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Last Updated on March 3, 2026 by Melanie
Easy Cheesy Nachos – Simple quick nachos made with ground beef, cheesy cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and loaded with your favorite toppings. Create the perfect snack, appetizer for game time, parties with friends, or feeding your family.
I’m serving up easy cheesy nachos today. Because let’s be real. Some days I just crave party food bad. Some days I’m able to keep this craving at bay and other days I just cave to the pressure of amazing food.
How to Make Nachos
- Arrange tortilla chips on a baking sheet
- Top with cooked ground beef and cheese
- Bake for 5-8 minutes
- Top with your favorite fresh toppings
Reasons to serve nachos
- Football time!
- Feeding lots of teenagers
- Serve them for family game night
- Unexpected guests are here
- No reaon. You just make them and eat them. That is all.
I adore appetizers. I really wish I had one for every meal. They make my food life just a lot happier.
Ingredients needed for Nachos
- Ground beef
- Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese. Freshly shredded is best!
- Restaurant style tortilla chips
- Pico de gallo or your favorite jarred salsa
- Sliced jalapeno
- Sliced green onion
- Your favorite toppings – sour cream, cilantro, red onion, avocado, guacamole etc.
I love to have what I call appetizer meals. All appetizers. That is a meal, right? Well, in this house it is!
Nachos. Followed by garlic cheese dip with bread and creamy spinach artichoke dip. Then a spread of egg rolls, avocado feta dip and taquitos.
What to put on nachos
- Pico de gallo
- Fresh sliced jalapenos
- Red onions
- Cheese, your favorite, cheddar, Mexican blend or Monterey Jack. (Freshly shredded melts better and tastes better!)
- Green onions
- Green chilies
- Salsa
- Fresh chopped tomato
- Sour cream
And for some fun history. I got to thinking.
Where did nachos originate from?
Nachos are a Tex-Mex dish loved by many across the country and around the world. According to Wikipedia, nachos originated in Piedras Negras, Coahuila in Mexico. Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya made nachos in 1943 at a restaurant called the Victory Club. Some military wives came and needed to be fed. So when he saw some tortillas, inspiration struck to garnish them with cheese and put them under the broiler.
The original was supposedly “Nacho’s Especiales”. And that name was later shortened to simply “nachos.”
Thanks for taking a walk through history and good food with me today.
Best way to reheat nachos
For me I have found two good ways to reheat nachos.
Method 1:
Place parchment on a baking sheet and carefully slide the nachos onto the parchment. Heat at 350 degrees for just about 4-5 minutes. Check. If needed heat for a little while longer until your preferred temperature.
Method 2:
Place nachos into a parchment basket liner and place in the air fryer. Cook at 325 degrees for just 3 minutes. Check. If they are still cold, heat for 2-3 minutes longer. Be sure not to overcook.
Loaded nachos with your favorite toppings. Ground beef, cheddar cheese on top of your favorite tortilla chips. Pile high with your favorite fresh toppings like pico de gallo, jalapenos, green onions and more.
Have a great week! Hope it’s filled with good food and your favorite people around the table.
Til we meet and eat again,
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Easy Cheesy Nachos
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 people 1x
Ingredients
- 1 lb of ground beef
- 1/4 cup taco seasoning
- 1/4 cup water
- large bag of tortilla chips
- 16 ounces cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
- 1 cup pico de gallo
- 1 fresh jalapeno, sliced or diced (seeds removed)
- 1/4 cup chopped green onion
- toppings of your liking, including sour cream, red onion, and cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Meanwhile, cook ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain the fat.
- In the skillet add taco seasoning and water to the ground beef. Mix to coat well. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Lay tortilla chips out evenly on a cookie sheet or pan. I use my Lodge pizza pan. Sprinkle with ground beef and cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 5-8 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Top with pico de gallo, fresh jalapeno, green onion and your favorite toppings.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Freshly shredded cheese melts best and tastes better! Get out that grater. Put in a little arm workout and you’ll be ready in no time.
For the Pico de gallo. It’s simply equal parts tomato and onion. (I love red onion.) Mix with lime juice, cilantro and salt. If you want a quick option. Some grocery stores sell it fresh and ready to grab. Or you can substitute with your favorite jarred salsa. Make it to your preferences.
Nachos are best served immediately. But I do have my preferred heating methods if needed.
Method 1: Place parchment on a baking sheet and carefully slide the nachos onto the parchment. Heat at 350 degrees for just about 4-5 minutes. Check. If needed heat for a little while longer until your preferred temperature.
Method 2: Place nachos into a parchment basket liner and place in the air fryer. Cook at 325 degrees for just 3 minutes. Check. If they are still cold, heat for 2-3 minutes longer. Be sure not to overcook.
You can also substitute ground beef with ground turkey or ground venison.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Snack
- Cuisine: Mexican
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Bacon Cheddar Cheese Ball
Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Avocado Feta Dip
My sister LOVES cheesy nachos – I’ve gotta make her this version with chilies when she comes for Easter.
I could make a whole meal out of these! The cheesier the better : )