This is one of my guilty favorite meals/snacks/whatever you wanna call it. It is very customizable so you can make it with anything you have laying around in your fridge or pantry. I’ll give a rough breakdown of ways you can develop this dish to make it your own. I’ll also have the recipe I used towards the end if you are the type that needs to have a step by step guide rather than a general outline.

Rough Outline

• Tortilla Chips
• Meat
  • I used ground beef, but you can also use sausage, ground turkey, etc (saute some diced onions, mix in the meat, then season the meat to taste with chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper)
• Cheese
  • Use your favorite type, I like the sharp intense flavor from sharp cheddar cheese and grated an 8 oz. block of it
• Greens
  • Diced avocados, chopped cilantro, chopped romaine lettuce, chopped jalapeno
• Reds
  • Diced tomatoes, if you don’t have tomatoes you can also use red bell pepper, the contrast of the red is a nice pop with the other colors in these loaded nachos
• Additional optional garnishes
  • Sliced black olives
  • Dollop of sour cream ( a must for me- not optional!)
  • Lime juice
  • Beans

Loaded Nachos

Printable Recipe Here

Makes:  8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• tortilla chips
• 2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 /4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 avocados, diced
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil and add the diced onion. Cook for a few minutes until soft and then add the ground beef. Cook until browned, stirring to crumble the beef. Drain the fat and then add the seasonings: chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper.
2. Layer the tortilla chips with the meat and cheese. Warm it in the microwave for 30 second increments until the cheese has melted. Add on the tomatoes and avocados. You can make as many layers as you wish.
3. Top with some chopped cilantro and sour cream before serving. 

Tips:

-You can adapt this recipe for smaller servings by changing the ratios to your needs. Using 1/4 pounds of ground beef for example for a 2 person serving along with 1/2 cup cheese, 1 tomato, 1/2 avocado, and 2 dollops of sour cream.