These tasty Ground Beef Nachos are the best and easiest homemade nachos. Chili seasoned ground beef sits on top of melted and gooey cheese and is topped with crunchy, fresh vegetables.
The ground beef topping is the perfect recipe for tacos or taco bowls and is so easy to make in under 10 minutes. Paired with the melted cheese and crunchy veggies, it's a great quick meal.
You can serve these ground beef nachos as an appetizer or full meal, especially paired with queso, Spanish rice, and a salad. Or top with a drizzle of ranch for extra flavor!
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Ground Beef Nachos
This resident Texan loves a good nacho platter. And let me tell you, there are many different kinds of nachos. The nachos that mix queso and ground beef, like at Mattito's. Nachos perfectly piled on individual chips, inspired by Taco Diner. Nachos with beans and cheese, shredded lettuce optional, like E-Bar. This recipe combines all my favorite elements!
You'll love these ground beef nachos because:
- Easy and fast - It's the perfect weeknight or weekend meal when you're too tired to put in a lot of effort.
- Crowd-pleaser - Nachos can be catered to lots of different diets. This recipe is gluten free, but you can also make them vegetarian.
- Game day or party food - Because they're easy to scale, it's great to serve these ground beef nachos for a party!
Best Tortilla Chips for Nachos
Good tortilla chips are an essential part of nachos. They're the foundation for the house...and we all know what happens when you have a bad foundation. This means avoid thin chips that break really easily.
Some favorites: A Texas favorite of mine is G. Cardona which can be found at HEB and Whole Foods Texas. Santitas Yellow Corn work well and have a great price point. On The Border also has a thick chip with good corn flavor that works well with nachos. El Patio are my favorite!
Pass on these: Xochitl has great flavor, but I find them a little thin for nachos. Their "dipper" version is better. Whole Foods brand lacks flavor and texture, same with Trader Joe's.
Ingredients
Here are just some ingredients that I used for these ground beef nachos, but feel free to edit it to what works for you.
- Ground Beef - I like to use 85/15 which I find the most flavorful, but any ground beef will work. You could also use ground turkey or chicken.
- Chili powder - Essential for the spice mixture, I like to use one with limited ingredients (and no cocoa powder) like Morton and Basset or Frontier. This mixes well with the other spices like cumin, smoked paprika, and garlic powder.
- Cheese - Did you know that most Tex-Mex restaurants use American cheese in their queso? This is because it melts so beautifully and has a really mild flavor. I like to use Boar's Head or Andrew and Everett White American Cheese, which are typically sold at the deli counter. Ask for it to be cut "block style" to make for easy, at-home grating. If you can't find either of those or don't have a deli counter, Horizon has a good one too. You could also use Monterey jack.
- Black Beans - I use low sodium black beans in a can. Just drain them and rinse, then pat dry.
- Corn - I like to use Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn and keep it in the freezer so I can whip these up anytime. Fresh, canned, or frozen all work!
- Radish - Love these for an extra crunch.
- Cilantro - Omit if you're one of those people who can't stand the taste!
- Peppers - Bell pepper will work, but I just used thin-sliced, sweet mini peppers here.
- Tortilla Chips - Favorite brands listed above. If you're following a migraine diet, don't worry about "trace of lime" or "chemical lime". This isn't actually citrus lime (like "hint of lime flavor"), but a way of processing the corn.
Nacho Cheese Tips
I think the best one for flavor and texture is a good quality American cheese, like explained above, but there are a few different ones you can use.
- Mozzarella - I suggest one that can be grated, block-style. This will have less flavor overall, but the seasonings in the beef and veggies should be enough.
- Monterey jack - Great for melting and also good flavor, it's a younger cheese that's used a lot in Tex Mex cooking.
- Queso - If you love a more melty nacho cheese texture, use my queso recipe instead.
How to Make Nachos with Ground Beef
It's really important to layer the ground beef nachos in this order to avoid sogginess, or cooking toppings that need to be left fresh.
Step 1: Make the ground beef
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Begin by making the seasoned ground beef, which also works well in tacos! You can also add the corn in this step if you don't mind them being mixed, or just use the same pan to heat it up after if you want to layer it.
Step 2: Layer the tortilla chips
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up. Layer a large amount of tortilla chips on top.
Step 3: Add the cheese
Use a cheese grater to grate the cheese and spread it evenly on top of the chips. If your cheese comes in slices, you can remove the separation paper and smoosh them together to grate them, or tear the cheese and divide it evenly on top of the chips.
Step 4: Add the toppings
Top the cheese with seasoned ground beef, black beans and corn and bake for 5-7 minutes until cheese has fully melted. Sprinkle the peppers, radish, cilantro, and any other fresh vegetables on top. Serve hot!
