El Minuto’s Cheese Crisps Recipe (2024)

If you want some of the crispness of frying the tortilla without all the fat of frying, brush the tortilla with butter before baking in the oven.

Cooks Illustrated recommends Old Elpaso Flour Tortillas

I make cheese crisps quite often, but never knew there was an "official" name for them. This recipe is perfect. I sometimes use diced onion and green fresh green chiles-when the Hatch chiles hit the market late summer.

I grew up in Tucson; I'm a few years younger than Linda Ronstadt (I was arrested for breaking curfew when I attended a Stone Ponies gig at a local cafe). Although my local haunt was El Torero and not El Minuto, in either case the green chiles are essential...as is a good, fresh red salsa!

Use fLOUR TORTILLAS

The recipe calls is for a "cheese crisp." I think it's ok to use the amount of cheese, and the cooking method, that's specified. Or make something else.

I grew up in Tucson eating these with my family at El Minuto. They are absolutely delicious! We’re making these cheese tostadas for dinner tonight in Singapore.

My favorite variation is the Mary Lou -- slivers of Ortega chiles and some sliced scallion (white part). This is a staple of many AZ Mexican restaurants.

My Tucson relatives do all of this in the oven, buttering the tortilla and crisping, then add the cheese and the chilis... chilis should not be optional. So delicious.

Have been making these for decades, but don’t fry the tortilla. Merely put the tortilla under the broiler for a minute or so, flip and do the other side. Take out the tortilla from the oven, sprinkle cheese (Colby is good here) with some dried chili peppers, place on foil, put back in broiler until cheese is toasted.

Similar to therese's note... skip the frying. Bake (not broil) the tortilla with oil or butter brushed on both sides. Flip the tortilla halfway through to get both sides crisp. Then switch to broil and add the cheese. This dish seems to be known only in Arizona!

I grew up in Tucson eating "cheese crisps." Frying the tortillas and then broiling once the cheese is added works, but baking is faster, easier, and you can do a half dozen at once.Place tortillas on a baking sheet, top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and green chiles if desired. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes (oven preheated). And that's it. Top with onion/ tomato/ pickled jalapeno if you like. I like to fold them over, as they are easier to eat that way and have more substantial mouth feel.

Dave, that flaky crispiness comes from using lard to make the tortillas. Fat chance finding those kind in a grocery store. If you are in Tucson, it's worth seeking out those made by Tortilleria Arevalo, sold at some of the farmer's markets. She uses lard, and the tortillas are divine.

I grew up on cheese crisps in Tucson, and they are the most perfect and simple comfort food! A few thoughts on the recipe:1. The translucent tortillas that you mention are key! It took me 21 years in Denver to find one, and they're brought in from Hermosillo in Sonora Mexico. The brand is La Norteñita and they are wonderful!2. I've never fried mine. I like to crisp the tortilla in a dry frying pan, flip it, and then cover with cheese and strips of Anaheim chiles from Sonora.Such a treat!!

This is such a tasty, fun and easy snack. Pretty much followed the instructions to a T (I cut up a fresh poblano into small pieces and put that on the tortillas and cheese before putting them into the broiler and think that made a difference. Any non-super spicy pepper, or onion slices or both would also probably be good). One way to avoid the cheese getting too browned is to rotate the baking tray after 60 seconds and do 60 more.

I grew up eating “cheese crisps” and never heard the word quesadilla. I thought that was just a weird family thing but it turns out it’s a weird Arizona thing!

Whenever I make thisSomething insideStarts to burningAnd I'm filled with desireCould it be the devil in meOr is this the way food's supposed to beIt's like a heat waveBurning in my heartCan't keep from cryingIt's tearing me apart

I guess you could use Old El Paso flour tortillas, but trust me they are not the same as a good Sonoran translucent flour tortilla. Not the same beast, at all.

I've eaten too many El Minuto cheese crisps to have had any hope of replicating their flaky crispiness, but this was a good try. Next time will get some authentic southern Arizona tortillas instead of grocery store tortillas I had in the fridge and expect it will make a difference. But must keep my hopes in check. Still won't be El Minuto quality.

My jaw dropped when I saw this recipe in the NYT. Once you leave Arizona, especially Tucson, you never see a cheese crisp on a menu. What a delicacy it is. Growing up, El Minuto was a family favorite and every meal had to start with the cheese crisp with green chilies. Another version is a thin smear of guacamole over the whole thing at Mi Nidito.

El Parador Cafe, on East 34th St, has been serving cheese crisps since 1959. They use a 12” inch flour tortilla, hardened under the broiler and layered with beef Picadillo, green chili strips and cheese.

Born in Southern California, I 've eaten Mexican food all my life. Best flour tortillas ever -- better even than the handmades fresh off the heat in Olvera Street -- are Mi Rancho brand, available at some So Calif Vons. I moved to Washington State some years ago but I still visit So Cal and ship a suitcase full of Mi Ranchos home at the end of each visit. They freeze beautifully.

Similar to therese's note... skip the frying. Bake (not broil) the tortilla with oil or butter brushed on both sides. Flip the tortilla halfway through to get both sides crisp. Then switch to broil and add the cheese. This dish seems to be known only in Arizona!

As a long-time Tucson resident, I will tell you there are no tortillas like the paper thin version in Tucson. When I moved to the midwest I would have friends overnight them to me. They’re increasingly difficult to find even in Tucson, because they are so labor intensive. If you can’t see your hand through it, it’s not thin enough! Good luck.

Have been making these for decades, but don’t fry the tortilla. Merely put the tortilla under the broiler for a minute or so, flip and do the other side. Take out the tortilla from the oven, sprinkle cheese (Colby is good here) with some dried chili peppers, place on foil, put back in broiler until cheese is toasted.

I don't know what you'd call it, but one way we get our carbs in our home is to cut a fresh pita into triangles, separating them into eight flat pieces, then spreading softened butter on the breaded sides, adding grated Parmesan and sometimes minced garlic, then broiling them for a couple of minutes in the oven or our Advantium microwave until the edges start to crisp.

This sounds exactly like a Tostada I had many decades ago at a little place in Tucson. The one I remember did not have refried beans as the base which is what usually is used for tostadas around here.

Living in Truth or Consequences, NM (just north of Hatch where the chiles come from), a Tucson transplant introduced these to me. Buttered tortillas in an oven, broiled with cheese afterwards, topped with spicy green chile. This recipe is delightful.