COOK: Simple Sheet Pan Nachos

• Ingredients for Sheet Pan Nachos
• Equipment & Method
• Storage & Serving Ideas
• What to do with Leftover Nachos
• Related Links:

Dinner doesn’t get any easier than this! If you want an almost instant meal, a game-day or party snack, these sheet pan nachos never fail to deliver.

Whether you’re looking for a super simple Super Bowl buffet idea or feeding a crowd of ravenous folks, or just a fast and satisfying meal for your family, it’s hard to go wrong with a tray piled high with melty cheese and crunchy chips.

You can pile these up with your choice of toppings, or leave them relatively plain and set out bowls of garnishes so everyone can customize their plates with their favorites. Best of all, it’s soooooo easy. If you have a working oven and a sheet pan, you’re as few as fifteen minutes from dinner!

Ingredients for Sheet Pan Nachos

Tortilla Chips:

This is the foundation of your nachos, so get the good chips if you can! Any fried corn tortilla chip will work here, but sturdy chips that can support a generous portion of toppings without getting soggy are best. If your grocery store or local tortilla maker has freshly fried chips, those will make your nachos incredible, but use what you like or can get locally. Blue corn chips make colorful nachos!

Cheese:

For convenience, we use either pre-grated chihuahua cheese or Mexican cheese blend for most of our nachos. You can also grate blocks of cheese by hand or with a food processor. You can also use colby-jack, pepper-jack, or cheddar cheese blends for Tex-mex nachos, or a blend of mozzarella and cheddar… really any melting cheese with the right flavor profile can work in a pinch.

Proteins:

Sheet pan nachos are a great way to use up leftover cooked meat or beans. Top them with diced rotisserie or cooked chicken, or thinly sliced leftover steak. They’re also great topped with cooked & seasoned chorizo, ground beef, or venison. 

No leftovers? No problem! Season a small skirt steak (ribeye or flank steak are also great choices) with a generous amount of chili powder and lime juice and a tbsp of oil. Sear it in a screaming hot cast iron pan for a few minutes on each side (err on the rare side since it will cook more in the oven, unless you like well-done meat), and let it rest while you put the chips and cheese on the pan. Thinly slice the steak and top the nachos with it before baking them. If you use flank steak, make sure to slice it against the grain so every bite is tender! 

Garnishes:

You’re really only limited here by your tastes and imagination (and what’s in season or available at your local grocery). Some of our favorite garnishes for sheet pan nachos are:

• diced avocado or guacamole
• salsa or pico de gallo (try this roasted tomatillo salsa)
• minced jalapenos or sliced pickled jalapeno
• thinly sliced or diced radishes
• chopped fresh cilantro
• sweet raw or green onions
• pickled red onions
• grilled onions, peppers, or vegetables
• sliced pitted olives (black or green)
• sour cream, crema, or plain Greek yogurt
• hot sauces (from mild to face meltingly hot… these are best served on the side for people to add to taste)

Vegetarian Sheet Pan Nachos

It’s incredibly easy to make these nachos vegetarian- simply skip the meat! If you’re using refried beans, make sure they’re not made with lard.

You can also add extra beans, or even roasted veggies to make these more substantial. Or, if you like them, there are a lot of meat replacements you could use instead of the diced chicken or steak. Try topping them with cooked soyrizo!

If you’re having a party, you can make a separate tray for your vegetarian guests, or leave the meat on the side for all the nachos. I prefer separate trays, so you can portion out the meat, and so that the toppings are hot and mixed in with the melted cheese.

Equipment & Method

Sheet Pan:

I use a half sheet pan, but you can use smaller quarter sheet trays to make individual or smaller portions, or any wide, shallow, oven safe dish. You can even use oven-safe ceramic trays or cast iron fajita sizzle platters to make individual servings that will stay hot at the table (but make sure your guests know to handle them with hot pads).

Storage & Serving Ideas

Nachos are always best hot and fresh out of the oven. As they sit, the cheese gets cold and hard, and the chips get soggy. It’s best to assemble your toppings and prepare your garnishes ahead of time, and make your trays of nachos right before baking them. You can also arrange the trays of chips, cheese, and toppings in advance (as long as your toppings aren’t terribly wet and you have space to keep them cold) and bake them off when you are ready to serve them.

If you’re having a party, you can also try use chafing dishes heated with sterno fuel to keep your nachos hot, though it’s really best to just make multiple smaller trays and bake them off as needed if you need to keep them on a buffet.

What to do with Leftover Nachos

If you end up with leftover nachos, don’t throw them out! First, make sure you promptly refrigerate any leftovers. You can try reheating them (in the oven or broiler is best, but you can also use a microwave) but they will never be as crispy and melty as they were when they were fresh.

A better idea is to repurpose them into another dish. You can mix your leftover nachos with beaten eggs and scramble them to make migas, a delicous and thrifty Tex-mex brunch dish. Or, use even more eggs with a bit of milk or cream, and bake them in a skillet into a frittatta. You can also layer them with salsa or enchilada sauce and any leftover toppings and bake them into a casserole. I’ve even seen recipes for making taco or tortilla soup from them, crushing them up, and simmering them with stock and diced tomatoes.

Related Links:

• Triple Pickled Pepper Pasta Salad with Pepperoni and Chicken (or Chickpeas)

• Easy Cheesy Pumpkin Muffins with Jalapeno or Herbs

• Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde