It’s Monday and I’m throwing caution to the wind. Sometimes you have to start the week out with a bang to make the weight of the long week ahead a little more bearable, you know? 😅 I had a couple leftover jalapeños in my fridge as well as a small batch of pickled red onions, so I thought that was a great excuse to make some nachos (naturally). Anyway, ever since discovering how a few minutes in a hot oven can elevate crunchy tacos to a heavenly level, I’ve wanted to try the same with nachos. These Spicy Baked Black Bean Nachos proved my suspicions correct and today I’m in nacho heaven. Watch out Tuesday, I’m comin’ for ya!
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Nacho Topping Options
Obviously you can put whatever toppings on your nachos that you like, but if you haven’t tried pickled red onions yet, you’re missing out. Their sweet-tart-salty flavor really adds zing to the nachos.
A light drizzle or dollop of creamy sour cream balances the pickled red onions and the heat of the black bean mixture. If you’re feeling extra extravagant, I highly suggest turning your sour cream into lime crema for even more flavor (lime crema recipe here).
Oh, and if you do fresh jalapeños like I did below, the trick is to slice them super-SUPER thinly. That way you get flavor and heat without burning your mouth off. Fresh pico de gallo is also fabulous!
If you want to add meat to your nachos, I highly suggest our Carnitas recipe! Ground beef with taco seasoning would also be an easy win.
Tips for Success with Baked Black Bean Nachos
When it comes to baking nachos, there are three main tips to success:
- Use really thick, hearty chips. No “thin and crispy” for this dish. They need to stand up to layers of toppings and oven baking without burning.
- Line your baking sheet or suffer the consequences (difficult clean-up). I like parchment because it doesn’t reflect heat and reduces the chance of burning, but foil will also work.
- It’s all about the layers. Layer your chips, bean mixture, and cheese for the best chip-to-topping ratio. No one likes getting a chip with no toppings or so many toppings that you can’t lift your chip.
Let’s go start this week off right, shall we?
Spicy Baked Black Bean Nachos
Servings 4Ingredients
SPICY BLACK BEAN MIXTURE
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.13)
- 1 small onion ($0.32)
- 1 10oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles ($0.99)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($1.00)
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
NACHOS
- 8 oz. sturdy corn tortilla chips ($1.50)
- 4 oz. cheddar, shredded* ($1.00)
- 1 Roma tomato ($0.32)
- 1 jalapeño ($0.12)
- 1/3 cup pickled red onions ($0.24)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro ($0.25)
- 1/4 cup sour cream ($0.37)
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion. Add the olive oil and onion to a large skillet and sauté over medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent (about 5 minutes). Drain, but do not rinse the black beans, allowing some of the starchy liquid to remain coating the beans. Add the beans and diced tomatoes with chiles (not drained) to the skillet, along with the chipotle powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt. Stir and simmer the mixture until it thickens and liquid no longer pools on the bottom of the skillet (about 10 minutes).
- Begin preheating the oven to 350ºF. Shred the cheddar cheese, finely dice the Roma tomato, thinly slice the jalapeño, and chop the cilantro.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Spread a layer of tortilla chips over the baking sheet in a single layer, trying not to overlap the chips. Spoon about half of the black bean mixture over the chips, then sprinkle half of the shredded cheese over top. Repeat with one more layer of chips, black beans, and cheese.
- Bake the chips, beans, and cheese for 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and the chips are just beginning to turn golden brown on the edges. Remove the nachos from the oven and add a drizzles or dollops of sour cream over top. Sprinkle the diced tomato, sliced jalapeño, pickled red onions, and chopped cilantro over top.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Baked Nachos – Step by Step Photos
Start by preparing the spicy black bean mixture. Finely dice one small onion and sauté it in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil until the onions are soft and transparent (about 5 minutes).
Add one 15 oz. can black beans (mostly drained, not rinsed), one 10 oz. can petite diced tomatoes with green chiles (not drained), 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Rotel is probably the most popular brand of diced tomatoes with chiles, but I found these Red Gold tomatoes that were less expensive. If you can’t find diced tomatoes with chiles, you can either do plain petite diced tomatoes, or get a can of petite diced tomatoes and a small 4 oz. can of diced green chiles separately. Just make sure they’re PETITE diced so that you don’t have large chunks of tomatoes.
Simmer the mixture until the liquid thickens and no longer pools on the bottom of the skillet. You want it to be thick and goopy and not too wet because that can soften your chips.
Begin preheating your oven to 350ºF and prepare your cold toppings so that they’re ready to go on top immediately when the nachos come out of the oven. Thinly slice one jalapeño, finely dice one Roma tomato, and chop a handful of cilantro. Also shred 4 oz. of cheddar cheese. (The pickled red onions and sour cream don’t need any prep).
Begin to layer the nachos. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil (preferably parchment) and then spread out one layer of chips over the sheet so that they are touching but not overlapping too much.
Spoon half of the bean mixture over the first layer of chips, then sprinkle half of the shredded cheese over top. Follow that up with one more single layer of chips, the second half of the bean mixture, and the second half of the cheese. Perfect chip-to-topping ratio! :)
Bake the nachos in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is fully melted and the tips of the chips are just barely starting to turn golden.
Immediately top the baked chips with a little sour cream, the sliced jalapeños, diced tomatoes, chipped cilantro, and pickled red onions. Perfect!
And that’s it!! Super fast and easy, and guaranteed to make your Monday a little better. ;)
Love baked nachos? Check out our Breakfast Nachos!
So freaking delicious!
While oven nachos are great, sometimes they take too long. You can get a lot of the same oomph from “toasting” your chips for about 15 seconds in the microwave before adding toppings. It’s not quite as good but still a big step up from microwave nachos without doing this.
I made this tonight but with a few changes. I added ground beef because my husband is a meat lover, a heaping 1/4 tsp of chili powder, a pinch of sugar and a splash of light beer during simmer. Amazing
Great recipe. I’ve made it 3 times so far and always is a hit with 3 little kids and husband. Could be made vegan with vegan cheese, but I use regular cheese. Tasty. Can be a little spicy, but I tried it with a can of diced petite tomatoes, then a small can of mild green chili’s. Less spicy than using The tomatoes with chili’s.
I had a red pepper, so I sautéed it with the onions. Also added some frozen corn I had in the freezer.
Will become part of our regular rotation.
I wasn’t in the mood to do much prep for dinner. This recipe came through splendidly, and both my husband and I loved it. Super easy and it’s so good that my husband didn’t realize there was no meat until they were already half eaten! I’ll certainly use this recipe again and again.
Can the bean mixture be frozen for future use?
The black bean mixture can, yes. :)
Made these today. Couldn’t find pickled red onions, so whipped them up following the recipe link. Delicious! Followed the lime crema recipe, as well. Great additional layer of flavor! Will definitely make these again.
Definitely making this tonight
I have a can of red beans in my pantry: could I substitute them?
Sure! :)
Made this last night and it was amazing!
Picked red onions sound interesting! And this recipe seems pretty easy too.
I made this recipe for Sunday lunch today. I did not have jalapeños so that’s the only ingredient that my nachos were missing – it’s a 5 star recipe! Hands down! The recipe that my guys will be asking for every Friday night. Thank you!
These were so good! I made as is, with the pickled onions and the lime crema and ate this like it was my last meal.
I’m In LOVEEEE. These are perfect!
This baked bIack bean nachos look delish. would try this recipe this weekend. Thanks for sharing