Nachos are the ultimate versatile snack, offering a quick and satisfying way to indulge your cravings. Whether you prefer classic toppings like melted cheese, jalapeños, and sour cream, or you’re feeling adventurous with additions like seasoned beef, guacamole, or salsa, nachos can be customized to suit any taste. They’re perfect for a casual movie night, a game day spread, or even a quick and easy dinner option. With endless topping combinations and the ability to be made in just a few minutes, nachos are a go-to choice for anyone looking for a delicious and satisfying snack.
Deciding to make nachos is always a good idea. It’s simple, tasty and versatile but there are a few basics that’ll deliver a great recipe compared to an okay one. Remember to check out the notes below the recipe regarding additional details and substitutes you can use for the recipe.
Tortilla chips: Toasting the chips in the oven before layering will add so much more flavour and helps the nacho chip carry all those wonderful toppings for longer.
Toppings: You can add whatever combination of toppings you like, various proteins, vegetables, spices and cheeses. Adding the salsa, guacamole and sour cream is what ties it all together and add that necessary freshness.
Cheese sauce: I’ll sometimes only add grated cheese but depending on my mood I’ll add grated cheese AND cheese sauce. I make a cheese sauce using evaporated milk for the nachos because it really simple and gives it that extra cheesiness.
Cheesy Beef Nachos
Ingredients
- 250 grams tortilla chips lightly salted
Nacho Beef Topping
- 1 tbsp oil
- 3 large bell peppers cored and diced, see notes
- 500 grams lean beef mince
- 1-2 tsp chili powder or freshly diced chili
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 28 grams beef stock concentrate see notes
Nacho Cheese Sauce
- 380 ml evaporated milk
- 600 grams white cheddar cheese grated and separated, see notes
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Final Toppings
- 1 large ripe avocado mashed
- Juice from 1 lemon separated
- ½ tsp salt separated
- ½ cup/115 grams tomato diced
- ½ cup/150 grams white onion diced
- Handful fresh coriander washed and chopped
- ½ cup/123g grams sour cream or double cream yoghurt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220℃/425℃. Spread tortilla chips onto a large tray and bake for 3-5minutes or until they're slightly darker in colour and lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you prepare the remaining elements.
Nacho Beef Topping
- Bring a medium saucepan to a medium-high heat. Add oil and diced peppers. Sauté for 5 minutes or until lightly charred. Remove the bell peppers and set aside.
- Add mince to the same pan and bring to a medium high heat. Place the mince in the pan and render out the fat - no additional oil needed. Once the mince has changed color, add chili powder, salt and beef stock. Sauté for another 5 minutes. Add the peppers to the mince, mix and set aside.
Nacho Cheese sauce
- In a large bowl, combine 300g worth of shredded cheese and cornstarch together and toss to coat.
- To a medium saucepan, add evaporated milk. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until milk just begins to simmer.
- Remove the milk from heat and stir in the cheese, a large handful at a time, until all the cheese has been incorporated and it has completely melted into the sauce. Now it's ready to be drizzled over your tortilla chips!
Additional Toppings
- Peel the avocado and remove the pip. Place the avocado in a small bowl and add juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/4 tsp salt. Mash until well combined.
- Add diced tomatoes, diced onion, chopped cilantro, juice form 1/2 a lemon and 1/4 tsp salt to a small bowl and mix until well combined.
Assembly
- Divide the tortilla chips in half. Spread the first half evenly onto your baking tray or ovenproof dish. Evenly drizzle 1 cup worth of cheese sauce over the tortilla chips ensuring each chip has a drizzle of cheese sauce. Evenly spread half of the beef mince topping over the cheese sauce followed by half of the remining grated cheese (150g). Repeat once more finishing off with the remining 150g grated cheese.
- Place the nachos in the preheated oven and bake for 15minutes or until the cheese has fully melted and is bubbling. Remove form the oven and finish off with dollops of sour cream, guacamole and salsa. Time to dig in and devour - enjoy tastebud!
Notes
- Tortilla Chips: You can use a flavoured tortilla chip if you like, I prefer to only use a lightly salted variety. Toasting the chips prior to layering will enhance the flavour of the chip significantly so try to not skip this step.
- Bell Peppers: I used a green, a red and a yellow bell pepper but naturally you could which ever combo you'd like. You can also replace the peppers with your preferred vegetable of choice - just make sure it's not too watery as it'll make your nachos soggy.
- Beef Mince: I usually like full fat cuts of meat but going with a leaner cut will ensure your beef topping isn't too oily.
- Beef stock: I used a store bought Knorr beef stock capsule which weighs 28g. You can us a beef concentrate of your choice.
- Cheese: I only used white cheddar cheese but you can happily replace this with your favourite combination of cheeses.
- Cheese sauce: You might have some cheese sauce leftover but I like keeping it warm so those who'd like more can always just top up. Feel free to add a touch of hot sauce, additional salt etc. to the cheese sauce. This'll depend on your personal preference and how spicy and/or salty you'd like it to be - just keep the spice and salt level from the other toppings in mind as you don't want your nachos to be too salty or too spicy.