These vegan chilaquiles are made with crispy baked tortilla chips tossed in a smoky, spicy tomato sauce with black beans, corn, and fresh cilantro. They're perfect for a hearty brunch or easy weeknight dinner!
I love a good savory vegan breakfast, and I've noticed that my favorite savory vegan breakfasts tend to be those with southwest or Mexican flavors. I'm talking about dishes like my vegan huevos rancheros, vegan migas, and vegan frittata. So obviously it was only a matter of time before I created a recipe for vegan chilaquiles, which might just be my favorite savory breakfast yet!
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Is chilaquiles a new dish to you? It's basically tortilla chips folded into a spicy tomato-based sauce. Aside from that, it's totally customizable. Traditional chilaquiles are often served with fried eggs and a handful of toppings of your choice — the sky is the limit here.
My vegan chilaquiles feature black beans instead of egg, making the dish super hearty. But I ALSO love topping them with vegan scrambled eggs. This dish is basically the ultimate comfort food meal, and it's incredibly easy to throw together.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Corn tortillas. Yellow or white corn tortillas can be used. Cook's choice!
- Vegetable oil. You'll need a bit of oil to mist or brush the tortillas. You can use cooking spray if you'd like, and you're welcome to use any high-heat oil, such as olive, vegetable, or canola.
- Salt & pepper.
- Olive oil.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Spices. You'll need ground cumin and ancho chile powder. Cayenne pepper is optional — only use it if you'd like your chilaquiles to have some heat.
- Black beans. We're keeping things simple and using canned black beans.
- Crushed fire roasted tomatoes. Using fire roasted tomatoes will give your chilaquiles a delicious, smoky flavor. If you can't find crushed fire roasted tomatoes, try buying a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes and blending them in a blender or food processor. Regular old crushed tomatoes will work in a pinch.
- Frozen corn.
- Fresh cilantro. Skip this if you don't like it.
- Accompaniments. Use whatever you like here! Try vegan scrambled eggs, sliced avocado, hot sauce, salsa, scallions, vegan sour cream or cashew cream, vegan queso, or store-bought vegan cheese.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Make the chips. Cut your tortillas into quarters, then arrange them on baking sheets and spray or brush them with oil. Give them a sprinkle with salt, then bake them until they're crispy.
Cook the onion. Heat some oil in a skillet then add your diced onion. Cook it for a few minutes until it starts to soften, making sure to stir it occasionally.
Add garlic and spices. Stir in minced garlic, along with cumin, ancho chile powder, and cayenne pepper. Cook everything briefly, stirring the whole time.
Simmer the sauce. Add crushed tomatoes and black beans, then let the mixture simmer for a few minutes, just to thicken and heat it up.
Tip: Add some water if the sauce gets too thick.
Add corn and cilantro. Stir them in, then remove the skillet from heat.
Add the chips. Gently fold them into the sauce until they're nicely distributed.
Finish and serve. Season the chilaquiles with some salt and pepper, then divide them onto plates. Pile on the toppings and dig in!
Frequently Asked Questions
It certainly is!
I don't recommend it. Flour tortilla chips won't be as sturdy as corn tortilla chips, and they'll quickly get soggy in the sauce.
Store any leftover vegan chilaquiles in an airtight container in the fridge. They'll keep for about three days. They can be reheated in the microwave, or in a skillet on the stove over medium heat.
Variations
- Extra easy shortcut. Use store-bought tortilla chips instead of making your own. Make sure to buy sturdy, restaurant-style chips so they hold up in the sauce.
- Switch up the beans. You can replace the black beans with kidney, pinto, cannellini, or just about any variety of canned beans you have on hand.
- Cheesy vegan chilaquiles. Fold in a few handfuls of shredded vegan cheese along with the tortillas.
More Savory Vegan Breakfast Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Black Bean Chilaquiles
Ingredients
- 10 corn tortillas
- Vegetable oil, for brushing or spraying
- Salt, to taste
For the Chilaquiles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
- Cayenne pepper, to taste (optional)
- 1 (15.5 oz/439 gram) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5 oz/411 gram) can crushed fire roasted tomatoes (Note 1)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional Accompaniments
- Hot sauce
- Sliced avocado
- Fresh cilantro
- Chopped scallions
- Vegan scrambled eggs
Instructions
Make the Chips
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a few baking sheets with parchment paper (Note 2).
- Cut the tortillas into quarters. Lightly mist or brush the tortilla quarters with vegetable oil and arrange them in an even layer on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with salt. Bake until crisp and lightly browned, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Place the baking sheets on cooling racks when they come out of the oven.
Make the Chilaquiles
- While the chips bake, coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until it becomes soft and translucent.
- Stir in the garlic, cumin, ancho chile powder, and cayenne pepper. Cook the mixture for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until the garlic and spices become very fragrant.
- Stir in the beans and fire roasted tomatoes. Continue cooking the mixture for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it thickens slightly. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
- Stir in the corn and fresh cilantro.
- Carefully fold in the chips, gently mixing them in until they're evenly distributed and coated in sauce.
- Remove the skillet from heat and season the chilaquiles with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
- Divide the chilaquiles onto plates and top with accompaniments of choice. Serve.
Notes
- If you can't find crushed fire roasted tomatoes, simply buy a can of diced fire roasted tomatoes and briefly blitz them with a blender. Alternatively, you can use regular crushed tomatoes, but the flavor won't be as smoky.
- Three standard size baking sheets, or two large ones should accommodate all of your tortillas.
- Nutrition information does not include accompaniments.
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Nutrition
We made this today. Delicious! We added tofu for a scrambled egg consistency. It worked very well. Great recipe!
I've been meaning to make this with some tofu scramble! Glad you liked it!
Holy cow is this good!!! I made the tortilla chips in the air fryer. Wow, this is definitely one I’ll make again and again!
Awesome!! I'm so glad you like it! Thanks Sonya!
Made this for dinner tonight. Mouthwatering.
So I decided to try out this recipe yesterday and.... it's fantastic!!! This is simple to make and so delicious, I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe since my kitchen was lacking a few ingredients, I used pinto beans instead of black beans, diced tomatoes instead of roasted and water instead of almond milk for the queso and it still turned out wonderfully! Thanks for sharing this!!
Yay!! I bet the pinto beans were awesome in there (they're tied for my favorite with black beans. :)) I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Thanks Meghan!
I made this for brunch for my husband and I and it was absolutely delish! I added two over easy eggs to the top of my husband’s and he was raving. We will absolutely be making this again!
I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks Meghan!
These fulfill every food fantasy I have ever had!!! Its like all my favorite components mixed into one!!! Yassss girl! I have a love of mixing cut up tortilla in my burrito bowls, but this saucy creation is like next level tortilla goodness :-P I am STOKED
Thanks so much! I hope you get to give it a try! And enjoy!!
Holy moly, do these look amazing. So much big bold flavor, even the biggest meat eaters won't know they're eating vegetarian! ;)
So true! Spicy Mexican-inspired dishes are always my go to when I'm cooking for omnivore friends and family. :)
Hi Alissa,
a few weeks ago we ate a vegan burger with a black bean patty, guacamole and broken enchiladas. That was really great. Your recipe reminds us of this delicious experience. Next weekend we will try your recipe as a vegan burger :) nom nom nom... we are looking forward to this special burger ;) Thanks for this great recipe.
Hugs and Kisses
Trixilie & Bea
That sounds delicious! And I think this recipe would be awesome in burger form. I'd love to hear how it is if you try it!