Gollita’s Tacos Verdes, Made with Egg, Jalapeño & Garlic

These tacos verdes with egg, jalapeño and just a hint of garlic are the star side at every single González family cookout. Of course, there’s also the must-have carne asada, Mexican rice, and pickled nopalitos and jalapeños salad.

But it’s her mom Gollita’s Oz-green tacos that makes their Mexican food feasts so distinctive and extra delicioso, says Ana González Quaid of Chicago.

Born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and a longtime Illinoisian, Gollita González started making these egg and jalapeño tacos for several members of their family who don’t eat meat. But everyone, even the carnivores, loves them so much, her tacos verdes are now as expected as the skirt-steak arrachera at their family grillfests.  

Point in case: Ana’s oldest son, Gael, 18, who doesn’t even like eggs, is known to chomp these tacos by the handful.

“My mom is famous for these,” says Ana. “We always have these at our family cookouts. My brother and his girlfriend are vegetarians, so she started making these tacos for them, but we all end up eating them. My mom makes at least 100 at our cookouts. We all take them home and reheat them in the oven. They taste just as good the next day.“

“They are bright green, and I love looking at them. Everyone who comes to our cookouts loves these tacos! Which means we don’t get to take as many home,” Ana adds.

If you recognize the name Gollita, it’s because Ana’s mom, Gregoria “Gollita” González,  is one of our GOAT Mexican abuela cooks here at Famila Kitchen. Her guacamole won our Your Family’s Best Guac Recipe Contest. Many of her other dishes are also fan favorites here at FK: her pork chops in tomato sauce and onion, her Mexican rice, and her recaudo cooking base.

As long as we’ve known Ana, we’ve been hearing her rave about her mom’s tacos verdes. You can imagine how honored we were to finally bite into our first egg and jalapeño taco this past Sunday. Ana hosted a cookout to celebrate her oldest son Gael’s graduation from high school. (Felicidades, Gael!) Ana’s parents, unfortunately, weren’t able to attend in person, but she, her sisters, and her husband, Brian, faithfully prepared the greatest-hits dishes that Gollita has traditionally served at all their family cookouts.

As Ana predicted, Gollita’s tacos with jalapeño eggs and garlic were a hit. Although she and Brian grilled dozens and dozens, not even one was left by the end of the night. All guests went home full, happy and newly converted to Gollita’s tacos verdes.

Vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

Ready to Grill a Batch of Gollita’s Tacos Verdes?

Gollita’s Tacos Verdes, Made with Egg, Jalapeño & Garlic

Recipe by Ana González Quaid

5.0 from 2 votes

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

12 (2 each)

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 8 jalapeños

• 1 clove garlic, small. (If it’s a large clove, use half)

• 1/4 cup water

• 1 1/2 Tbsp salt, or to taste

• 2 Tbsp olive oil, for cooking eggs

• 12 eggs

• 24 corn tortillas

• 1/4 cup corn or avocado oil (have a high smoke point), for eggs, to brush on tacos before grilling

Directions

• Rinse the jalapeños. Slice open and remove the seeds.
• Place the jalapeños and garlic in a blender. Add water. It should be just enough water to blend the chiles and garlic into a thick salsa that is not watery.
• Warm a large pan over medium-low heat. Add oil.
• Add the eggs and stir slowly to scramble. While the eggs are still a little runny, mix in the blended jalapeño-garlic salsa. Add salt generously. Remove pan from heat and set aside. Note: Be very careful not to overcook the eggs.
• Warm the corn tortillas on a comal, cast-iron pan or a hot grill. Fold them in half as the torillas come off the heat.
• Fill each tortilla with 2 Tbsp of the egg-jalapeño mixture, being careful not to overfill.
• Brush oil on both sides of the filled tacos.
• Working in batches, place the jalapeño-egg tacos on a low -heat grill very briefly, flipping them once, just long enough that they start to crisp and char on both sides.
• Gently grill them on the low-heat indirect part of the grill, until each side lightly browns. Turn over and brown other side
• Enjoy! In the Gonzalez family, these tacos verdes are a favorite cookout side dish accompanying the carne asada at summer cookouts.

Notes

• The amount of salt might seem like a lot, but Ana and her husband, Brian, assure us that these egg and jalapeño tacos verdes shine when they are salted just right.
• This recipe calls for corn or avocado oil, which have a high smoke point and doesn’t burn on the grill. Ana adds she sometimes uses olive oil to brush on the tacos before grilling and it works just fine when places on the low, indirect-heat side of the grill.