Try this Loaded Nachos Recipe recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- optional toppings:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups milk
- salt
- sliced avocado
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- sour cream
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small white onion chopped
- salsa:
- 1 can black beans drained
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and chopped
- 2 bags corn chips
- 4 ripe vine tomatoes chopped and seeded
- 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped and seeded (can substitute c
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves finely chopped (can substitute parsley)
- beef and bean topping:
- 1 pound sirloin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dark chili powder
- 1 1/2 ground cumin half a palmful
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper sauce
- cheese sauce:
- 3/4 pound pepper jack cheese (shredded)
- chopped scallions
- chopped black olives
- diced pimento
- hot pepper suaces
- Carbohydrate 133.145751138446 g
- Cholesterol 345.594663966739 mg
- Fat 138.827533201885 g
- Fiber 39.6943291066465 g
- Protein 141.464079363205 g
- Saturated Fat 56.3397539110949 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (2033g)
- Sodium 1373.9794013786 mg
- Sugar 93.4514220317991 g
- Trans Fat 14.5970966339902 g
- Calories 2320 calories
Step-by-step
- Arrange corn chips on a large platter, or use broiler pan as a platter
- Combine salsa ingredients in a bowl, set aside for flavors to marry
- Heat a medium nonstick skillet on heat about medium high. Add oil, onion, garlic, and peppers to pan and saute for 2 minutes. Add meat and crumble with a wooden spoon. Season meat with chili powder, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper sauce. Cook meat for 5 minutes and stir in beans. Reduce heat to low.
- Take a medium sauce pot and melt butter and add flour to it. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes over moderate heat then whisk in milk. When it starts to bubble, stir in cheese with a wooden spoon. Remove sauce from heat.
- Pour cheese evenly over the chips and top with beef and beans and the salsa. Serve immediately ir garnish with your choice of optional toppings.
Unlike a traditional layered dip served in a communal bowl with structural chips held strictly at the periphery, loaded nachos demand structural engineering where every single corn chip must carry its own proportional weight of hot ingredients without yielding prematurely to sogginess. This specific formulation builds upon a foundation of seasoned sirloin and black beans, creating a protein-heavy topping that behaves remarkably well when repurposed 24 hours later if stored in a sealed glass container away from dairy elements. Storing the elements separately prevents the starches in the corn chips and beans from absorbing excess moisture during refrigeration. When reheating the meat and bean mixture the following day, introduce two tablespoons of water and warm it gently over medium-low heat in a nonstick skillet to restore the original unctuous texture without overcooking the lean sirloin. Fresh tomatoes and cilantro introduce bright, herbaceous notes and natural acidity that counter the heavy fats of the pepper jack cheese sauce, whereas canned alternatives introduce surplus liquid that will rapidly compromise the crispness of the base. Whisking the roux for exactly two minutes cooks out the raw flour taste completely before the milk is introduced, ensuring a smooth emulsification that coats the chips evenly.
Managing Cheese Emulsions and Heat Retention
Shredding block cheese by hand yields superior melting results compared to pre-bagged varieties coated in cellulose powder, which inhibits smooth emulsification in a bechamel-based cheese sauce. Maintain moderate heat when melting the pepper jack; exposing aged or high-fat cheeses to aggressive boiling temperatures causes the milk solids to separate instantly from the butterfat, resulting in a grainy texture. Pouring the warm cheese sauce over the chips immediately after removing it from the heat source creates a protective fat barrier that shields the corn masa from absorbing subsequent moisture from the salsa and meat toppings.
- If the cheese sauce breaks and appears oily, whisk in one tablespoon of warm milk vigorously off the heat to bring the emulsion back together.
- Drain canned black beans through a fine-mesh sieve and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water to eliminate the metallic brine taste before combining them with the sausaged meat.
- Spread the corn chips across a rimmed baking sheet rather than a deep platter if you prefer a toasted, deeply fragrant corn flavor achieved by passing the assembly under a broiler for precisely 90 seconds.
