Load up these Sheet Pan Nachos with all the good stuff for a fun way to serve nachos for a crowd! Tortilla chips, seasoned ground beef, black beans, and cheese all baked on a sheet pan until crisp and melty finished with all your favorite nacho toppings! If you’re feeling adventurous, make beef and bean sheet pan nachos for dinner and serve it with a Mexican-themed side dish, like my Mexican chopped salad!
Baked sheet pan nachos are so good, and the kids go crazy for them! The toppings take these nachos over the top. Choose different textures from smooth to crunchy, and add in the heat! Avocados, sliced jalapenos, and green onions to start, and then build on from there. Squeeze on some fresh lime juice and serve with salsa and sour cream for the best sheet pan nachos you’ve ever tasted.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS EASY SHEET PAN NACHO RECIPE
- Quick and easy. The ground beef fry’s up in just 10 minutes, and then the nachos finish in the oven in about 5 minutes for a super quick appetizer or meal.
- A kid favorite. What’s not to love about nachos? Just add toppings you know your kids like, and you’ll be on the track to the best kid-friendly nacho recipe.
- Crave worthy recipe. Nachos always hit the spot when you are craving something cheesy, beefy, and full of tasty Mexican flavors. I also love how versatile it is with adding what toppings I’m in the mood for or have on hand.
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE SHEET PAN NACHOS
- Tortilla chips: Choose a sturdy corn chip that holds up to all the nacho toppings!
- Ground beef: Choose lean ground chuck for the ideal meat-to-fat ratio without being overly greasy.
- Black beans: Use black beans or switch it up for pinto beans. You can also use dry beans and make them yourself. Just give them that final rinse before adding on top of your nachos.
- Seasoning: chili powder, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Try mixing up small batch of taco seasoning for adding to your recipes.
- Cheese: I use shredded cheddar, but any melting cheese would work, like Monterey jack or Colby.
- Toppings: Salsa, sour cream, scallions, jalapenos, avocados, and lime.
HOW TO MAKE SHEET PAN NACHOS WITH GROUND BEEF
These are the best sheet pan nachos full of all the good stuff, and it’s pretty easy to make. Cook up the beef, and start building the layers before baking into a cheesy pile of crunchy nachos you’ll have a hard time resisting!
COOK GROUND BEEF
- Cook the ground beef, breaking it up into smaller pieces until just cooked with some pink remaining.
- Sprinkle the seasoning blend over the beef and finish cooking the beef.
BUILD AND BAKE
- Scatter tortilla chips in a single layer on a prepared baking sheet
- Top with beef, black beans, and cheddar cheese.
- Place in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted.
- Scatter scallions, jalapeno slices, and avocado on top with lime wedges. Serve with sour cream and salsa on top.
TIPS FOR MAKING SHEET PAN BEEF NACHOS
- Choose a sturdy tortilla chip. You need a chip that can hold up to the weight of the beef, beans, and toppings. Nothing is worse than grabbing a chip and it crumbling in your hands! The thinner chips will become soggy and break, so choose your chip wisely for the best results.
- Add extra cheese. Before adding the beef and beans, sprinkle some cheese on the chips, getting it into all the little grooves for the ultimate cheesy sheet pan nachos.
- Drain and rinse the black beans well. The brine from canned beans can be salty and metallic, so you’ll want to rinse them off before scattering them over the chips.
- The hotter the oven, the better. The high heat warms everything quickly to get a crisp chip and melty cheese without burning anything.
POPULAR SUBSTITUTIONS & ADDITIONS
- Add radishes. Thinly slice them and scatter them on top of the nachos when you add the avocado. They add a pop of color, a nice crunch, and a peppery fresh taste.
- Skip the beef. You can easily make these sheet pan nachos vegetarian by only using beans and skipping the ground beef from the recipe. Add another can of drained beans to keep it loaded.
- Use another ground meat. Try ground chicken or turkey instead of beef for a lighter version that still packs in the flavor.
- Use shredded chicken instead. I love making shredded chicken ahead of time and freezing for when I need it. Just grab from the freezer to defrost and season it with the taco blend. Or make it fresh. Either way, chicken nachos are always a plus!
- Add in cooked veggies. When cooking the meat, sauté in onions, red peppers, and/or mushrooms. It just gets tastier and tastier with each addition!
HOW TO STORE & REHEAT NACHOS
Leftover nachos are best eaten fresh. The chips tend to get soggy, but if you have leftovers of nachos, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge. If possible, it would be better to store everything separately and build before heating.
To reheat: Reheat leftover nachos on a baking sheet in a preheated 400˚F oven for about 6 minutes.
HOW LONG WILL NACHOS LAST IN THE FRIDGE?
It’s best to eat nachos fresh, but leftovers can store in the fridge for 1-2 days. After that, the chips may not crisp up.
MORE APPETIZER RECIPES:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do you prevent nachos from getting soggy?
