Homemade Chilaquiles Recipe

What's not to love about chilaquiles? Traditional breakfast foods like bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns are great, but it's nice to spice things up with a little Mexican flare every once in a while. These chilaquiles are the complete meal. From the homemade tortilla chips smothered in homemade salsa to the toppings like Mexican crema, cotija cheese, avocado, and radish, this recipe will undoubtedly impress your brunch guests.

Recipe developer Michell McGlinn came up with this wonderful spin on chilaquiles that will be a new fave in your household. "I love that this is actually very simple to pull together from near-scratch," McGlinn shares, adding you can make it with store-bought chips and salsa, but homemade is just better. "I like that it is very flavorful — a bit spicy, a little tangy, and super fresh tasting from the cilantro. When you break the yolk over the chips — oh, it is so creamy and delicious!" she shares. Another plus? The fact that you can go crazy with the toppings, customizing it to your exact taste buds.

Once you're ready to begin, you will need to make a list and head to the store. Pick up four tomatillos, a jalapeño, onion, cilantro, lime, salt, tortillas, neutral oil (McGlinn uses vegetable), eggs, Dollop Mexican crema, cotija cheese, avocado, radish, and lime wedges.

The first ingredient that you will need to get out is the tortillas. Cut each one in half lengthwise and then again crosswise, to make four triangular chips per tortilla. This means that ten tortillas will yield 40 chips.

"You can use either," McGlinn says of using flour or corn tortillas. "I much prefer corn though! It's truly personal preference as either will fry into a chip, but corn has a really nice salty flavor that I think works well with salsas and moles. I know a lot of people prefer flour, though!"

Grab a cast-iron skillet and place it on your stove. Add a thin layer of oil and turn the heat to medium. The oil should cover the bottom of the skillet pretty well, but it shouldn't be deep enough to submerge the tortillas.

Working in batches, add the tortilla chips to the skillet and fry until they're crisp on both sides. Avoid crowding the pan and allow each chip to lay flat in the skillet. Fry the tortillas until fluffy and golden, and then flip. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until golden and crispy. In between batches, add more oil as needed. Finally, place the tortilla chips on a paper towel-lined plate to remove the excess oil.

While you fry the chips, preheat the broiler on a high setting and add the peeled tomatillos, jalapeño, and onion on a foil-lined sheet pan. Once the oven preheats, broil the veggies for 5 minutes, before flipping them and adding garlic to the pan. Broil for an additional 5 minutes, or until the veggies begin to char. "You can core and de-seed the tomatillos and peppers before broiling," McGlinn shares. "You may just want to adjust cooking time by a few minutes so that the smaller pieces don't burn."

"The method of broiling the vegetables before blending them is a technique worth trying," McGlinn says of the unique method. "This method is faster than roasting the vegetables and gives a nice, smokey char."

Once you finish charring the veggies, it's time to make the salsa. Remove the stems from the tomatillos and then remove the seeds from the jalapeño. Add the tomatillos, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and onion to a food processor and blend until well combined. If you find the mixture is too thick, you can add 2 tablespoons of water. For a milder salsa, just use half the jalapeño instead.

You will need the skillet for this step, so go ahead and wipe it clean to remove any excess oil. Toss the tortilla chips back into the skillet and turn the heat to medium-low. Next, add the salsa and stir gently to combine until heated through. This should only take about two minutes or so.

Grab a plate and load the chips and salsa on the bottom. Top with chips a fried egg, a dollop of crema, a sprinkle of cotija cheese, avocado slices, cilantro, and radish. You can add a little more citrus and serve with a lime wedge if you wish. McGlinn also provides a few additional serving suggestions. "We also add shredded chicken to our chilaquiles for extra protein. It's so good — just use leftover chicken, rotisserie, or even canned chicken and heat it with the salsa," she shares. You could also add pork or beans.

Another good idea? "I also had a friend who made his chilaquiles with scrambled eggs mixed in — it was actually so delicious and one of my favorite variations, so don't be afraid to switch up the eggs too," McGlinn notes.