Recipe Edits
- Vegetarian - Leave off the ground beef and just add the vegetable toppings! Adding more black beans here would be great.
- Gluten free - Most corn tortilla chips are naturally gluten free. You can also use Siete brand which have cassava for grain free.
- Low sodium - Use low sodium tortilla chips and omit any added salt. Also use beans without added salt. American cheese is naturally higher in sodium, so you could substitute with low moisture or block style mozzarella.
Nacho Toppings
Here are a few of my favorite additional toppings for ground beef nachos.
- Other types of cheese - Mix up the cheese with another cheese that's easy to melt, like mozzarella or monterey jack, which will give you those beautiful stringy cheese pulls.
- Beans - Substitute the black beans for refried beans to make this more like the Taco Bell Nachos Supreme.
- Shallots - I prefer the flavor to onion, but green onions would work here too.
- Peppers - Sliced Jalapeno or Poblano Peppers...basically any peppers.
- My salsa verde recipe or regular salsa, both in my cookbook. Or a good store-bought salsa.
- Sour cream - Use this blended cottage cheese as a great substitute.
- Mango Salsa
- Sauces - If you're looking for a sauce to top these with, I recommend my ranch dressing (just use smoked paprika for a southwestern taste), or my mozzarella queso recipe. Just drizzle a little bit over the top right before serving to avoid soggy nachos!
Make Ahead
You can prep this ground beef nachos ahead by making the ground beef and chopping all the vegetables, then storing separate in the fridge till you are ready to assemble. You can even pre-grate the cheese.
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Toppings and beef will keep well, covered, in the fridge for 3-4 days. The ground beef can be frozen for up to 6 months.
When ready to cook, assemble according to the directions and heat in the oven!
What Goes Well with Nachos?
If you want to serve these ground beef nachos for dinner and need sides or want other appetizers that complement these nachos, check out these recipes.
Easy Tex Mex Recipes
For more easy recipes like these ground beef nachos check out these:
If you make this, tag me #thedizzycook or @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram. And if you love the recipe, please leave a review below! Follow along on my Pinterest for more great recipes.
Ground Beef Nachos
Ingredients
Seasoned Ground Beef
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ cup fresh or frozen corn
Nachos
- ½ 12oz bag tortilla chips
- ½ pound good quality American cheese, shredded (Boar's Head, Andrew & Everett, or Horizon) or Monterey jack
- ½ cup low-sodium canned black beans
- 4 green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ cup sliced peppers (sweet mini peppers for mild, jalapeño for hot)
- 2 radish, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Add ground beef to a large pan over medium high heat and begin to cook till no longer pink about 5-6 minutes, breaking it up into small bits. Once cooked through, drain any excess fat and add the spices, stirring over medium heat till well-combined. Add ⅓ cup of water and bring to a simmer, until almost all the water has cooked off. Mix corn with the beef to defrost, or cook separately in the same pan once the beef is removed.
- Cover a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the tortilla chips on top, then sprinkle with shredded American cheese. Layer the ground beef, beans, and corn. Bake for about 7-8 minutes until the cheese has melted.
- Add the fresh toppings - cilantro, peppers, green onions, radish, and any sauces and serve immediately!
Notes
- Ground beef - Any type can be used, but 85/15 has the best flavor. You can also substitute ground chicken or turkey.
- Cheese - Good quality American cheese is usually found in "block" form from the deli counter. Ask them to cut you a big piece so you can grate it on a cheese grater. Or you could also use low moisture mozzarella/block form, or monterey jack. For a melty texture, use my queso recipe.
- Toppings can all be made/chopped ahead and stored separately. Then combine everything before serving!
Nutrition
This post was originally published August 27, 2020 and has been updated January 2022 with new pictures, step by step instructions, and pairing suggestions.
My husband & I LOVED this idea!
I loved that all the seasonings made it taste like taco seasoning. we added some yellow American cheese into the meat & it gave it more of a kick too! ✨️🙌
Thanks so much, Sage! It's one of my favorites for an easy dinner.
Hi Alicia!
Do you have an idea of what might be an American Cheese equivalent in other parts of the world? I’m in Canada and we don’t have American Cheese here. Thank you! 🙂
I would just use old cheddar. Armstrong, Kraft, etc.
Hi,
Doesn’t American cheese have a lot of sodium? I just looked at Boars Head and it says 350mg per 1oz and there are 80 servings in the block they sell at Safeway. That’s a scary amount! Trying to look for other American Cheeses, but could only find Boars Head. 🙁
Hey - if you're low sodium this may not work for you depending on what you're trying to stay under. I find everyone is different. You could substitute mozzarella or oaxaca cheese instead. If you're just following a migraine diet, sodium isn't an issue, but if you're trying to combine with a meniere's diet I would definitely try the other cheeses. Hope that helps!