Homemade nachos recipe with cheese

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Nachos is a popular Mexican dish made of tortilla chips, cheddar cheese sauce, red bean paste, pico de gallo…but you probably know that. Nachos is so popular that you can buy nachos tortilla chips and cheddar sauce at almost any market. But don’t think that you are doing yourself a favor. The store bought sauces are not healthy at all and they are not even as good as the homemade cheese sauce you can make at home. Plus, if you don’t want to make cheese sauce, there is another homemade nachos recipe that requires little effort.

Spoiler alert, you can put slices of cheddar cheese on your homemade nachos, spread some bean paste and bake it just until the cheese is melted. Or you can make cheese sauce for nachos and serve it separately.  But let’s see first how to make homemade tortilla chips and then I will show you the nachos recipe – a longer and quicker way to make it.

How to make nachos using tortilla wraps

If you don’t have time or you don’t know how to knead dough, you don’t need to make homemade tortilla. Store bought tortillas are good enough to make perfect tortilla chips for nachos. It’s all about the seasoning and baking time.

First, cut your tortillas in 6 or 8 pieces each, depending on the size of the tortilla. You can start by cutting them all together in halves, and then each half cut in halves and so on. 

Next, put a baking sheet in a large baking pan and lay out as many tortilla triangles as you can. If you use one whole pack of tortilla wraps, you will get triangles for about three batches. Don’t put nachos one on top of the other.

Finally, use a baking brush to brush each nachos with olive oil and sprinkle seasoning mix. You can combine salt, pepper and some chilli powder and sprinkle over the nachos triangles. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes. Have in mind that the baking time depends on your oven as well, so you should keep an eye on the nachos every five minutes or so. One it is golden and crispy, it is ready.

Repeat as many times as you need to bake all the nachos triangles (tortilla chips).

There are 2 ways of making nachos with cheese- longer and quicker

There are basically two ways to make nachos. When you finish baking tortilla triangles you need to decide what way will you choose- the longer or quicker?

You can serve nachos triangles separately from the sauce and other nacho toppings. For instance, in one big bowl have all your nachos and in smaller pots put each sauce separately: cheddar cheese sauce, guacamole, read bean paste, pico de gallo.

Another way to serve nachos is to have everything in one big plate. This is an easier way of making nachos because you don’t need to make cheese sauce.

The quickest way to make nachos with cheese

Here’s how to make nachos with cheese but without cheese sauce. When homemade nachos triangles (tortilla chips) are ready, put one batch at the bottom of the heat resistant platter and then add slices of cheddar cheese and red bean paste. Repeat the process by adding more nachos on top, another layer of cheese and bean paste and so on.

The first way of serving nachos is good when you have guests over and you are not sure if they are going to like all the sauces and sides. I prefer to make nachos the second way, especially on weeknights when there are only two of us watching TV shows. It is so much easier and you don’t need to bother to make cheese sauce.

If you wonder how the cheddar will melt on nachos, well after you put all your nachos and cheddar and other toppings, you will need to get it back to the oven for just a few minutes. Once you see the cheddar cheese has been melted, your nachos is ready. Now you can add other stuff within nachos layers, like guacamole and pico de gallo. Don’t put pico de gallo before baking because the nachos can become too soggy. 

How to make red bean paste for this nachos recipe

Ingredients: 

• 1 can of beans
• 1 or 2 cups of Yoghurt

Start by rinsing beans, washing them and leaving them to dry a few moments. Add the beans to a blender or food processor and pour a big cup of yogurt. Blend a few minutes and if the paste is too dry, add more yoghurt. Don’t add all yogurt at once because the paste may become too liquid. 

Nachos recipe with cheese sauce – the longer version of making nachos

If you still want to make that cheese sauce for nachos, instead of simply melting cheddar cheese on it, here are a few tips. Use thin slices of cheddar cheese, or even better, use grated cheese. When you cook cheese sauce you need some patience because you cannot cook it at high temperatures.

The recipe for cheese sauce for nachos doesn’t require many ingredients but the patience for cooking the sauce at very low temperature and stirring all the time. You will need some butter, flour, milk, cheddar sauce and of course spices. Once the butter is melted at very low heat, add flour and stir well, adding milk and spices of your choice. In addition to salt and pepper, you can add some hot paprika or chilli flakes. When milk starts to boil it will take a few minutes to become thicker, At that point you can add grated cheddar cheese and turn off the heat. Stir all the time so the cheese can melt nicely. 

Ingredients for cheddar cheese sauce:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup of milk
• Some salt and pepper to taste
• Chilli flakes or hot paprika (optional)
• 220gr cheddar cheese