Spice Up Your Breakfast With Chilaquiles at Home
Is there anything like the prospect of a great breakfast to make you rise and shine? According to the internet, there’s not.
In the last 30 days, there was an 80% increase in Google searches for breakfast recipes. That makes it an excellent time to get a copy of Emily Elyse Miller’s Breakfast: The Cookbook. We asked Emily to share one of her 380 recipes from around the world, and she picked chilaquiles. It’s the best way to get a taste of Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, one of our bestselling Atlas Obscura trips, at home.
“This chilaquiles recipe is to help you cope with the crushing reality that travel is at a standstill,” said Emily. “It’s a traditional Mexican breakfast, and the perfect vehicle to transport the vibrant street food culture of CDMX to your kitchen.”
What are chilaquiles?
Chilaquiles are torn corn tortillas soaked in salsa verde or salsa roja and topped with a combination of crema, chopped onion, shredded chicken, or a fried egg. Typically served with a bolillo (large hero roll), chilaquiles can also be stuffed inside the bread to create a torta de chilaquiles. These two salsas—salsa verde or salsa roja—are used to top an array of American and Mexican Southwestern breakfast items such as Huevos Rancheros, Enchiladas Montadas, and more.
How to make chilaquiles at home
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Serves: 2
8 corn tortillas, quartered
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup (240 ml/8 fl oz) Salsa Verde or Salsa Roja
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons crema
2 tablespoons crumbled Cotija cheese
1/4 small onion, diced
1/2 avocado, sliced (optional)
Cilantro (coriander) leaves, for garnish
In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, add the tortilla quarters and fry until the chips are golden brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the chips to paper towels to drain.
In the sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the salsa and cook to warm through. Add the chips and stir to coat with the salsa.
Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Crack in the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the white is set and the edges are golden and crispy, about 2 minutes more. In the last 30 seconds of cooking, use a spoon to baste the egg white with the hot oil, helping to finish cooking the white. Transfer the fried eggs to a plate using a spatula.
To serve, spoon the chips and salsa on 2 plates. Top with the fried eggs, crema, Cotija, onion, avocado (if using), and cilantro (coriander).
Notes: You could use 20 store-bought unsalted thick-cut tortilla chips in place of the tortillas. Just skip the first frying step and warm the chips in the salsa as directed. As a substitute for crema, combine 2 tablespoons sour cream and 2 tablespoons heavy (whipping) cream, 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice, and a pinch of salt.
Emily Elyse Miller, author of Phaidon’s Breakfast: The Cookbook, is a renowned authority on breakfast. Through her BreakfastClub series, she’s led more than 40 events in a dozen cities around the world, hosts breakfast walking tours, and writes global trend reports for leading publications.
By Nick Papa
I’m the editor of the Atlas Obscura trips blog. I talk to our trip leaders, travelers, and friends in the industry about how they explore the world’s wondrous places.
