Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos

These are the nachos you make for dinner.

These are the nachos your kids will love to eat because they’re basically like deconstructed tacos.

These are also the nachos to lay out right on the pan at a party – just remind people the pan is hot!

Sheet pan for victory!

A sheet pan makes prep, serving, and cleanup easier—no wonder it’s a popular trick in so many recipes these days.

Plus, dinner comes together really quickly because it’s all cooking at once—all you have to do is divide the nachos onto plates and top them with your favorite toppings.

I went with a thicker tortilla chip and a regular size. I don’t think the ones geared towards scooping or snacking will also work as they don’t offer the same surface for all of these toppings.

You should stay away from skinny, restaurant-style chips in this scenario — they’re more likely to collapse under the weight of the toppings.

Whether you want white, yellow or blue corn or something more exotic is entirely up to you. My kids and I both agreed that the white was the best and the blues got lost in the ingredients visually. But you can choose what you like.

You’ll probably use up almost an entire bag – it really isn’t an exact science to lay it out on the sheet pan, but I liked having a bit more left over because invariably some of the ingredients fall off the pan during extraction, and you want to a few extra chips to scoop them up.

The best cheese for nachos

As for the cheese, you can use whatever you like. To make this dish easier to prepare, I went with a mix of bagged Mexican cheeses, but any cheddar, Monterey Jack, or good processed cheese would work well here. Your call!

Prep work is your friend

It’s a good idea to chop the peppers and cilantro, drain the beans and olives, measure the corn, and grate the cheese before you start preparing the beef or assembling the nachos. Line everything up on the counter, leaving room for the sheet pan and beef pan so you can gather everything in one place. It’s a lot easier that way.

Do the same topping prep work at the same time if you’re using a lot of toppings so you can quickly mobilize dinner as soon as the nachos come out of the oven. Or that giant snack you just created for your guests.

Sheet Pan Nachos are versatile

The beauty of such a dish also lies in its versatility. If you’re not a fan of black beans, swap them out for red beans or even chickpeas. If you prefer to use peppers of different colors, do so.

Do you hate corn? skip it Do you hate cilantro even more? Skip that too and use salsa instead of the cilantro cream topping. And you can swap out the cilantro for a few tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano to sprinkle over the finished nachos.

If you have eaters in your midst who like hot peppers, put them right on top of the nachos before they go into the oven (before the cheese and after the olives maybe). I just chose that as a topping here because not everyone in my house is into jalapeños.

How many people does this serve?

Well, that’s not exactly an exact science either. My 10 year old twins and I ate almost half of the pan the first time I made this. You can surely serve this to a family of four for dinner, or to six to ten as a party snack.

Just be warned – it doesn’t reheat really well because the fries get mushy in the fridge with all those toppings, so it’s best prepared and eaten in one sitting. However, you could – and I did while developing the recipe – remove the toppings and reheat them separately with new, fresh chips. Don’t waste, don’t want.

If you’re feeding some hungry adults, it’s probably wise to also make a side salad and pot of rice to round out the offerings. Or just make another sheet pan. It really depends on your crowd.

Want more nacho recipes?

• Grilled Chicken Nachos
• Mexican street corn nachos
• Classic nachos
• Blue Corn Chicken Nachos