Chicken Chilaquiles is the dish to put together when you are short on time. Tender and perfectly spiced chicken breasts and black beans in a beautiful chipotle sauce baked with tortilla chips and warm corn salsa. Perfect dinner that is BIG on flavour.
Add our 5 Minute Blender Salsa Fresca when serving! Those flavours really compliment each other.
My kids never get tired of tacos. I can make them every day and they will happily eat them. I do need some variety though, so I decided to make chilaquiles. Easy and full of flavour!
This dish is a quick way to get all those amazing Tex-Mex flavours into one dish. Indulgence? Perhaps. But you won’t regret it!
What are chicken chilaquiles?
This Mexican bake is like the ultimate nacho plate your dreams are made of! It’s got tortilla chips smothered in spicy chipotle sauce with tender chicken and black beans.
Served with warm corn salsa and sour cream! Seriously, this meal is so delicious and epic, you will want to make it every Friday night! Or maybe every night if that’s how you roll.
How to make it
It’s also incredibly easy to pull off, especially if you choose to use a rotisserie chicken and a ready made pico de gallo! This recipe was given to me by a friend but, as usual, I had to play with it a bit to make it my own.
First of all, rotisserie chickens are not very common in British supermarkets, so I cooked chicken breasts instead. Neither is pico de gallo, so I had to make my own.
I also added a bunch of spices because that’s how we like it. The recipe, that was given to me, suggested serving the chicken in bowls and tortilla chips on the side.
However, I decided to bake it because that’s how I remember I first learned making it from someone who lived in Mexico.
Chicken Chilaquiles with Warm Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts chopped in bite-sized pieces
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 X14 oz/400g cans of chopped tomatoes
- ¼ cup/100g chipotle paste
- 1 X14 oz/400g can of black beans
- 1 cup cilantro chopped
For the warm corn salsa
- 1 red onion medium
- 1 red chilli
- 1 cup cilantro/coriander
- 4 cloves garlic divided
- lime juice from ½ lime
- 4 tomatoes large
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups frozen corn
Add-ins
- 1 or 2 bag of tortilla chips
- Cotija cheese or soft feta as a substitute
- sour cream
- cherry tomatoes
- avocados/guacamole
- spring onions
- green chilli sliced
Instructions
- In a large frying pan heat olive oil and brown chicken breast pieces over medium-high heat with cumin, chilli powder, oregano and salt until sealed but not cooked all the way through for approximately 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl.
- To the same skillet add chopped onion and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, then add garlic and continue cooking for 2 minutes, then add cans of chopped tomatoes and chipotle paste, stir, turn the heat up and bring to a boil. Return the chicken back to the pan, add black beans, cover with a lid, lower the heat and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile in a food processor or a blender make Pico de Gallo by combining all salsa ingredients but olive oil, corn and 2 cloves of garlic, pulse for a few seconds.
- In another skillet saute garlic in olive oil for a minute, then add frozen corn and cook until the corn is warmed through for about 2-3 minutes. Take it off the heat and combine with the previously made Pico de Gallo. Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Now stir in fresh cilantro into the chicken and take off the heat.
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
- To assemble Chicken Chilaquiles layer tortilla chips and the spicy chicken mixture in a deep skillet or a sheet pan with rims. You can do either one or two layers of each chips and the spicy chicken mixture and top with cheese of your choice. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Serve with additional toppings suggested in the ingredient list.
