The Worst Way To Ruin Your Brunch Chilaquiles Is A Common Mistake

Chilaquiles are an iconic Mexican breakfast made with homemade tortilla chips soaked in chili sauce. The tortilla chips that make up the foundation of the dish are meant to be crispy and smothered in layers of flavor — all topped with a fried egg on a plate next to a copycat Costco mimosa. They're supposed to be saturated without getting soggy, soft but not mushy. Drenching chilaquiles is a common mistake and a quick way to ruin brunch.

Chilaquiles are tricky, thanks to the many opportunities to soak your tortillas. They'll get soggy if they are exposed to too much oil or sauce, mixed with melted cheese. An egg over-easy smothers the tortillas in yolk. The drippings from your homemade pico de gallo will make its way to those chips, too. You need chips that'll stand up to the mountain of ingredients in chilaquiles, and it all starts when you're frying tortillas. The trick to making crispy homemade tortilla chips for your next chilaquiles is to not to overcrowd your pan. Fry tortilla chips in smaller batches to control the texture and use a candy thermometer, like this one (it comes with a heart pot clip holder) to check that the oil temperature is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit before frying. Use a wide, flat slotted spoon to fish out your tortillas and let the oil drain from them as they're drying.

Even the sturdiest homemade tortilla chips can turn into mush under too many wet toppings, and chilaquiles are known for their wet toppings. Of course, there's the fresh garnishes and maybe some sour cream, but they're completely smothered in homemade chili sauce — or store-bought versions of roja sauce and salsa verde for chilaquiles. Maybe you're using the leftovers from last night's dinner, featuring one of the 15 different styles of Mexican tacos. Leftovers from taco night work well as a base for cheap, delicious, and quick chilaquiles.

Homemade tortilla chips can be fried in shallow oil or deep fried, you can even toast them in the oven, but the type of tortilla you use matters. Traditionally, chips for chilaquiles are made with corn tortillas, and yellow corn works the best. Compared to blue or white corn tortillas, the yellow version is drier and the tortilla wedges crisp up quicker. Flour tortillas work as well, but your chilaquiles won't be as authentic as if you use corn. An easy hack to faster chilaquiles is to use packaged tortilla chips like Xochitl's Totpos de Maíz chips (they're sturdy enough for chilaquiles!) and bypass making the homemade version altogether.