Seriously the Best Vegan Nachos
Servings: 8 to 10
Ingredients
- 12 to 16 ounces of sturdy tortilla chips*
- 1 batch Vegan Queso (recipe card below)
- 1 batch Saucy Refried Beans (recipe card below)
- 1 batch Walnut-Mushroom Taco Meat (recipe card below)
Other Topping Options
- 1 batch Guacamole (recipe card below) or diced avocado**
- 1 batch Pico de Gallo (recipe card below) or your favorite salsa***
- A few tablespoons of Vegan Sour Cream (store-bought or use the homemade recipe below)
- 1 handful of Pickled Onions recipe card below
- ½ cup (8g) cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
- 1 to 2 fresh jalapeños, thinly sliced
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Warm up your queso (on the stove in a saucepan). Warm up your refried beans (microwave or saucepan). Warm up your taco meat (frying pan on the stove). See the respective recipe cards for instructions.
- Warm up the chips. Transfer all of the chips to the lined sheet pan. Heat in the preheated oven for 5 minutes to warm up.
- Assemble the nachos. Take the sheet pan out of the oven and scoop about half of the chips onto a large plate or cutting board and set aside.
- Evenly spoon half of the warm queso on top of the chips. Add half of the warm refried beans, then half of the taco meat.
- Add your other toppings: a third of the guacamole or half of the avocado, half of the pico de gallo or salsa, a couple spoons of vegan sour cream, and half of the other toppings: pickled onions, cilantro, jalapeños, and/or scallions.***
- Add the reserved tortilla chips on top. Layer with the remaining queso, refried beans, and taco meat. Finish with the rest of the optional toppings: one third of the guacamole, remaining pico de gallo or salsa, a few more spoons of sour cream, and remaining other toppings.
- Serve immediately for maximal crispy crunchiness. Serve leftover guacamole on the side as a dip.
Notes
*A thick, heavy, sturdy tortilla chip with structural integrity is ESSENTIAL; otherwise your nachos will be soggy.
Some brands of thick tortilla chips include: Casa Sanchez (Thick and Crispy) (available at Whole Foods), Calidad and Santitas (available at Vons, Ralph's, Albertons, Walmart, etc.), Masa Uno Tortilleria Salted Chips (available at Mexican grocery stores), Mission Tortilla Rounds (widely available).
You can also find bagged tortilla chips that were fried in-house or at a local restaurant. These work great!
**The guacamole recipe below makes enough so you'll have extra as a dip. If you want to scale the recipe down, feel free to do so.
**If not using pico de gallo or fresh salsa, I recommend adding something fresh and crunchy, like the pickled red onions.
***If you aren't serving the nachos immediately like right now, leave off the first layer of cool toppings (guacamole, salsa, sour cream, jalapeños, cilantro, scallions, etc.). Add a layer of these cool toppings on top of all the nachos just before serving, and serve any leftover guacamole/salsa/sour cream on the side for dipping.
NOTE: The prep and cook time are for reheating your queso/beans/taco meat and assembling the nachos. The exact cook time will depend on which fixings you make.