Next Level Vegan Nachos
Vegan nachos can be difficult to get right. Lots of my attempts at veganizing nachos in the past have resulted in soggy chips or they just didn’t resemble closely enough the kind of classic nachos I was going for. I’m happy to report that I have finally cracked the plant based nacho code! No more mediocre nachos for me, and hopefully you too! Whether it’s game day, movie night or simply snack time, this crowed pleasing recipe is loaded with delicious plant based cheese, toppings and flavour.
Recipe tips and tricks:
The cheese: Prairie Melt saves the day here. It is the perfect vegan cheese for its flavour, substance and meltiness! To apply I generously crumble Prairie Melt over all the chips. The smaller the crumble, the faster and more evenly it will melt.
Walnut meat crumble: This is a simple, healthy nacho topper that can really bring the flavour and a light texture of taco beef to your nachos. It only takes two ingredients and two minutes to make in a food processor and voila! Any walnut meat leftovers will keep in the fridge for a very long time and can be used in tacos, salad, wraps, quesadillas or, of course, future nachos!
The taco seasoning I use is a store bought mix that contains salt, so if your mix is salt free you may want to season your quesadilla a bit more than I listed. If you prefer to make your own spice blend, or don’t have a mix lying around this is a great recipe from blogger Holly of “spend with pennies”
Cooking hacks: The chips usually do start to brown by the time the cheese is melted and bubbly. If you prefer minimal browning, this recipe can be made completely in the microwave or a combination of microwave and oven. The cheese melts beautifully at two minutes on high in the microwave (if i don’t want to get the oven going, often I will just stop here). To take this a step further, you can microwave the chips and cheese on a large sheet of parchment paper, then transfer the parchment paper to a baking sheet. At this point, you can simply broil the nachos on high for 3-5 minutes until the cheese begins to brown to your desired doneness. I recommend keeping a close eye on the nachos while they are broiling as they can burn quite quickly.
Other toppings, and variations:
If you love to load your nachos, here are some more topping ideas:
- Refried beans
- Seasoned black beans
- Baked and pulled oyster Mushrooms
- Pickled jalapeños
- Banana peppers
- Black olives
- Fresh tomato
- Corn
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Pickled onion
- Green onion
- Pico de Gallo
- Spicy radish
- Guacamole
Walnut Meat Nachos
Serves 2-3
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 2.5 tsp taco seasoning
- 2 handfuls of tortilla chips
- 1/2 cup Prairie Melt
- 1/4 red pepper, small diced
- 1/8 onion, small diced
- 1/4 green pepper, diced, or 1 jalapeño, sliced
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a food processor combine walnuts and taco seasoning until finely ground. Reserve mixture.
- Spread nacho chips on a parchment lined tray. Crumble prairie melt evenly over chips.
- Bake or low broil nachos for 10 minutes or until Prairie Melt is melted. Alternatively, nachos can be microwaved on high for two minutes on parchment paper, then transferred to a baking sheet and finished in the oven on a high broil for 2-5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and top with the walnut meat mixture and fresh diced red pepper, onion and green pepper/jalapeño.
- Serve with your favourite salsa and/or guacamole for dipping and enjoy!