New Mexico Huevos Rancheros

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Huevos Rancheros is a hugely common breakfast dish served across Mexico and the southern states of the USA. It is a delightful and flavor packed meal consisting of beautifully fried eggs and crispy tortilla chips that are served drenched with a vibrant, spicy Chili / Chile Sauce. For our version of this hearty breakfast, we’re making a classic New Mexico Huevos Rancheros recipe with a delicious Red Chile Sauce

They love their Chile Sauce down in New Mexico!

On a recent trip to New Mexico, we were inundated with some of the best flavors we’ve ever eaten. We’re talking about Chilis of course! They absolutely love their Chili (or Chile as it’s called there) down in New Mexico! Every bar or restaurant you eat at there has their own celebratory Chile dish. The Chiles come in two varieties, Green or Red. The Green Chiles are a bit milder and have a wonderful earthy flavor. The Red Chiles pack a bit more heat, and are equally as delicious

You’re often presented with a choice of what type of Chile you’ll have served with your meal. In fact, it’s not really an option of whether you’re eating Chile or not, only what color you want! The question ‘Red or Green?’ is asked, so you better make your mind up quick! In fact, the question of ‘Red or Green?’ was officially named the ‘state question’ by the government of New Mexico in 1966!

For our Huevos Rancheros we’re opting for a Red Chile Sauce

We’re looking for a little bit more spice, so we’re serving up a beautiful Huevos Rancheros with a vibrant Red Chile Sauce. Now, the correct way to make this Red Sauce is using New Mexico Chile, however the likelihood that you can get your hands on these outside of NM is slim. Therefore, we recommend using more common types of Red Chiles such as Guajillo and / or Ancho Chiles

You can use a combination of Chiles depending on your flavor profile and heat tolerance. In our opinion there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ Chile to use, so we encourage you all to experiment with different Chiles to see which you prefer

Regardless of what Chile you use, preparing them for our New Mexico Huevos Rancheros recipe is the same

How to make New Mexico Huevos Rancheros

Of course, the most important ingredient in Huevos Rancheros is the Chile Sauce. It is best prepared in advance, even days earlier. It will keep well in the refrigerator for a few days after being made, and can also be frozen for longer term

We use dried Chiles for this dish. They are the perfect ingredient to buy in bulk and just store in your pantry. They’ll last forever and are so easy to use in cooking. Just rehydrate them and they’re ready to use!

We start by giving the dried Chiles a hit of heat on the frying pan over medium heat. You want to give the Chiles a good toast, but without burning them. They don’t need long on the pan, just a couple of minutes to start to release their flavors and get all those wonderful flavors moving. Then, place the Chiles straight into a small bowl filled with boiling water

Adding the Chiles to water is what will rehydrate them. The moisture will infiltrate the Chiles and they’ll turn into beautiful, tender Chiles. They only need about 15 – 20 minutes in hot water before they are rehydrated. You can keep them in the water for longer, but there’s really no need, as we’ll also be using the water in the sauce

We recommend not adding too much water to the Chiles. You want to add just enough so that the Chiles are covered, but not too much so that the overall water flavor will be completely dilutes. About 2 cups is fine

Now it’s time to build flavors in our Chile Sauce

There are so many ways you can make Chile Sauce. There are literally thousands of recipes all over Mexico for the perfect Chile Sauce. For our New Mexico Huevos Rancheros Chile Sauce, we’ll keep things simple and classic. The ingredients we’ll be using are Red Bell Pepper, Yellow / Spanish Onion, Tomato, Cumin, Garlic, and Salt. Oh, and those rehydrated Red Chiles of course!

The key to extracting as much flavor as possible out of the vegetables is to roast them. Place the Bell Pepper, Onions (cut into quarters), and Tomatoes onto a baking tray. Give them a generous dousing of Olive Oil and Salt then roast for about 45 minutes at 375F. The Tomatoes may need to come out of the oven 15 minutes early. Just roast the vegetables until they’ve started to caramelize

You’ll want to allow the Red Bell Pepper to cool and then peel away the skin. Remove the seeds and then it’s straight into the blender, along with all the other ingredients, including those beautiful rehydrated Chilis. Add the Chile Water then blend for about a minute

That’s all there is to it! With any sauce we always recommend giving it a taste and adjusting for seasoning if necessary. It’ll be a little spicy, which is exactly what we want! Remember, we’re adding this Sauce to Tortilla Chips and Eggs, so those flavors will mellow out a little of the heat

Preparing the Chips for the Huevos Rancheros

To make things easy for yourself, you can just buy the Corn Chips and scatter them all over the plate. We would recommend avoiding any flavored Corn Chips however as they will dilute the flavor significantly in the dish. Go for the plain Tortilla Chips. There will likely be a lot of salt on them, so just be wary of that when seasoning the rest of the ingredients in the Huevos Rancheros

Alternatively, you can make your own Tortilla Chips from scratch. The authentic way is to use Corn Tortillas, but you can also use Flour. Whatever you prefer to be honest. To make the chips, cut the Tortillas into bite-sized corn chips. Go for triangle shapes to make them look more legit

Then, heat up a few cups of frying oil in a pan and drop the chips in once the Oil is hot. They will only need a few minutes maximum until they’re done. Once cooked, take the chips off the heat and place onto a wire rack. Season immediately with Salt and you’re good to go!

The final ingredient is the simplest – straight up pan-fried Eggs!

At its heart, Huevos Rancheros is an Egg dish. Huevos does mean Egg after all! We assume that since you’re reading this recipe that you are more than likely an Egg fan already and looking for some new and interesting ways to enjoy this awesome ingredient. Therefore, you should be well versed in frying up an egg!

