You Can't Have Chips for Breakfast
My mom always told me, “You can’t have chips for breakfast….chips are NOT a breakfast food."
Well, if you live in Mexico (or you’re in certain restaurants in the U.S.) you can absolutely have chips for breakfast. Shockingly, it’s a pretty standard offering. Before you flip the breakfast nook table over, I’m not talking about busting into a bag of Lay’s or crunchy Cheetos over coffee. I’m talking about Chilaquiles. CHILL-A-KEY-LAYS. What’s chilaquiles you ask? It’s actually a dish with origins dating back centuries to the Aztecs but it all starts with tortilla chips. And it may be your favorite new breakfast dish.
Through our history of collective eating, we have created many dishes to use up old, dry, slightly stale ingredients. When times were tough, you had to make due with what you had and try not to waste anything.
Have some old, stale bread in America? Make some stuffing, French toast, bread pudding or croutons
Have some old, stale bread in Italy? Make a Panzanella, (bread salad) or a Ribollita soup (vegetable and bread soup)
Have some old, dried out rice in Asia? Make fried rice
It is the same idea with Chilaquiles and with corn tortilla chips as a base, making for an easy, simple and hearty dish that anyone can make. If you like enchiladas, then you will LOVE chilaquiles.
Consider: What is an enchilada? Corn tortillas (not fried), chile salsa, filled with cheese, meat or veggies.
What are chilaquiles? Corn tortillas (yes, fried), chile salsa, topped with cheese, meat or veggies. It’s the same ingredients - just cooked in a different way and served in a different form. Here are the ingredients:
CLASSIC CHILAQUILES RECIPE
VIDEO FOR STEP BY STEP COOKING
Corn tortilla chips. Can be crushed. Great recipe to use the bottom of the bag chips.
Salsa, your favorite. Red/green/both for Christmas style!?
GREAT ADD-ONS - choose your own adventure
Eggs, your favorite way of making them
Avocado
Bacon
Chicken. (maybe you have a ¼ of a roasted chicken in the fridge right now?)
Fajita veggies
Chorizo
Soyrizo
GARNISH
Cilantro
Sour cream/Crema
Cheese, queso fresco or your favorite
Onion, diced
Lime wedges
Hot sauce
STEPS
Makes 2-3 portions
Medium sized skillet to medium heat
Add chips & salsa. I usually start with about a ½ a bag (5-6 oz) of chips to 2 C of salsa
Crush chips. Stir until soft
If your ratio is a little dry, add a little more salsa
If your ratio is a little wet, add a few more chips
This should take 5-10 min
Cook your eggs separately and garnish as you like.
For extra flavor, cook your chorizo, bacon, or other meat in the skillet first for all that yummy flavor. Then add chips and salsa.
Look at that! You made breakfast… …with CHIPS…in the morning!!
What a tasty world.
Chilaquiles is not only a tasty, affordable dish to make at home but it’s also great for a crowd. If you’re nervous about serving chips for breakfast, just tell your guests it’s an “Enchilada Breakfast Casserole.”
See you can have chips for breakfast and it tastes great/deliciouso!
Cheers!
Fun chip fact:
While many regions in Mexico have chips and salsa available for snacking, it’s not as standard as it is in America. And they have another word for chips that are specifically used for chilaquiles - Totopos. (learn something new every day!)