Nachos
Nachos are one of those delicious, easy to make meals that is great for one person or for entertaining large groups. The toppings are endless and it’s fun to mix and match new ingredients. The key to these amazing nachos is two main ingredients. Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo and their Organic Creamy Cashew Fiesta Dip. You can adjust pretty much anything else based off taste and what you have on hand. These two ingredients can be used in a variety of ways together, as well as separately. They are both staples in my fridge and are listed on the My Favorite Trader Joe’s Items blog post that you can find here. Another great hack for the cashew dip outside of Mexican dishes, is dipping TJ’s frozen Baseball stadium style soft pretzels in the dip. I spritz a little water on the pretzel and sprinkle a little everything but the bagel seasoning and the salt from the packet that comes with the pretzels. The pretzels take around 5 minutes to bake and be careful not to overcook or they get hard. Heat the sauce up for like 15 seconds, stirring well and serve.
Anyways, another key element to a good plate of nachos is the chips. I refuse to eat them with cheap, thin tortilla chips that fall apart after five minutes under toppings. There are two chips I go back and forth between them, depending on my mood and what I might have in the pantry. TJ’s sells Organic Corn Chip Dippers which are essentially Hulk sized Fritos corn chips and they are a fan favorite. Only the original dippers are vegan, the Elote seasoned ones have milk in them. The other chip can also be found at TJ’s and they are the Restaurant Style Tortilla chips. These are thick cut with a good amount of salt and a hint of lime. Both chips are great tasting and hold up well to the weight of a large stack of toppings.
I’ll make a big batch of the meat and bean mix and prep lots of veggies like lettuce, tomato, and onion the first time, that way when I make leftovers, I just have to make a batch of queso and heat up the meat mix. What are your favorite toppings on your nachos? Which do you prefer when it comes to Mexican favorites? Nachos, burritos, or tacos? It depends on my mood, but nachos usually end up winning with me. Comment below with your favorite nacho toppings and I hope you like these as much as I do!
Nachos
Ingredients
- Two 9 ounces Trader Joe’s Organic Creamy Cashew Fiesta Dip
- 3 TBSP chunky salsa of your choice (I love 505 Southwestern, El Pinto, or Little Anita’s salsa)
- One 4 ounce can of Hatch Green Chile (I love 505 Southwesternfire roasted hatch chile that is jarred, or the canned HATCHbrand green chile. If you can find frozen Bueno green chile, buy it all. If I can’t find these, I’ll use TJ’s green chile but it’s not hot.)
- 2 TBSP TJ’s Jalapeno Sauce (to taste)
- 3 TBSP TJ’s vegan cream cheese (or any brand you like)
- 3 TBSP non-dairy milk depending on your level of thickness desired (I use JOI organic cashew base)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Optional Seasoning:
- A couple of grinds from the TJ’s South African Smoked Seasoning Blend
- A couple of shakes of hot sauce (I use Cholula)
- A dash of chile powder
- A dash of smoked paprika
- One 12 ounce pack of TJ’s soy chorizo (I’ve seen other brands but this one is cheap and amazing, so I never try any others. It tastes just like the real thing, minus the cholesterol and heartburn.)
- 2 cans of beans depending on how much you want to use. Depending on what you have on hand, you can use black, pinto, or kidney beans. Mix and match if you want to jazz these up even more.
- 3 TBSP Hatch green chile
- A couple of shakes of hot sauce (I use Cholula)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional Seasoning:
- A couple of grinds from the TJ’s South African Smoked Seasoning Blend
- A dash of chile powder
- A dash of smoked paprika
- Two 9.75 ounce bags of TJ’s Organic Corn Chip Dippers or TJ’s Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips
- Homemade cashew cheese (recipe can be found here. I used it as a “rinotta” on this recipe, but it works great on anything)
- Red onion, diced
- Tomato, diced
- Lettuce, diced or shredded
- Green onions, diced
- Avocado, diced
Instructions
- The cooking of both the queso and protein mix goes quickly so I prep all my toppings first before I cook anything. The homemade cheese can be used right away but is best after a couple of hours at least.
- Mix all the queso ingredients in one pot and heat on medium heat until smooth and blended together and well-seasoned, about ten minutes. Make sure you stir well to help blend everything thoroughly. I like to start slow with the milk to make sure I don’t make the queso too watery.
- At the same time as I make the queso, mix all the protein ingredients into another pot and heat on medium to medium high heat. Stir occasionally, heating all the way through about 10 minutes.
- Once the queso and protein mix are heated through and ready, make a bed of chips and top with protein mix, queso, veggies, and a big dollop of homemade cashew cheese on top.
- Store leftover queso, protein mix, veggies, and homemade cashew cheese in separate, sealed containers for up to a week in the fridge.
