I must admit, I’ve never been to El Paso…I’ve been close and was in Las Cruces, but never made it into El Paso. I’ve heard rumors of this amazing place called Chico’s Tacos. I know people that drive the 6 hours to El Paso just to eat Chico’s Tacos. When my in-laws drive through the area, they picked up some to bring back home. My husband LOVES the stuff. I’m allergic to tomatoes, so I can’t eat it since it’s swimming in a tomato sauce, but I had to find the recipe for him. I searched and searched, finding out it is VERY difficult to find this recipe. I found a few random tutorials and decided to try it. After lots of trial and errors, we came pretty close to their deliciousness.
Ingredients:
- American Cheese
- Beef Taquitos (I used frozen, but you can make your own with ground beef and corn tortillas)
Red Sauce:
- 3 ripe Tomatoes
- 1 Large can whole tomatoes
- 1 Jalapeno
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Salt
- 1 Chicken Bouillon
- 3 Cups Water
Green Sauce
- 10 Jalapenos
- Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- 1 Cup Water
Directions:
First you are creating the red sauce. Puree the tomatoes and jalapenos in the blender. Add the tomatoes, jalapenos, bouillon and seasonings to a large pan and bring to a boil. I don’t have an exact amount of seasonings because we just added to taste. Ensure it comes to a full boil and then simmer for 5-10 minutes. This brings out the flavor.
To create your green sauce, cut the stems off your jalapenos. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Puree in a blender. In a small saucepan, mix jalapenos, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Grate your American Cheese with the finest grater you have. I have a big square grater that has both regular and fine. Now you want to ensure you are using American Cheese. It makes a huge difference. We tried a cheddar and a Colby Jack, and they aren’t the same. To get the American Cheese, I went to the deli and asked for a piece unsliced. She just cut me a chunk off big block she had. Worked GREAT!
Make your taquitos. I didn’t want to bother with making them myself so I bought a box of frozen beef taquitos. In research I have found that Chico’s Tacos actually uses soy meat, but you can make taquitos yourself by browning beef, then place a corn tortilla in hot oil for a few seconds. Roll your beef up in the tortilla and deep fry. I didn’t want to deal with heat and grease so I threw mine in the oven. Plus, my taquitos always fall apart in the oil, so it’s just easier to buy frozen.
You are ready to eat! I didn’t have the neat little boats they put they use at Chico’s…but I found these take out containers at the Dollar Tree. Put the taquitos in the container, cover in your red tomato sauce. Throw a large handful of cheese on top and put a small container of green sauce on the side, or you can spoon it on the top! The green sauce will have a KICK so it’s best to put on the side so you don’t make it too hot to eat!
About Amber
The recipe is more than Tomatos and jalapenos, I have the real recipe for 100.00 dollars I will share…I got from Francisco the real owner back when it was out of a trailer near Washington Park in El Paso, TX in the 70′s
I appreciate that, but I think this recipe is pretty darn close. It is a great copy cat of the famous recipe.
I just may be interested in your “real” recipe for $100.00… I’ve spent all day re-creating the tomato sauce and think I’ve nailed it, but you definitely peaked my interest.
You need to add a small banana and use the tomato y pollo broth works out great not sure why the banana but they get them by the case in their veggie shippments and they serve no bananas in any dish it works well
Interesting. I’ll have to try that and see how it works out! Thanks for the tip!
I’m definitely going to try this today. Mmm. Can’t wait.
Thanks!