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Red Chile Chicken Chilaquiles

By Yvette Marquez
Created January 10, 2017
Mexican comfort food at its finest, this family recipe for chilaquiles is a must-try.

Every Friday growing up, we had red enchiladas. And if there happened to be leftover sauce, I could always count on having chilaquiles for breakfast the next day. Pronounced chee-leh-kee-les, chilaquiles is made of corn tortilla wedges that are fried, simmered in sauce and sprinkled with cheese. Often served for breakfast, popular toppings include scrambled eggs or shredded chicken or a combination of the two.

The sauce for this recipe is made with dried red chiles, and is the same sauce my grandma made in Chihuahua, Mexico and my mother made while we were growing up in El Paso, Texas. It's a treasured recipe that is very special to me. Straining the boiled red chiles takes some time, but the resulting sauce is so velvety, making it well worth the extra work.

First, make the red chile sauce using dried red chile pods, also referred to as chile colorado, New Mexico chile or California chile.

chile-pods

Remove stems, seeds, and veins from the chile pods. Place in a colander and rinse well with cool water.

rinsed-chile-pods

Boil the pods with water, flour, garlic and salt; cool, blend, and strain sauce through a fine sieve.

red-chile-sauce-sieve

Discard skins and seeds and add tomato sauce.

red-chile-sauce-seeds

Cut corn tortillas into quarters with a pizza cutter.

tortilla wedges

In a large skillet, heat oil and fry corn tortilla pieces until crunchy.

fry-tortilla-chips

Add the red chile sauce, chicken and top with cheese just long enough for cheese to melt.

chicken-onions-cheese

Remove from heat and sprinkle with onions, queso fresco and garnish with cilantro. I hope you’ll enjoy this traditional Mexican dish, shared from my family recipe box to yours.

chicken-chilaquiles-veritcal

Ingredients

  • Red Chile Sauce (yields 3 1/2 to 4 cups)
    • 3oz California or New Mexico red chile pods
    • 2 1/2cups water
    • 3tablespoons Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
    • 1 1/2teaspoons salt
    • 2cloves garlic
    • 1can (8 oz) tomato sauce
  • Chilaquiles
    • 8corn tortillas
    • 1tablespoon canola oil
    • 2cups Red Chile Sauce
    • 1 1/2cups shredded cooked chicken
    • 1cup shredded Oaxaca or Muenster cheese (4 oz)
    • 1/3cup finely chopped green or red onions
    • 1cup crumbled queso fresco, Cotija or feta cheese (4 oz)
    • Fresh cilantro sprigs

Directions

  • 1To make Red Chile Sauce, remove stems, seeds, and veins from chile pods. Place in colander; rinse well with cool water.
  • 2Place chiles in 3-quart saucepan; add enough water so chiles are just covered. Heat water to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn chiles over with tongs to make sure chiles soften evenly. Drain cooked pods; cool before blending.
  • 3In blender, combine 2 1/2 cups water, the cooled chile pods, flour, salt and garlic. Cover; blend until smooth. Strain sauce through fine mesh strainer into bowl to remove skins and seeds; discard skins and seeds. Stir in tomato sauce. Taste; if necessary, season with additional salt.
  • 4To make Chilaquiles, cut corn tortillas into quarters. In 10- to 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add tortilla pieces; fry until crunchy.
  • 5Reduce heat to low. Add 2 cups of the Red Chile Sauce; mix just until all tortillas are coated. Stir in chicken; top with Oaxaca cheese. Cook just until cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with green onions and queso fresco cheese; garnish with cilantro.

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