Next time you find yourself looking for chicken dinner ideas, give this Chicken Chilaquiles Recipe a try. They are packed full of flavor and come together even faster if you have shredded chicken on hand!
Originally posted March 27, 2009
I have been making this chicken chilaquiles recipe for years now. And every time I make it, I think to myself – why don’t I make this more often? This is one of those dinners that is super easy to throw together and that uses things that I usually already have in my kitchen.
We all know that I am a huge advocate of keeping cooked, shredded chicken on hand. It makes dinner time so much easier on those nights when you just don’t have the energy to cook. I’ll admit that I didn’t even know how to say chilaquiles back when I first published this recipe, but now this is one of my favorite dinners!
What are Chilaquiles
Ok – before I get into what chilaquiles actually are, I have to point out that I know that these are not traditional chilaquiles. These are definitely an easy, shortcut way to make chilaquiles, but the idea of chilaquiles is there.
Traditionally, chilaquiles are a Mexican dish that consists of fried tortilla strips that are topped with a spicy sauce and cheese. Usually, when I’ve had these at a restaurant, the chips are added to the pot with the sauce to cook, so the chips don’t remain super crispy. They are also usually served for breakfast or brunch and are often topped with or served with eggs.
My chilaquiles recipe adds chicken to the red sauce and turns it into a dinner.
How to make Chilaquiles
This chilaquiles recipe is so easy!!
- Start by making the sauce, which consists of garlic, diced tomatoes and chipotles in adobo plus some of the adobo sauce. I remove the seeds from the chipotles because I have kids eating, but if you like the heat, you can leave some or all of the seeds in the chiles. Cook all of this together, along with some water, until it makes a thick sauce.
- Add some cooked, shredded chicken to the mixture and let it heat through. Then, off the heat, stir in some cilantro.
- Place some tortilla chips in a bowl and top with some of the chicken mixture. Top that with sour cream, queso fresco and additional cilantro.
More Mexican Inspired Recipes
Mexican Shredded Beef Baked Taquitos
Mexican Corn Salad
Salsa Verde Chicken
Beef Tostadas
Steaks with Mexican Spices and Chile Con Queso
Mexican Egg and Sweet Potato Breakfast Scramble
Tres Leches Cake
Chicken Chilaquiles Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 28- ounce can diced tomatoes
- 2 chipotle chiles in adobo finely chopped, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- coarse salt
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves chopped
- 4 cups tortilla chips
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese
Instructions
- Combine oil and garlic in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and sizzling, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add undrained tomatoes, chipotles and adobo, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; season with salt. Reduce heat and simmer rapidly until lightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add chicken and cook, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in chopped cilantro.
- Divide chips among four shallow bowls; top with chicken mixture and sauce. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, sour cream, and queso fresco. Serve.
Lara says
I say it more like
chee-lay-key-LAYS!!
Nicole says
This is what I call a perfect dinner!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
I can see why this is a family favorite flavor wise. Plus it is probably a family favorite with the ‘cook’ too, because it’s easy. Yay! Kind of mini nacho dish.
Noelle says
I ran into your blog and noticed this recipe. I made this last week, remembering how my grandmother made it back in Mexico. See my blog!
Carrie says
Made this last night using diced tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. I thought I had some, but didn’t. What I’ll do differently next time: not put in so much tomato juice (final product was a little runny), put in a little sugar to combat the acidity of the tomatoes (was a little on the sour side), use 2 garlic cloves instead of 4 (my daughter found it too garlicky for her taste, a little overwhelming, but smelled great cooking), and cut out some olive oil. I used rotisserie chicken from the store, which my 8yo daughter shredded while I exercised. I also couldn’t find adobo sauce so I bought adobo spice with salt. I didn’t want to use the chipotle in adobo because it’d be too spicy for the family. The recipe came together so amazingly fast. It was awesome with the sour cream and a little shredded cheese. I also made tortilla chips using corn tortillas that I had in the fridge, lightly brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. We also ate it with Japanese rice, being from Hawaii, everything is great with rice. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing such a quick and delish recipe!
Look Younger says
wow ! it looks so yummy!
Andrew & Carlene Wood says
looks sooo tasty
carly~
Andrew & Carlene Wood says
looks sooo tasty
carly~
Nama says
This looks delicious! I’ll be trying it soon. Thanks!
Rochelle Yerrick says
Hello! I’m a new follower here, but LOVING your blog. Such great recipes…this cookbook looks awesome..I’d sure love to win it 😉
Crystal says
Chicken is great! I’ve never had these before, but they look great!
The Isom Eight says
I love chilaquiles! We devour them in our home! This recipe looks great!
Mama Goose says
Um. Yum. ‘Nuf said.
Kevin says
The chicken chilaquiles look tasty!
Jaime Palmer says
Wow, those chilaquiles look awesome! I love Mexican food, but this is not a dish I’ve ever tried!
Cammee says
oh, I would love that. I can’t wait to try this recipe.