Recipe for 4 people as a main course or
for 8 people as an aperitif/snack
“International Nacho Day” is celebrated every year on 21 October. One of the most beloved snacks of all time, Nachos have the limelight on this day! Here we are not talking about the nachos just as the chips, but as a dish of melted cheese and other ingredients over a bed of chips. Naturally, served with a delicious salsa!
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The history of nachos is steeped in mystery. According to one legend, Nachos were first served in the 1940s in the town of Piedras Negras, a small Mexican city on the Rio Grande River, on the border with Texas. One day, a creative chef named “Nacho” – a nickname for the name Ignacio – needed to quickly come up with a snack to serve a group US soldiers’ wives who were in the town shopping. He didn’t have enough on hand to make anything fancy, so he simply fried some corn tortillas, broke them into pieces, covered them with cheese and jalapeños and let them heat up in the oven until the cheese had melted. The wives were thrilled and named the snack after its inventor!
Nachos have long been loved as an appetizer or party food, but this recipe for “Loaded Nachos” is also great as a shared main course for a group. The great thing is, you don’t have to follow this recipe exactly. Feel free to experiment with the ingredients, toppings and quantities!
Loaded Nachos - one of the most beloved recipes
ingredients
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1 bag (250g) of Rio Grande Tex-Mex “La Norteña” tortilla chips
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200g shredded cheddar cheese
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1 can of cooked black beans* or Mexican refried beans
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350g meat (chicken breast or beef steak)
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1 Tbsp olive oil
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1 Tbsp cumin powder
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1 Tbsp dried oregano
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½ Tbsp Chili powder or paprika powder (hot)
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Jarred Jalapeño slices
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Salt and pepper to taste
* in this recipe we use Portuguese “Feijão Preto”, which is found in larger supermarkets in Switzerland.
preparation
Meat
This recipe contains meat. Naturally you can leave the meat out for a vegetarian version.
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Heat up olive oil in a frying pan, put the meat and dry spices into the pan and cook until done.
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Cut the cooked meat into small pieces or strips so that you can spread them over the chips in the next step
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** Special Tip **
If you have the time and weather, we recommend grilling the meat!
Assembly of the Nachos
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Turn on the oven to the broil setting
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Line a baking tray with aluminium foil
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Spread the chips evenly across the tray
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Generously distribute the shredded cheese across the chips
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Warm-up the black beans in a bowl in the microwave or in a separate pan, stir in the cumin powder
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Spread the warmed black beans evenly over the cheese-covered chips*
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Then spread the meat over the chips the same way*
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Put the loaded tray into the oven and let grill until the cheese is fully melted, usually about 10 minutes.
* as variation or for serve both vegetarians and meat-eaters, you can put the beans on one half and the meat on the other half!
Enjoy
That’s it! Serve with Rio Grande Tex-Mex salsa!