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Home » Recipes » Quick and Easy

Vegan Nachos

Published: Feb 4, 2022 · Modified: Feb 4, 2022 by Lexi

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These loaded vegan nachos are perfect for game day! They're topped with spicy plant-based ground meat and pinto beans, homemade vegan cheese sauce, and all sorts of toppings. Easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Overhead view of vegan nachos on a tray.
Meaty, cheesy, fresh, crunchy, delicious!
Jump to:
  • 🥑 Why We Love This Recipe
  • 🧀 Ingredients
  • 📋 Ingredient Notes
  • 🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
  • 💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
  • 🍽 Related Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Reviews

🥑 Why We Love This Recipe

  • Quick and easy: The meat and bean mixture only takes a few minutes to make. Once that's done, pile on the toppings, bake, and enjoy!
  • Filling: I don't usually consider nachos to be a full meal, but these really are! With plant-based meat, plenty of vegetables, cheese sauce and chips, these vegan nachos are super filling and perfect for a casual dinner.
  • Customizable: There are so many topping options – cheese, cheese sauce, sour cream, pickled vegetables, fresh vegetables, and so much more! You can really make these vegan nachos any way you want.
  • Perfect for game day: Homemade nachos have been our family Super Bowl tradition for as long as I can remember. We usually make two trays – one with regular meat, one with vegan meat, and each person can customize toppings on their own section of the tray.

🧀 Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these vegan nachos:

Overhead view of vegan nacho ingredients, including beans and plant-based meat.
Use sturdy, restaurant-quality tortilla chips that will hold up with lots of toppings.

📋 Ingredient Notes

  • Tortilla chips: Use a thick, sturdy chip that will hold up to lots of toppings.
  • Plant-based meat: We used Impossible meat ground beef alternative – it's the best 1:1 substitute in our opinion! You can really use any brand, or you can use a similar option made from tofu, lentils, or something similar.
  • Beans: Pinto beans are our favorite in these vegan nachos (and they typically hold up well), but you can also use black beans, lentils, or another similar bean of choice.
  • Vegan cheese sauce: You can try our recipe here (it's super quick and easy!) or you can simply use shredded vegan cheese.
  • Green chilies: These add so much flavor to the meat and bean mixture, plus a little bit of spice! Use a can labeled "mild" if you're a bit sensitive to spice.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚F / 180˚C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

(1) Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 5-7 minutes, until softened. 

(2) Add in the meat and break up, cooking until browned.

On the left: onions cooking in a pan. On the right: plant-based meat cooking.
We use a plant-based ground beef alternative (like Impossible meat) – so good!

(3) Stir in the tomato paste, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt, green chilies and pinto beans. Continue cooking for 5-6 minutes, then remove from heat. 

before stirring together ground beef, pinto beans and green chilies.
Diced green chilies add the perfect amount of heat.

(4) To assemble your vegan nachos, add half of the tortilla chips to the sheet pan, then top with half of the meat/bean mixture, cheese sauce and other toppings of choice. Top with another layer of chips, remaining meat/bean mixture, cheese sauce and other toppings. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove from oven and top with any other fresh toppings, like sour cream, avocado, salsa, etc. 

Before and after baking vegan nachos.
Add fresh toppings like avocado and cilantro after baking.

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

  • If you don't like plant-based ground meat alternatives, try this sofritas tofu or this vegan cauliflower taco meat instead. Both make great toppings for these vegan nachos! You can also just use more beans in place of the meat.
  • Vegan Nacho Toppings:
    • Homemade vegan cheese sauce
    • Pickled red onion
    • Pickled jalapeño (or other vegetables)
    • Vegan sour cream
    • Tomatoes or salsa
    • Avocado or guacamole
    • Corn or corn salsa
    • Black olives
    • Lettuce or cilantro
    • Radishes
  • Storage: To be honest, nachos don't exactly store well. They're best eaten right away! If you do have leftovers, reheat in a thin layer in the oven.
  • Double layer: There's nothing worse than getting to the bottom of your nachos and having a bunch of leftover chips with no toppings. To avoid that, we do two layers! Arrange one thin layer of chips, add toppings, and then repeat.
Salty, briny elements like pickled onion and jalapeño are the best toppings.

🍽 Related Recipes

  • Vegan Caramelized Onion Dip
  • Overhead view of jalapeno poppers on a sheet pan.
    Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
  • overhead view of vegan spinach artichoke dip in a skillet.
    Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
  • Vegan Buffalo Dip

Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or by subscribing to our newsletter.

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📖 Recipe

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Overhead view of nachos on a tray.

Vegan Nachos


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  • Author: Lexi
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These loaded vegan nachos are perfect for game day! They're topped with spicy plant-based ground meat and pinto beans, homemade vegan cheese sauce, and all sorts of toppings. Easy to make and absolutely delicious! 


Ingredients

Units Scale

Meat and Bean Mixture:

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or avocado oil
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion (~1 small onion)
  • 12 oz plant-based ground beef
  • 1 14.5 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 oz can green chilies
  • 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
  • ¾ teaspoons ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Nacho Toppings:

  • 1 bag of sturdy tortilla chips
  • 1 batch of vegan cheese sauce or 2 cups shredded vegan cheddar cheese
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Pickled red onion
  • Pickled jalapeño
  • Avocado slices or guacamole
  • Vegan sour cream
  • Lime slices and cilantro

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350˚F / 180˚C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
  2. Add oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 5-7 minutes, until softened. 
  3. Add in the meat and break up, cooking until browned. Stir in the tomato paste, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt, green chilies and pinto beans. Continue cooking for 5-6 minutes, then remove from heat. 
  4. To assemble nachos, add half of the tortilla chips to the sheet pan, then top with half of the meat/bean mixture, cheese sauce and other toppings of choice. Top with another layer of chips, remaining meat/bean mixture, cheese sauce and other toppings. 
  5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove from oven and top with any other fresh toppings, like sour cream, avocado, salsa, etc. 

Notes

Tortilla chips: Use a thick, sturdy chip that will hold up to lots of toppings.

Plant-based meat: We used Impossible meat ground beef alternative – it's the best 1:1 substitute in our opinion! You can really use any brand, or you can use a similar option made from tofu, lentils, or something similar.

Beans: Pinto beans are our favorite in these vegan nachos (and they typically hold up well), but you can also use black beans, lentils, or another similar bean of choice. 

Storage: To be honest, nachos don't exactly store well. They're best eaten right away! If you do have leftovers, reheat in a thin layer in the oven.

Double layer: There's nothing worse than getting to the bottom of your nachos and having a bunch of leftover chips with no toppings. To avoid that, we do two layers! Arrange one thin layer of chips, add toppings, and then repeat. 

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 681
  • Sugar: 5.9 g
  • Sodium: 749.3 mg
  • Fat: 31.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 75.5 g
  • Fiber: 13.2 g
  • Protein: 24.1 g

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Lexi and Beth toasting with wine.

Hi, we're Lexi and Beth, a mother-daughter team from Michigan. The recipes you'll find here are a reflection of how we bring our family together around the dinner table despite various dietary differences.

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