Single Serve Chilaquiles

December 1, 2017 by Nicole Collins

Who loves breakfast?!?!?

I know I sure do!

I am absolutely one of those people that eats breakfast foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Eggs are one of my favorite things ever. They’re easy, they’re cheap, they’re versatile, and they’re delicious!

It’s funny because as much as I love breakfast, my breakfast patterns during the work week are pretty dull. Yogurt and banana. Monday-Friday. That’s it. Yogurt and banana. And, I don't always eat the banana. At least I switch up the yogurt flavors day to day.

I used to be pretty simple when it came to my weekend breakfasts too. Scrambled eggs with onion and cheese, some tater tots on the side, and maybe some bacon if I felt like frying it up. (I know. How could anyone ever not feel like frying bacon?) That was also back in the day when I used to put ketchup on my scrambled eggs.

One morning about 2 years ago, I wanted to make my tried and true scrambled eggs, but I didn’t have any milk or ketchup. Now, I’ve used water before to loosen up my eggs for my scramble, but I just wasn’t sold on making that change plus not having my dipping sauce.

So, I started digging around in my fridge, and I saw the salsa. I thought, why not? The salsa could be the liquid to replace the milk AND the tomato element to replace the ketchup. I just so happened to have pepperjack cheese in the fridge, so I threw that in there too. And, it was AMAZING!

That was the moment that changed my “stuck in the mud” breakfast habits.

As I started experimenting more and more, I started adding avocado to the mix. Then, I’d take the eggs, salsa, and avocado and throw it in a soft taco shell. My weekend breakfast choices have gradually become more and more Mexican cuisine inspired. And, I love it!

So today, we’re making one of my Mexi favorites: Chilaquiles.

But, we’re taking some help from the grocery store and using some short cuts to make these super easy. And, we’re making them in individual single servings! So, they’re totally adorable!

Traditional chilaquiles are typically freshly fried tortilla chips soaked in a homemade salsa roja (red) or salsa verde (green), topped with a fried egg, and crisped up in a cast iron skillet. There are lots of variations that add an extra protein, more veggies, or some cheeses. We’re adding all 3!

Chilaquiles are not just breakfast nachos. Let’s make sure we get that straight. The chips don’t just get topped with salsa; they get submerged in it. But, there’s a very fine line between making sure they’re covered in flavor and making sure they don’t get soggy. We don’t want to lose that awesome crunch factor!

We’re going to let the grocery store help us on this one by using store bought tortilla chips and store bought salsa roja. Salsa roja is different than the everyday salsa you pick up off of the shelf. The flavor is a little deeper, it’s a littler smoother, and it’s just a touch spicier. I picked up my jar from the Mexican cuisine section of the grocery store as opposed to the chips and dip aisle.

We’re also going to make this a little heartier by adding ground chorizo. I LOVE chorizo. It’s so flavorful and really brings this dish to life. The cooked chorizo gets mixed with the salsa before we go tossing the chips around it. We’ll leave them in there just long enough to make sure they’re coated and yummy. Make sure to grab Mexican chorizo, and not Spanish chorizo. Spanish chorizo is already smoked and cured, but Mexican is ground and needs to be cooked first.

After we toss the chips in the goodness, we put it in an adorable mini cast iron skillet, and stick it in the oven for a few minutes to get extra crispy. When it comes out, we top it with some sliced avocado, some thinly sliced radishes, some green onion, some queso fresco, and a gooey fried egg. The egg yolk almost becomes like a second sauce. WOW!

And here’s a secret…you know those cookie gift kits that start popping up this time of year? They typically come with a mini cast iron skillet. And, they’re generally cheaper than just going out a buying a mini cast iron skillet. So, that’s what I get. Plus, you get a bonus ooey gooey cookie!

And of course, this dish is not just for breakfast. This makes an appearance for lunch and dinner all of the time at my house!

So, now I look forward to my weekend breakfasts since it’s something different every weekend. And, now you can add this to your repertoire too!

Enjoy, and let’s eat!

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Single Serve Chilaquiles

Serves: 1 Print

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Mexican chorizo, cooked and crumbled

• ½ cup salsa roja

• 10 corn tortilla chips (I use restaurant style)

• 2 tbsp crumbled queso fresco

• 1 green onion (green parts only) chopped

• 1 radish, thinly sliced

• ¼ avocado, sliced

• 1 fried egg

• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, combine salsa and chorizo. Add tortilla chips, and gently toss until chips are completely coated. Transfer to a mini cast iron skillet or small croquette. Bake for 8-10 until chips start to turn brown on the edges. Remove from oven.

2. Top chips with queso fresco, green onion, radish, avocado, egg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.

Recipe notes:

*Salsa roja is a different than your everyday salsa. Make sure you get salsa roja. I buy mine from the Mexican cuisine section of the grocery store instead of the chip and dip aisle.

*One of the mini cast iron skillets that comes in the skillet cookie gift kits you see this time of year works perfectly for this. A personal size casserole dish works just as well.

*A poached egg would be good on this as a opposed to a fried egg too!

*Mexican chorizo is a fresh ground chorizo that needs to be cooked. Spanish chorizo is already cured and smoked. Make sure you get Mexican chorizo.