After a long week…month…year…sometimes you just need a big ol’ plate of nachos to soothe your soul! One thing I really love about nachos as a family meal is that everyone can get the topping they want without much difficulty. Fiesta Nachos is sort of the very traditional plate of nachos you think of when you conjure up a mountain of goodness.
Basically, everyone gets the same base – chips, ground beef, pinto bean and cheese – and then gets to layer on the toppings they like most. I do prefer to use whole pinto beans because they are easier to evenly distribute then refried beans. I make a very simple “salsa” – which is really just onions and tomatoes combined – again so that everyone can decide how spicy they want things.
The taco sauce is a must on these nachos – it adds moisture and a ton of great flavor. You could use green taco sauce if you prefer it. Make sure you get it a good wide coverage on the whole plate when you are putting it on. You could also change things up with other topping choices – like guacamole, black olives, cojita cheese, lettuce…the list goes on and on.
If you wanted to make this dish a little more healthy – it’s actually not that bad as long as you use good quality products – you could make a few switches. You could do a direct swap for the ground beef with ground turkey or ground chicken. Or you could switch out black beans for pinto beans. Both would still make a delicious plate of home cooked nachos! Want more recipes – check out my collection of Nacho Recipes.
Now let’s get cookin’
Fiesta Nachos
Ingredients
- 4 cups Tortilla Chips
- 2 15oz cans Pinto Beans drained
- 4 cups Cheddar Cheese shredded
- 8 oz Sour Cream
- 3 Roma Tomatoes diced
- ½ White Onion diced
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 tsp Lime Juice
- 1 tsp Cumin
- ½ cup Pickled Jalapenos optional
- ½ cup Taco Sauce red
- 3 Scallions chopped
For the Beef
- 2 lb Ground Beef
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Prepare all of the ingredients. Preheat oven to 425deg
- In a bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, lime juice and cumin. Set aside until ready to build nachos.
- In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add ground beef and seasonings. Cook and crumble until no longer pink.
- Cover 2 large baking sheets with foil. Start with a single layer of chips, then sprinkle each tray with half of the ground beef, then half of the pinto beans, then half of the cheese. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- To build an individual plate of nachos – put roughly a quarter of one tray on a plate. Top with fresh salsa, the sour cream, taco sauce, scallions and jalapenos (if desired).
Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:
AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS
Don’t miss new recipes from Homemade on a Weeknight – subscribe and get an email with every new post!
