Ground Beef Nachos
Published 1/31/2021 • Updated 7/18/2023
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Ground beef nachos are a delicious weeknight dinner that whips together in less than 30 minutes!
Plus, beef nachos are the ultimate game day shareable appetizer that serve a crowd.
This beef nacho recipe is made with our favorite beef taco meat, tortilla chips, tons of shredded cheese, and all the toppings.
Best Beef Nachos Recipe
Nachos are one of those meals that just sound good any night of the week. Is it a Tuesday? A Friday night? Game day? Beef nachos are the perfect 30-minute meal to whip up for the family. Why are these the BEST beef nachos?
- 30-min meal
- One-pan meal
- High protein
- Customizable
- Kid-friendly
This beef nachos recipe is made with our delicious beef taco meat, tortilla chips, and your favorite Mexican toppings.
Beef Taco Meat
In my opinion, beef nachos are all about the BEEF! That’s why we’re using our homemade beef taco meat, which actually uses our amazing homemade taco seasoning.
Taco meat begins with the meat itself and we recommend a ground beef (sirloin or chuck) that is between 80% and 85% lean beef. The reason why we like to use a beef that has a bit of fat in it is because it’s so much more flavorful.
Next comes the taco seasoning. If you don’t have our homemade taco seasoning on hand, you’re more than welcome to use a store-bought packet. But, if you do have our taco seasoning, you’ll need around 3 tablespoons.
diy taco seasoning
Ditch the store-bought taco seasoning for this super flavorful clean ingredient taco seasoning. Made with the following ingredients that you likely have in your spice cupboard already:
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Cumin
- Onion powder
- Coarse sea salt
- Red pepper flakes
- Ground black pepper
- Ground oregano
- Smoked paprika
Get the full homemade taco seasoning HERE.
Best Nachos Toppings
While your sautéing up your ground beef nachos meat, you can start to compile all of your toppings!
The beauty of nachos is that you can really use whatever you have on hand. Think veggies, beans, salsa, guac, etc.!
Here’s what we used:
shredded cheddar cheese: a nacho isn’t a nacho without the CHEESE! Feel free to use your favorite kind of shredded cheddar.
sliced cherry tomatoes: we love fresh cherry tomatoes on beef nachos, but you can always use salsa instead, too.
jalapeños: there’s nothing like a little kick. We used canned jalapeños, but if you like it even spicier, use the fresh kind with the seeds!
red onion: a little bit of onion goes a long way.
black olives: sliced black olives give a nice balance of salt.
guacamole: homemade guac is the way to go for beef nachos. Check out our classic guacamole or try our mango guacamole.
Greek yogurt/sour cream: one of the reasons we love adding Greek yogurt or sour cream to nachos is because it takes away a little bit of heat and also adds a sauce of sorts.
lime juice: fresh lime juice to top it off!
fresh cilantro: fresh cilantro is the cherry on top for ground beef nachos.
How do you assemble nachos?
Spread out a bag of tortilla chips on the bottom of a baking sheet. Then, top with beef taco meat and shredded cheese. Bake to melt the cheese and then top with your chilled toppings such as guacamole, tomatoes, black olives, and jalapeños.
To recap:
- tortilla chips
- taco meat
- cheese
- toppings
How long do you bake nachos?
Once you have your beef nachos assembled, bake at 400ºF for around 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Make sure to keep a close eye on your nachos so that the cheese or chips don’t burn!
Beef Nachos Recipe
Ingredients
Ground Beef Taco Meat
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3/4 cup water
Spicy Greek Yogurt Sauce
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 tablespoon Frank’s Hot Sauce, or more to taste
Beef Nachos
- 8- oz. tortilla chips
- 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese, or Mexican cheddar blend
- 1/4 medium red onion, minced
- 1/4 cup sliced black olives
- 1/3 cup sliced jalapenos, fresh or canned
- 1/2 cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 cup guacamole
- For garnish: fresh cilantro and lime wedges
Instructions
Ground Beef Taco Meat
- First, begin by making the ground beef taco meat. Get the full Instructions HERE.
Spicy Greek Yogurt Sauce
- To make the spicy Greek yogurt sauce, mix together Greek yogurt and hot sauce.
Beef Nachos
- Preheat oven to 400ºF and spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Spread tortilla chips onto the bottom of your baking sheet. Then, evenly spread out beef taco meat. Then, sprinkle on cheddar cheese.
- Bake at 400ºF for around 5 minutes in order to melt the cheese.
- Once the cheese has melted, top with fresh red onion, black olives, jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, guacamole, and spicy Greek yogurt sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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