Loaded Game Day Nachos
Crispy tortilla chips piled high with seasoned beef, cheese, and all the fixings
- 1 lbground beef(80/20)
- 1 packettaco seasoning(or homemade blend)
- 12 oztortilla chips(sturdy restaurant-style)
- 3 cupsshredded cheddar cheese(or Mexican blend)
- 15 ozblack beans(canned, drained and rinsed)
- 1 cuppickled jalapeños(sliced)
- 1 cupsour cream
- 1 cupguacamole
- 1 cuppico de gallo
- 0.25 cupfresh cilantro(chopped)
- 2green onions(sliced)
Beef can be cooked up to 3 days ahead. Assemble and bake just before serving - nachos must be eaten immediately for best texture.
- 1Preheat oven to 400°F
- 2Brown ground beef in skillet, breaking into crumbles
- 3Add taco seasoning and water per package directions, simmer until thickened
- 4Spread half the chips on large sheet pan or oven-safe platter
- 5Top with half the cheese, half the beef, and half the black beans
- 6Add remaining chips and repeat layers
- 7Top with remaining cheese and jalapeños
- 8Bake 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly
- 9Dollop with sour cream and guacamole
- 10Scatter pico de gallo, cilantro, and green onions
- 11Serve immediately while chips are crispy
Layer chips and toppings to ensure every chip gets some cheese. Use thick, sturdy chips that won't get soggy. Warm toppings (meat, beans) go under the cheese; cold toppings (sour cream, guac, pico) go on after baking. Serving on a sheet pan keeps chips crispy longer than a bowl.
Nachos have one of the most precisely documented origin stories in Mexican-American food history. Multiple sources including the Smithsonian Institution confirm that the dish was invented in 1943 by Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, the maître d' at the Club Victoria restaurant in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico — the border city across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas. The story: a group of U.S. military wives arrived at the restaurant after closing; with no chef available, Anaya improvised with what was in the kitchen — tostadas (fried corn tortilla chips), shredded cheddar cheese, and pickled jalapeño slices. He called the dish "Nacho's Especiales," and it immediately became popular. Anaya is also credited with being the original "Nacho" for whom the dish is named. Tortilla chips at that point had been produced commercially in California since the late 1940s when Rebecca Webb Carranza began frying broken tortillas at her factory, and the fried corn tortilla chip had existed in informal form in Mexican cooking for much longer. The "loaded nachos" format — adding beans, sour cream, guacamole, grilled protein, and multiple cheeses — developed progressively through the 1960s and 1970s as the dish spread northward from the Texas-Mexico border, reaching national American consciousness when sportscaster Howard Cosell introduced them during a 1978 Monday Night Football broadcast at Texas Stadium.