Since it’s NFL Playoff time, I thought I’d share a recipe for one of my favorite snacks. I’m honestly not much of a cook, but there are a few things I make and they turn out pretty well. Personally, I think nachos and football go together like peanut butter and jelly. They were made for each other.
Enough preamble, on to the nacho recipe.
As a rule, good nachos must be made in the oven. Not the microwave, an actual oven. Now, if you don’t have a fancy stoneware oven safe platter like my mom does, you can use a cookie sheet lined with foil instead.
Ingredients
- 2 Bag of tortilla chips (Note 1 bag will do, but leftover chips are nice)
- 1 can of re-fried beans
- 1 package (usually about 1 lb) of ground beef
- 2 packages of taco seasoning
- 1 small can of olives
- Salsa (pick your favorite)
- 1 bag of shredded cheese (Mexican blend) get this pre-shredded & there’s less prep
- 1 small onion
- 1 jar of jalapenos (pick your level of spicy)
Cook the ground beef according to the directions on the package of taco seasoning. Use both packages of seasoning, but only the amount of water for one package. Cook as directed. Note: you can substitute a can of chili for the ground beef if you are too lazy to actually cook the beef.
Warm up the can of refried beans in a pot according to the directions on the can.
Chop up the onion.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Start layering the nachos by placing chips on the cookie sheet or whatever large oven safe pan you have.
You can build it however you like from here, but this is what I do:
Chips, meat, cheese, beans, olives, jalapenos, onion, salsa. Repeat the same way with the next layer, except end with the cheese. There should be some left over chips. You will want to have these to scoop up any nacho drippings on your plate.
Place this mountain of nachos in the oven until the cheese is melted, which should be about 5 to 10 minutes.
Serves about 5 people or 4 really hungry ones. Garnish with guacamole and sour cream if you want, but good nachos shouldn’t need them.