Recipe for Arizona cheese crisp with roasted green chiles and a creamy salsa drizzle, a Sonoran comfort food favorite at Tucson restaurants for more than 50 years. The Arizona cheese crisp sits somewhere between a Mexican pizza and an open-faced quesadilla.
One of the great joys of living in Tucson is late summer, when vendors roast Hatch green chiles in spinning steel cages over an open fire at farmers markets and grocery stores across the city. If you don’t have that opportunity where you live, I recommend roasting fresh Hatch chiles at home. Thank you, Fry’s Food Stores, for sponsoring this recipe!
Servings: 8 slices
Equipment
- 1 12-inch pizza pan
Tucson, Arizona style cheese crisp topped with green chile strips, cilantro leaves, and a creamy Ranch and green chile salsa. Two six-inch flour tortillas can be substituted for one 12-inch flour tortilla.
Ingredients
- I cup Crema Mexican Agria such as Cacique
- 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Restaurant Style Dressing powder
- 6 roasted Hatch green chiles stems and seeds removed (about 12 oz) divided
- 1 12-inch flour tortilla
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese or more as needed
- 8 to 10 cilantro leaves optional
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, combine 4 roasted green chiles, crema and ranch dressing powder and blitz until smooth. Using a funnel if needed, transfer to a food-safe squeeze bottle. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the tortilla flat on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Using a paring knife, poke 8 to 10 small slits about 1/8-inch-long in the tortilla to prevent puffing in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly crisped. A few small bubbles may occur.
- While the tortilla is baking, cut the remaining 2 roasted chiles lengthwise into 8 to 10 strips approximately ½-inch thick.
- Remove the tortilla from the oven and cover it generously with cheese. Arrange the chile strips on top then bake another 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble.
Garnish the cheese crisp with cilantro leaves if using and squeeze the roasted green chile ranch drizzle in a spiral pattern over the top. Cut the tortilla into wedges with a pizza cutter or long knife and serve immediately with extra green chile crema sauce on the side.
Notes
Can I use canned or frozen Hatch chiles? Yes. Canned roasted Hatch green chiles work in this recipe and are available year-round. Fresh roasted chiles from late summer give the most vibrant flavor but the recipe is delicious any time of year with canned or frozen.
Why do you poke holes in the tortilla? Poking small slits in the tortilla before baking prevents it from puffing up in the oven as air gets trapped between the tortilla layers. Eight to ten small slits with a paring knife is all you need. It keeps the tortilla flat so the cheese layer melts evenly.
Is there a version of this without the tortilla? Yes! for a lower-carb version made entirely from Parmesan cheese with no tortilla, see my no-tortilla Arizona cheese crisp recipe linked below.
Hungry for More? Buy the Unofficial Elf Cookbook, The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook and the Taste of Tucson Cookbook!
