Easy Chilaquiles

Make Mexican chilaquiles by simmering fried corn tortillas in salsa and serving with cheese, eggs, or beans. An easy and filling breakfast!

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
Learn about Simply Recipes' Editorial Process
Updated April 26, 2022
Elise Bauer
Chilaquiles on a plate with a fork.
Sally Vargas

Chilaquiles. Chee-lah-KEE-less! I mentioned I wanted to make chilaquiles to a Mexican friend the other day and you should have seen the smile and look of rapture that came over his face.

This is true Mexican comfort food, what your mom made you for breakfast when she had some stale tortillas that needed to get used up.

What Are Chilaquiles?

Chilaquiles are basically corn tortilla pieces that are fried, cooked in salsa, and sprinkled with cheese. They are often served for breakfast with eggs and a side of beans or nopalitos.

My mother grew up with her mother making them with green chile tomato salsa and grated longhorn cheese, a Tex Mex version.

A plate of chilaquiles rojos.
Sally Vargas

Red or Green Sauce for Chilaquiles?

I recently brought some homemade salsa verde over to my friend Arturo's house and he made two traditional Mexican versions for me, one with the salsa verde, and one with a red chile sauce made with dried ancho chiles. Recipes for both follow.

Do you like enchiladas? Chilaquiles are basically the same ingredients, but with a lot less work. No rolling.

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Watch This Tasty Mexican Chilaquiles Recipe

More Salsas for Chilaquiles

Feel free to use store-bought salsa in this recipe, but if you're inclined to make your own from scratch we've included recipes for homemade salsas at the end of our recipe. Here are a few more options:

Ways to Top Chilaquiles

Make your chilaquiles your own — here are some popular toppings:

Finish your dish with some of these tasty garnishes:

  • Crumbled cheese, such as cotija or queso fresco
  • Crema Mexicana or crème fraîche 
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Chopped red onion
  • Sliced avocado

5 More Ways to Use Salsa

If you enjoy cooking with bright, flavorful salsas, here are more dishes to try:

From the Editors Of Simply Recipes

Easy Chilaquiles

Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Servings 4 servings

It will help with the frying if your tortillas are a little dry. If they are fresh, cut them first, put them in a warm oven for a few minutes first to dry them out a bit, then proceed.

For easy homemade salsa verde and red chile sauce recipes, look at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients

  • 12 corn tortillas, preferably stale, or left out overnight to dry out a bit, quartered or cut into 6 wedges

  • Corn oil, or other neutral oil for frying

  • Kosher salt

  • 1 1/2 to 2 cups red chile sauce or salsa verde, store-bought or homemade (see end of recipe for homemade versions)

  • Sprigs of epazote, optional

Garnishes

  • Cotija cheese or queso fresco

  • Crema Mexicana or creme fraiche

  • Cilantro, chopped

  • 1 red onion, chopped

  • Avocado, sliced or roughly chopped

Method

  1. Fry the tortillas:

    In a large sauté pan, coat pan generously with corn oil, (1/8 inch), heat on medium high to high. When the oil is quite hot, add the tortillas, fry until golden brown.

    Remove tortillas to a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess oil. Sprinkle a little salt on the tortillas.

    Wipe pan clean of any browned bits of tortillas.

    Tortilla chips frying in a skillet to make Chilaquiles.
    Sally Vargas
  2. Heat the salsa:

    Add 2 tablespoons of oil to pan, bring to high heat again. Add the salsa and let salsa cook for several minutes. If you have a few sprigs of epazote, add them to the salsa.

    Red sauce in a skillet to make a chilaquiles recipe.
    Sally Vargas
  3. Add fried tortillas to the salsa:

    Add the fried tortilla quarters to the salsa. Gently turn over the pieces of tortilla until they are all well coated with salsa. Let cook for a few minutes more.

    Remove from heat. Serve chilaquiles with garnishes and fried eggs and beans or nopalitos.

    Chips and sauce in a skillet to show how to make chilaquiles.
    Sally Vargas

Red chile sauce

Take 4 dried ancho chiles, remove seeds, stems, and veins. Heat chiles lightly on a skillet on medium heat to draw out their flavor. Put chilies in a saucepan, pour boiling hot water over to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes. Add chiles, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1 1/2 cups of chile soaking liquid to a blender. Hold down lid of blender tightly while blending, blend until completely puréed. Strain through a mesh sieve into a frying pan to make the chilaquiles.

Salsa verde

Put 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed, into a saucepan, cover with water by an inch. Add 1 jalapeno, stems and seeds removed. Add 2 cloves garlic. Bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until tomatillos have changed color and are cooked through. Use slotted spoon to remove tomatillos, jalapeno and garlic to a blender. Add a cup of the cooking liquid. Blend until completely puréed. Add salt to taste.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
264 Calories
10g Fat
40g Carbs
5g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 264
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g 13%
Saturated Fat 1g 6%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 898mg 39%
Total Carbohydrate 40g 14%
Dietary Fiber 7g 24%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 15mg 74%
Calcium 69mg 5%
Iron 2mg 9%
Potassium 445mg 9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.