Tex-Mex Migas

Tex-Mex migas combines two of my favorite things–Tex-Mex food and using up stuff. This is an excellent version and is vegetarian as written, but could easily accommodate added meat for the carnivores (bacon or chorizo?). It also serves only two, so perfect for our household.

I served the migas with the suggested cilantro, avocado, pickled jalapenos, the remaining pico, and, of course, Cholula.  A small fruit salad went well alongside. New Mexico-style pinto beans would be good, too. This was a great breakfast-for-dinner recipe.

I make migas on a regular basis and was interested to try this different Tex-Mex version. The technique produces more mushy tortilla chips. The look of the dish is definitely not as good as if you left the adding of the tortilla chips towards the end instead. 

However, the flavor is really good and in some ways, this recipe is a lot easier because there are no timing issues. Using one full avocado was too much; you could reduce it.

“Migas anytime”—now there’s a bumper sticker! This was my first time making this hearty egg dish, and I found it weirdly addictive. It appeared on the brunch and dinner menus in my house a few times in the last ten days or so . . . and I’ll be making it many, many more times!

I loved the tortilla chips in the eggs, both the flavor and the texture. (I preferred larger shards of the chips, so I put them in a shallow dish and cracked them by gently pressing on them with my fingers.) The spicy pico de gallo and the creamy avocado complemented each other very well. It’s also brilliant to have Monterey jack melt into the eggs while saving cotija for topping them.

This was a delightful Tex-Mex dish that could be served in a bowl topped with sliced avocado or served in tortillas garnished with pico de gallo. It is flavorful and versatile.

I liked it better without the Cotija cheese which was too salty for the flavors in the dish. Don’t let the 4 eggs fool you into thinking this is an egg dish because the eggs were basically a binder to hold the ingredients together. It is important to use a non-stick skillet which allows you to cook the ingredients without any sticking. I put the tortilla chips in a plastic bag and used a rolling pin to lightly crush them.

It was fun to find a recipe that is tasty, quick, and easy, as well as easy enough to make during the week for breakfast. I have wanted to be able to make Tex-Mex migas that my husband fondly remembered from living down in Texas when he was in school. I have tried many different recipes for migas over the years, achieving many different results. This one is very tasty. It uses ingredients that I usually have in the house. Now I know what to do when I have the end of a bag of tortilla chips. Crush them with my fist a few times, take out my pico de gallo, and throw in the eggs and grated cheese. Easy as can be.

Not having a big appetite the morning I wanted to make this, I cut the recipe in half, using just 2 eggs. I thought that we would definitely finish what looked to be a small amount of food. That was not the case. We actually had enough leftover for breakfast the next day. I think that it was because of all of the tortilla chips. They, indeed, are very filling. The eggs are not really evident, with all of the other ingredients. Everything just melded together to make one tasty dish. I look forward to making this again, when we want something warm for breakfast during the week.

Migas or chilaquiles are a frequent weekend brunch item for us, an endlessly adaptable dish that pleases the tastebuds while often confusing the cook – which one are you making? Mostly the method is the difference – as well as whether you are pan toasting strips of leftover tortillas or tossing in the leftover tortilla chips into eggs along with the other ingredients. Even turning to as impeccable a resource as Texas Monthly (see the May 2021 issue for a good read on this), I always feel conflicted as to which I am really making. No matter, it is simple, easy, and you can turn up the heat or be mild as you like.

I used a homemade pico de gallo since the end of summer tomatoes are still here, and served the extra salsa along with some Crystal hot sauce at the table.

If you are using whole chips, the 4 cup measure should get you to the right weight and amount after gently crushing, but if you measure broken chips, go by the weight unless you want a more tortilla-rich mixture (which I did and it was still good, but more dense than intended I think). Do you always have Monterey Jack on hand (I wish!)? If not, cheddar will serve fine. In a pinch, I have been known to substitute feta for cotija, but the cotija is really nice for crumbling over the top.

This is a very generous dish for two, maybe 3, and if you add avocado and maybe some fresh fruit, you could even stretch it to 4 servings. It is a what-to-eat solution for one or many, that should be part of every cook’s toolkit.