How to Make the Ultimate Nachos

The ultimate nachos: tacos ground beef, served with fresh pico de gallo and drizzled with chipotle cream. We haven’t even talked about the whole toppings shebang yet. Delicious. 

(We use pico de gallo and chipotle cream for this easy huevos rancheros recipe too. Check it out, also very good! And if you’re craving chicken wings on game day, try this Asian-style baked chicken wings. Delicious!)

I’m not into sports. Growing up, I got good grades except in Phys Ed.

One time playing softball, the teacher had to come very (very) near me just so I can hit the dang ball, get out of line and give others a chance to bat.

Red is a big sports fan though. To be more specific, a huge Toronto Raptors fan and the team got into the second round of the play-offs for the first time in 15 years (I was told this was a big deal).

To celebrate, I’m sharing Red’s recipe for the ultimate nachos (which I assume we’ll be having for the rest of the play-off series). Game on!

The definitive game day snack

These nachos are perfect with ice cold beer while watching your favourite team.

Or for I-don’t-know-anything-about-sports people like me, for everyday snacking, to serve when friends come over, whenever you’re hungry.

These are filled with all the good stuff including 3 kinds of cheese, jalapeño, chipotle and avocado. It’s seriously dee-licious.

Make some of this homemade tajín recipe for some heat!

Related: Grilled Shishito Peppers

How do you make the perfect nachos?

It’s all about the layering and what goes into your layers (watch the video to see how I layer our nachos).

First there’s the beef. Get your favourite taco seasoning, mix it in with the ground beef and beans, cook them together and you’re done.

You can use your favourite homemade seasoning mix too but taco seasoning is very convenient in a pinch (like: you’ve run out of cumin, it’s out of stock at the store and the game starts in 30 minutes. It happens).

Related: Sweet and Salty Filipino Style Spaghetti

How to make fresh pico de gallo

Ironically, Red won’t make any concessions about using ready-made salsa and insists on making her own pico de gallo because it tastes better and fresher (I don’t question it, she gets very cranky before game time).

It’s really very simple: just take tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro, sweet onions. Squeeze some lime juice. Season with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

But yes, you can use ready-made salsa (don’t tell) if you don’t want to be bothered with chopping.

Related: Cantaloupe Feta Cheese Salad with Fresh Basil

How to make chipotle cream

Chipotle in adobo sauce is one of Red’s favourite ingredients but is admittedly hard to come by (at least where we are).

So whenever we see it (usually in Latin American supermarkets), we buy a couple of cans (or more, I’m not counting) because you never know when you might need some chipotle awesomeness.

And this chipotle cream brings a unique smoky flavour to your nachos that makes it that much better. All you need to do is blend some chipotle and sour cream, transfer to a container (we like squeeze bottles because at $1 each they make everything look fancy!) and refrigerate.

How to make the ultimate nachos

Last thing to do is to put everything together.

Get your favourite restaurant-style tortilla chips, your taco beef, lots of cheese, black olives and bake until the cheese melts.

Then top with your favourite things (and you can customize this however you want…isn’t that great?) like fresh jalapeño slices, homemade pico de gallo, drizzle with chipotle cream.

Voila – the ultimate nachos you can enjoy while watching your favourite basketball, football or hockey team or, in my case, reading my favourite sci-fi book of the moment. (What? Told you I’m not into sports lol!)

Can you make nachos ahead of time?

You can definitely prep the nachos ahead of time.

Cook the beef, chop everything that needs to be chopped, layer.

It only needs a quick 5 minutes in the oven, another minute for you to add the toppings, and you’re done.

I don’t recommend baking the nachos hours ahead of when you plan to eat or serve it though because it tends to get soggy the longer it sits.

(Do you have vegetarian friends coming over? Make some potato tacos and a football veggie tray or this 7-layer Mexican hummus dip!)

Other things to serve on Game Day

Family and friends ask for these nachos all the time and I hope you and yours enjoy it too. Here are other crowd pleasers, a sure hit at every party:

• This aloha burger recipe is a juicy cheeseburger topped with grilled pineapple and crispy bacon. Add honey mustard sauce and what you have is an aloha burger recipe that’s almost as good as Jollibee’s!
• Another copycat recipe, these easy cheddar biscuits are exceptionally delicious, simple to make, and ready in less than 15 minutes. Just in time for the game!
• These salted caramel cream cheese brownies are all your favourite things in one decadent, luxurious bite. These will, literally, earn you all the brownie points you will ever need!
• Detroit-style pizza is always a crowd-pleaser.
• And everybody loves these fudgy walnut brownies – crusty and shiny on top, chewy in the centre, and bursting with chocolate chip and walnuts in every bite.

Happy nacho-ing!

Did you make these ultimate nachos? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it. What’s your favourite game day snack?