Make these Vegan Chilaquiles Verdes for a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It’s made with an easy homemade salsa verde, baked tortilla chips, and a simple vegan sour cream! The recipe is naturally gluten-free and has a grain-free, paleo option.
In March, my boyfriend Kyle and I flew down to Mexico City for a 10-day trip exploring Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, and Tepotzlan. The trip was exceptional. Mexico is one of my favorite places to travel to and this trip was one of my most magical explorations of the country.
We climbed the ancient pyramids of Teotihuacan and dug in the nearby 2,000-year-old tunnels, and were mesmerized by the art and shopping in the artisan markets of San Miguel de Allende. We relaxed in the jungle of Teopotzlan and hung out in a vegan cafe with the locals.
But of course, the highlight of any trip to Mexico has to be the food. Street tacos on every corner and a daily stop for chips (“totopos” in Spanish) and freshly made guacamole were always a must. I was surprisingly able to find a large amount of food on the trip that was gluten-free and vegan, so I could all the good Mexican food I craved.
And you can bet that whenever vegan chilaquiles were on the menu, they ended up at our table. If vegan chilaquiles weren’t available…Kyle would get them and I would eat my food, always a little jealous of his. We probably ate chilaquiles 8 of the 10 days we were there. I knew I had to make my own vegan chilaquiles verdes when I get home.
Making your own Vegan Chilaquiles Verdes is pretty simple!
I’ve always been a big green salsa fan. It’s my mom’s favorite and is what was always around growing up. Made with tomatillos and lime juice, I find it to have a brighter, tangier flavor than red salsa. My favorite chilaquiles in Mexico were the green ones, so I went for salsa verde here. If you prefer chilaquiles rojos, you can certainly use your favorite red salsa (homemade or store-bought both work) here instead.
For this recipe, I decided to really go for it and make my own salsa verde. It’s pretty easy! Once you’ve roasted the tomatillos, all you do is blend some aromatic ingredients together, like onion, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice. However, I also tested this recipe with Trader Joe’s green salsa, and that was also delicious. Your call!
We also make our own baked tortilla chips for this recipe, since homemade fried tortillas are traditional for chilaquiles. They’re usually deep-fried, but we’re baking them to keep things a little more healthful…and because frying scares me. You can use a few handfuls of thick tortilla chips if you’d prefer.
Lastly, we have to blend up a super simple homemade vegan sour cream to drizzle on top of our chilaquiles. This adds some extra creamy coolness to the recipe and comes together in a few minutes in the blender.
Once you’ve made all of your components, time to assemble! Simply heat up some of the salsa with some beans for added protein. Then, fold in the chips and immediately put onto your serving plates – we don’t want anything to get too soggy. Drizzle the chilaquiles with vegan sour cream and garnish with avocado, cilantro, lime wedges, diced white onion, and whatever other goodness you have in mind. If you’re not vegan, you can add a fried egg on top too.
I like serving these Vegan Chilaquiles Verdes immediately after they’re assembled, so you get the chips while they’re in a perfect balance right in between crunchy and soggy. Enjoy for a delicious weekend brunch, or for lunch or dinner whenever you’re craving this goodness! Enjoy :D
P.S. if you’re into the flavors of this recipe, you will probably love this White Bean Vegan Chili – you can use the rest of your homemade salsa verde in it!
Vegan Chilaquiles Verdes
Make these Vegan Chilaquiles Verdes for a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's made with an easy homemade salsa verde, baked tortilla chips, and a simple vegan sour cream! The recipe is naturally gluten-free and has a grain-free, paleo option.
Course Breakfast, Main Course Cuisine Mexican Keyword chips, salsa, tortillas, vegan Prep Time 1 day 30 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Servings 3 servings Author RachelIngredients
For the salsa
- 1 pound tomatillos about 8 medium
- ½ jalapeno seeded (use a full one for a spicier salsa)
- ½ medium white onion dice the rest to garnish
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
For the chips
- 8 medium-size tortillas cut into wedges (corn or grain-free, like Siete)
- Avocado oil or olive oil for brushing on the tortillas
- OR
- 2-3 large handfuls tortilla chips use Siete for grain-free
For the vegan sour cream
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in water for an hour, drained and rinsed before using
- ½ to ¾ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon sea salt
To assemble
- ½ cup cooked pinto or black beans leave out if doing paleo-option
- 1 ripe avocado diced
- 1 lime quartered
- Diced white onion
- Cilantro
Instructions
For the salsa
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- Peel the tomatillos out of their skins and place on a baking sheet. Let roast in the oven for 6 to 10 minutes, or until soft and starting to get dark in some spots. Adjust the time based on how roasted you want the salsa to taste. Remove from the oven and let cool for about ten minutes.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the slightly cooled tomatillos with the remainder of the salsa ingredients. Pulse to break up the ingredients, and then let run until it reaches the desired consistency. You can blend less for a chunkier texture, or blend longer for a smoother salsa.
- Once done, remove from the blender and pour into a jar for storage.
You’ll use between ⅓ - ½ of the salsa for this recipe.
For the chips
- Lower the oven temperature to 375°F.
- Brush olive oil or avocado oil on both sides of the 8 tortillas, stacking them on top of each other as they’re done.
Cut the tortillas (still stacked) into 8 wedges, making 64 chips. Lay the chips out on a 2 baking sheets, doing you best to make sure they don’t overlap too much. Place one baking sheet on the top oven rack and one on the bottom.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the chips are golden brown and crispy, rotating the pans from top to bottom halfway through.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
For the vegan sour cream
- In a high-powered blender, combine all of the ingredients for the vegan sour cream. Blend for 2 to 4 minutes, until completely smooth, adding hot water as necessary to get it to blend smoothly. Taste and adjust salt, if desired.
- Store any leftovers in a jar in the fridge. It will thicken in the fridge, so just add some warm water to thin it back out when using again.
To make the chilaquiles
- In a high-sided sauté pan, heat about 1 cup of the salsa (about 1/3 of the amount the recipe makeover medium-low heat. Add in the beans and heat them together. Once the salsa and beans are hot, fold in the tortilla chips.
- Immediately transfer to serving plates and garnish with vegan sour cream, avocado, lime wedges, cilantro, diced white onion, and/or a fried egg if you’re looking for extra protein.
- Serve immediately.
