups of tortilla chips. This is a happy medium that I find to be perfect for making chilaquiles!
- Leftover chilaquiles can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I like to add them back to a skillet over high heat to reheat the sauce and give the chips back a little of their crispy texture.
Nutrition Facts
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3 Comments on “Chilaquiles Verdes”
I made this exactly as written last night and even made my own tortilla chips. It was AMAZING. My husband kept saying it smelled so good and tasted even better! It is definitely a MUST try recipe!
I made these with breakfast street tacos on a campout with 10 Senior adult friends. What a delicious last day breakfast. I made the green enchilada sauce the day before by roasting the veggies over the campfire. It was delicious! I am going to try it on my family next but will use poblanos as it was a little more spicy than the grands will want.
Love to hear that Donna, thanks for sharing! And I really love that you roasted the veggies over the campfire, what a delicious idea!