Loaded Nachos

By Booper-2

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 whole Yellow Onion, Diced
• 2 pounds Ground Beef
• 1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 can (14-5 Ounce) Pinto Beans, Chili Beans, Or Ranch Style Beans
• 1/2 cup Hot Water
• Tortilla Chips
• 1-1/2 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese
• 1-1/2 cup Monterey Jack Cheese
• 6 whole Roma Tomatoes, Diced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Diced Finely
• 1/2 bunch Cilantro Leaves, Chopped
• Juice Of 1 Lime
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 whole Avocado (pitted And Diced)
• Sour Cream (optional)

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 25mins
Adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and half the onion. Cook it until starting to soften, then add the ground beef. Cook the meat until it's totally browned, then drain the fat. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Add the beans and hot water and stir. Reduce the heat to low and simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

To make the pico de gallo, combine the other half of the onion with the tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir it together and set it aside.

To build the nachos, place a layer of tortilla chips on a platter or plate. Top with a layer of the beef/bean mixture, then all but 1/4 cup of the cheddar cheese. Add another layer of chips, another layer of the beef/bean mixture, and the Monterey Jack cheese. Add a final small layer of chips, then a small layer of beef and beans, then a final sprinkling of cheddar.

Microwave in 45 second increments until the cheese is melted and bubbly. (You may also place the platter into a 325 degree oven if it's heatproof. Just leave it in until the cheese is melted.)
Immediately sprinkle on the diced avocado and plenty of pico de gallo.


Optional: Add dollops of sour cream here and there!

Just add a margarita and I’m all set.

Make them with half sausage half ground beef and instead of the beans, add a layer of scrambled eggs. Top with the other ingredients and ooohhhh la la.

Bake them in (a preheated for 20 min. minimum) the oven on a stone! I never take my stone out of the oven, as it retains heat and things bake more evenly. I put the nachos on foil or parchment paper and bake them for 7 or 8 minutes at 350º. They are crispy goodness! I don’t have a pizza peel so I just use a rimless cookie sheet as a substitute, and tongs to push or drag the foil or parchment.

This is a lot like we make nachos at my house, but we put em on a pizza pan and pop ‘em in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese. Yours look delicious and the microwave would speed them up for weeknight dinnertime. Maybe tonight’s dinnertime……

Holy guacamole! These look dee-lish! Gotta make these this week. Thanks Ree.

Ree, I think your fence- straddling comment perfectly illustrates what any woman who cooks for a man and some kids needs to understand. Make something they will eat and modify it for yourself so you do not feel like an underpaid short order cook!

Kay, I had the same thought. My nachos always go on a cookie sheet in the oven. Crisps up the whole thing nicely, and bonus: using a cookie sheet provides more surface area for toppings! Then the family just eats from the cookie sheets, because we’re heathens when it comes to nachos.

I am a nacho fan too, nachos for breakfast, lunch or dinner doesn’t matter I make them at least once a week and use anything I have left over in the fridge.

My husband has been wanting nachos lately. I think I’ll make these on Saturday for the two of us. They look fantastic Ree! Thanks for the recipe:)

mnheather

Want to put my face in the picture. I love nachos. Ree you make them so simple. But soooo good! !!!!!!! Be safe today.

This is how to make nachos!!!!!

Those look incredible. The avocado is making me drool! If I put a layer of scrambled egg on the bottom and then added the other ingredients…could that be a really fun breakfast?

Add in some crumbled, crispy bacon to that and Oh Yeah! Sounds terrific!

Nachos very similar to this are on our family menu at least once a month. These are great to take for school lunches (take the chips in a plastic baggie, sides in another baggie, and place the meat mixture in a microwavable container.

O….M…..G……I love you Ree, but this is cruel at 9:40am! Haha! Do you think the girls at work would judge me if I run out and grab the ingredients and make these in the break room, right NOW?! I HAVE to make these this week! Thanks!

I love nachos and these look wonderful – except the cilantro. I am one of those quirky people that cannot stand the taste of cliantro but would most definitely substitute a little flat leaf parsley in place of the cilantro. And yes, please add a frozen margaritta, a small dish of sour cream and this would be a wonderful meal!

My husband introduced me to ranch beans when we were dating. I thought he was such a “bachelor cowboy!” I have never thought to add them to a taco meat mixture. He will absolutely think I am super woman! Thanks!!! The nachos are callin’ my name !

Ranchy vs RAUNCHY – made me LOL!!! Love my nachos also – going to make some now, in fact, for lunch!! ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand!! LOL

I was going to make cheese nachos tonight to watch DWTS, but this looks even better.. yum!

Heather in Albuquerque

Nachos (and quesadillas) are my “go to” meals when I can’t decide on anything else. I’m fine throwing cheese and salsa on chips, nuking them, and calling that dinner. My husband doesn’t appreciate the simplicity of that, so now I have to plan my nachos, which generally involves going to the store for something. Not quite the same. Anyway, your nachos look great, but I doubt if I was one of the people that recipe would make enough for eight…and no, that’s not typical of my eating…I’m at most a size 8.

I also started reading through the comments, but they were killing me! Some of the variations they brought up sounded just wonderful, too. How does one make their own nacho chips? Help meeeeeeee.

This is one thing I am SO glad to see. I have celiac disease and while I used to be able to eat a LITTLE bit of my favorite things that contain wheat, I’m noticing more and more it’s not settling too well. Nachos made with corn chips is something I CAN have. I don’t do the heat in mine like jalapenos but I love recipes where it’s easy for me to take out the things I don’t eat. My family heritage is one that doesn’t cook food that causes pain and discomfort when I eat. While I can go mild on my mexican food, that’s the limit my family members and myself can go. I will never understand this enjoyment and almost obsession some folks have in eating food so hot that it causes discomfort and downright pain at times. How can eating food that burns your mouth be enjoyable? Please, someone enlighten me!!! But then, I’m about as used to heat in my food as most folks are to using Old Bay in theirs. In fact, most of us here in Maryland laugh at the tishy little amounts listed on the Old Bay can that is to be put into recipes, especially steamed shrimp and crabs. We always figure that’s for those of you who still think crabs is an infestation a person can catch and not a summer delicacy. I always try to have a Mexican fiesta mid-summer for family and friends and I plan to include your nacho dish into that menu if not before.

Ree…I wanted to give you a tip about avocados. I make some pretty good Gucamole being a native Houstonian, but, sometimes when the avocados are so ripe and yummy like they are this time of the year, I just cube mine up and sprinkle them with a little lemon pepper. I cover them with some plastic wrap to store in fridge…the lemon pepper will dissolve and keep the avocado from getting dark. The added bonus is that your avocado is seasoned.

I tell you what… Oh man… I’d do just about anything for these right now! Kissing a snake, climbing a ladder past the 4th rung, or eating (even smelling) a Twizzler would NOT be one of them. Maybe I should print and do up for the el hubster this weekend! Hmmm… Susie, that sounds like a GREAT idea! Thanks for all you do!!

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