What is ‘chilaquiles’?
It is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of corn tortillas cut into thin strips and lightly fried.
We love Mexican food in our household, the spicier the better!! When we were able to go out to eat before COVID-19 took over our social lives; a local Mexican food hot spot we would visit frequently served this dish. We loved our ‘Taco Tuesday’ date night, it was our favorite! We didn’t even need to see the menu – it was so delicious that we consistently ordered it. Unfortunately, since the current state of living I had to try to re-create this dish for our latest ‘Taco Tuesday’. It wasn’t like the ‘original’ but it was still delicious! We will definitely make this one again at home!
Makes about 8 servings
Roughly about 1 hour to make from start to finish
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese
- 1 cup of cotija cheese
- Vegetable oil
- 12 – 6inch corn tortilla
- 3 1/2 cups of salsa verde
- homemade version or
- 2 – 16 oz jars of your favorite
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp each cumin, salt, and pepper
- 1 pound of cooked chicken
- 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
- Chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
- Combine in a bowl; 3 cups of your favorite cheeses
- Heat 1/2 inch of oil (vegetable works best) in a sauté pan over medium until shimmering
- Fry in pan 12 6-inch round corn tortilla (cut into 1 inch thick strips) in batches until golden brown. About 5 minutes per batch, then transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, season with salt
- Combine in a separate bowl; salsa verde, heavy cream, spices, chicken, onion
- In a prepped casserole dish spread a thin layer of cheeses on the bottom. Next, spread 1/3 of the tortilla strips on top of the cheese mixture. Then, spread 1/3 of chicken mixture on top of tortilla strips
- Repeat the layering process, starting again with the cheese mixture (similar to how you would layer lasagna)
- Bake the ‘chilaquiles’ at 350 degrees, until cheese melts and edges of the casserole bubble, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle cilantro over the top before serving
Enjoy – see you in the Kitchen!
Homemade Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
- 12 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
- 2 medium jalapeños, stemmed
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- pinch of salt
Directions:
- Place tomatillos and jalapeños on a baking sheet, broil in the oven until they blacken
- In a food processor combine onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Once the peppers are done in the oven transfer them to the food processor
- Pulse mixture until completely smooth and no big chunks remain. Season to taste with additional lime juice or salt, if desired
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