Our approach for frying Eggs is to add a little bit of Oil (Vegetable or Canola) to a hot pan. You want the pan hot before the Eggs are added, to avoid them running all over the place. Carefully crack 2 or 3 Eggs into the Pan and then let the pan do its work

For our New Mexico Huevos Rancheros dish, we’re preparing the Eggs sunny side up. No need to flip the eggs, just cook them until the Egg whites are completely cooked so there is no translucent parts left, and the Yolk is lovely and warm

Another popular Egg preparation for Huevos Rancheros are Eggs over-easy. The only difference with making Eggs this way is just as they are almost cooked, carefully flip the egg over and cook the yolk-side for about 20 seconds. You don’t want to cook it too much, as you still want a runny Egg. Cook it just enough to get a nice ‘seal’ over the Egg Yolk

Plating the dish

Plating is the fun part of the dish! Scatter a generous amount of Tortilla Chips over the base of your plate, the liberally douse those chips with the Red Chile Sauce. An important step in the process is to make sure your Chile Sauce is runny enough so that is can easily be poured on top. You don’t want the sauce to be clumpy. If it’s too thick, just add a bit of water and cook it through

Finally, top the dish with your perfectly cooked eggs. Add as much or as little as you like, it all depends on how hungry you are. 2 – 3 is the sweet spot for me, as those Tortilla Chips end up being quite filling

Finish the dish however you like. Some popular toppings are Queso Fresco (crumbly Mexican Cheese), Crema, Chives, or Scallions. We’ve opted for some nicely chopped Scallions in this dish. They add a lovely texture and nice color to the New Mexico Huevos Rancheros

What is the difference between Huevos Rancheros and Chilaquiles

Another hugely popular Mexican breakfast dish with similar ingredients are Chilaquiles. Both dishes are prepared very similarly with likeminded ingredients. Corn Chips, fried Eggs, and a beautiful spicy Sauce. With Chilaquiles however, the Corn Chips are mixed into the Corn Chips before plating, whereas the Sauce is poured on top of the chips for Huevos Rancheros

The result is quite a different texture, so it depends on what you’re looking for. By mixing in the Corn Chips with the sauce, they’ll be a lot more tender. Pouring it over the top means the chips will be crispier. So based on your personal preference you can do either, the ingredients don’t change that much

For this recipe we’re making Huevos Rancheros. Therefore, we’ll plate the crispy Corn Chips and then drizzle over some spicy Chile Sauce right before serving

New Mexico Huevos Rancheros Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 Eggs
• 6 Large Tortillas (Corn or Flour)
• 2 cups of Dried Chiles (eg: Guajillo or Ancho)
• 1 Red Bell Pepper
• 4 large, ripe Tomatoes
• 1 Yellow or Spanish Onion, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 tsp. Cumin
• 4 Garlic Cloves, peeled
• 2 cups of frying Oil (eg: Vegetable or Canola)
• ½ cup Scallions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Put the Red Bell Pepper and Onion on a sheep pan and season with 1 tbsp. Olive Oil and 1 tsp. of Salt then place in the oven preheated to 375F. Roast the Tomatoes for 30 minutes then remove. Roast the remaining vegetables for 15 further minutes. Set aside to cool
2. Once the Vegetables have cooled, peel and discard the skin from the Bell Pepper and Tomatoes. Remove the core and seeds from the Bell Pepper
3. Place the dried Chiles in a large frying pan over medium heat. Toast for 2 minutes until fragrant. Remove the Chiles and place into a bowl with 2 cups of boiling water. Let sit for 20 minutes to rehydrate
4. Combine the Chiles and 1 cup of the Chile Water into a blender along with the Bell Peppers, Onion, Tomatoes, Garlic, Cumin, and 1 tsp. of Salt. Blitz on medium for 1 minute until smooth
5. Check the sauce for consistency and seasoning. If the sauce is too thick, add more of the Chile Water. You want a relatively runny sauce to pour over the Chips
6. Pour the Sauce into a medium saucepan and heat when ready to serve
   
   

To make the Tortilla Chips

7. Cut your Tortillas into triangle shaped, bite-sized wedges. Heat the frying Oil in a medium Saucepan over high heat. Once the oil is 350F, add the Chips and fry until golden-brown
8. Remove the chips and set aside on a wire rack. Season immediately with Salt
   
   

Frying the Eggs

9. Add about ½ tsp of Vegetable Oil to a large frying pan. Once hot, carefully crack the Eggs into the frying pan and fry for 5 minutes until cooked through and no parts of the Egg whites are translucent. Set aside on a paper towel
   
   

Assembling the Huevos Rancheros

10. Scatter half the Tortilla Chips on a plate, and then generously pour Red Chile Sauce over the top. Enough to cover the Tortilla Chips. Top with 2 Fried Eggs and sprinkle the chopped Scallions on top. Season with finishing Salt. Repeat for remaining ingredients on a separate plate and serve immediately
    
    

Recipe Notes

• When toasting the Chiles, avoid scorching them, as this will lead to a bitter tasting sauce
• We recommend frying the Tortilla Chips in several batches to avoid overcrowding the saucepan, which will reduce the heat of the Oil
  
  

That is our delicious New Mexico Huevos Rancheros recipe, inspired by our trip to that wonderful part of the world. If you love your food spicy, we’ve got plenty of hot dishes here at Dinnertime Somewhere. Why not try out some of these spicy dishes and let us know in the comments below how it goes!

• Spicy Cumin Lamb Noodles
• Spot Prawn Ceviche with Garlic and Chili
• Spicy Chimichurri Sauce
• Bang Bang Chicken
  
  

Happy Cooking!