Don’t use the thin restaurant-style chips. They can’t hold up to the toppings and will be a soggy mess. Another way to prevent soggy nachos is using a good melting cheese like mild cheddar and shredding it yourself.
What toppings go with beef and bean nachos?
Top with salsa, guacamole, corn salsa, sour cream, jalapeños, red onions, or tomatoes for a classic Mexican flavor. You could also add pickled onions, black olives, shredded lettuce, and avocado sauce.
In what order do you layer nacho ingredients before baking?
Start with a layer of tortilla cheese and then add any hot toppings, like ground beef and beans, finishing with shredded cheese. Once it’s out of the oven, add any chopped veggies, sour cream, and salsa.
This cheesy beef and bean sheet pan nacho recipe is fun, festive, and delicious to share. Remember to add the finishing touch with a squeezing of lime juice to add a bright pop of citrus flavor. Nachos are perfect for anyone, kid and adult alike. Grab your favorite toppings and start chowing down!
This article originally appeared on FeelGoodFoodie.net and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Do this one thing to elevate your plate of nachos
“Nachos for Dinner” is the latest cookbook from The Food in My Beard blogger Dan Whalen. In his world, anything can get the nacho treatment—not just appetizers but sandwiches, soups, salads and even desserts. So, it comes as no surprise that everything you need to know about cheese and nachos is in this book. Here’s what we learned.
Related: You won’t believe how long humans have been eating pancakes, cheese & noodles
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While Whalen sometimes uses classic nacho cheeses like cheddar and Monterey jack, he also uses a wide variety of cheeses that are less traditional. In addition to the aforementioned blue, parmesan and feta, he also uses Swiss, cotija, ricotta, and Gruyere. And why not? Nachos lend themselves to personalization, creativity and out of the box (or bag) thinking.
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The author goes on to say that he thinks using more than one cheese is usually better in any recipe, including nachos. Different cheeses are like different guests at a party—the each add a different texture and personality. While Cheddar, jack or mozzarella melt well, blue, Pecorino Romano, and Feta will add a punch of flavor.
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Whalen explains that he likes to grate his own cheese rather than using shredded cheese that you might find in the supermarket because “industrial shredded cheeses are packaged with anti-caking agents which means they won’t yield the kind of gooeyness you might typically associate with nachos.” Of course, we couldn’t agree more. In fact, we might add, always use the best quality cheese you can get your hands on.
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Early in the book he shares his “double-cheesing” technique. Says Whalen, “Sprinkle half of the cheese first, then the toppings, then the remaining cheese.” Double cheesing has apparently double benefits, it helps the toppings adhere to the chips and keeps the toppings from making the ships soggy. Brilliant!
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In general, Whalen shies away from using processed cheese with the rare exception such as the use of American cheese in his cheeseburger nachos. He provides a recipe for nacho cheese sauce, but it uses evaporated milk and cornstarch to provide emulsification. Another possibility we explored, use sodium citrate.
A recipe in the book that demonstrates almost all the tips is Caprese Nachos, based on the famous Caprese salad with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.
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It’s hard to beat the taste of lightly salted heirloom tomatoes in August with a touch of fresh mozzarella and basil—but topping tortilla chips with this mixture is pretty darn good, too.
Some might think it’s a travesty to cook perfectly ripe heirlooms, but we are really just warming them up—and the little bit of heat concentrates that beautiful summertime flavor.
(As an added bonus, you can make this at other times of year—the slight cooking gives off-season tomatoes a flavor boost.)
- Makes 4 servings for dinner, or 8 as an appetizer
- Takes about 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 bag (12 ounces) tortilla chips (about 90 chips)
- 1½ cups (6 ounces) shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
- 2 cups roughly chopped ripe heirloom tomatoes (3 to 5 tomatoes)
- ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- About 30 basil leaves, cut into slivers, plus a few whole leaves for garnish
- ¼ cup balsamic glaze
Penny De Los Santos / CheeseProfessor.com
- Preheat the broiler to low with a rack about 4 inches from the heat.
- Arrange the tortilla chips evenly on a sheet pan, overlapping them as little as possible.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top, then the tomatoes, and finally the Pecorino Romano cheese.
- Broil until the cheeses have melted and the chips are starting to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. (Watch carefully to
- make sure they don’t burn.) Remove from the oven.
- Top the nachos with the basil. Drizzle on the balsamic glaze and serve hot.
Note: Balsamic glaze is available at most supermarkets (it’s also sold as balsamic syrup or reduction). If you can’t find it, it’s simple enough to make your own: Heat 1 cup of balsamic vinegar (plus 1 tablespoon of brown sugar if you want it sweeter) in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it comes to a very low simmer. Cook until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon and reduced to ¼ cup, about 1 hour.
Excerpted from “Nachos for Dinner: Surprising Sheet Pan Meals the Whole Family Will Love!”by Dan Whalen (Workman Publishing). Copyright 2021. Photographs by Penny De Los Santos.
This article originally appeared on CheeseProfessor.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Betty Crocker
Featured Image Credit: feelgoodfoodie.net.
