Confession: One of my go-to movie theater snacks is nachos. I know! It’s terrible. I mean who knows what is in that nacho cheese, plus the entire meal consists of chips, questionable cheese (or maybe I should say “cheese”), and for me jalapeños (from a jar, not fresh, that would be way too spicy). So not exactly a nutritious meal, although in all fairness, who goes to the movie theater to eat nutritious food?
But here is a nacho recipe, complete with some delicious nacho cheese, that you can actually feel good about eating. I should know, I ate this two days in a row since it made leftovers and I can honestly say that I like this a lot more than the movie theater version. I’m not even pulling your leg, I swear! And this version is packed with SO much good for me ingredients (like actual, real plants). Double win!
One more confession before we start cooking. I used to totally roll my eyes at the mere mention of vegan cheese, or non-dairy cheese of any kind. It just sounded really ridiculous to me and, I like real (dairy) cheese. So, why bother? If you feel similar or you’ve felt similar before, believe me, I get it. But, at least hear me out before rolling your eyes.
So this cheese is very similar in texture and color to what probably comes to mind when you think of nacho cheese. It tastes cheesy for sure, but I would say the taste is probably the most different thing about it. It’s made from mostly potatoes and nutritional yeast. If you’ve never tried nutritional yeast before, you totally should; it’s a pretty rad ingredient. Plus it packs a pretty decent plant-based protein punch (say that 3x fast!). The recipe below contains 16 grams of protein just from the nutritional yeast alone (divided by two, the recipe is for two servings). So that’s pretty cool, right? And bottom line: If you’re willing to eat the processed-who-knows-what-it’s-made-of nacho cheese, then there’s really no reason not to give this weirdo non-dairy cheese a try!
Also, I’ll probably still eat the questionable nacho cheese once in a while. But I LOVE that I can make something similar that tastes better AND nourishes my body. I think that’s pretty darn awesome.
Are you ready to nacho cheese yourself? Good, me too.
Best Weeknight Nachos, serves two
For the nachos:
1 can (15 oz.) black beans
1 small red onion
2 small bell peppers
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 avocado
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
tortilla chips (see note)
For the nacho cheese:
2 small red potatoes (around 235 grams)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice from 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
3-4 tablespoons water (vegetable stock would also work here if you have some you need to use up)
Slice up the onion and bell peppers. Mince the garlic. Cook the onion and bell peppers in the olive oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften. Then add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Then add in the drained beans and cook just until everything is warmed through. Season with a little salt and pepper.
In the meantime, peel and cube the potatoes. Boil in water for 10-12 minutes until they are soft enough that you can easily mash them with a fork. Drain and add to a food processor or blender. Then add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, chipotle pepper, salt, and spices. Pulse until creamy. It will likely be quite thick, more like a paste at this point. So use water (or vegetable stock) to thin it to a nice nacho cheese consistency. Just add a few tablespoons, pulse, and see what you think.
Add the cooked vegetables and beans on top of a small bed or chips, drizzle in the nacho cheese sauce, then top with sliced avocado, chopped green onion, and chopped cilantro. Dinner is served!
Notes: For the chips here, I like use something that’s 100% corn or whole grain and organic (or at least non-GMO). But another great option is to swap out the chips for brown rice. Then you have kind of a veggie burrito bowl situation—yum!
– Start with one chipotle pepper (in adobo sauce) but feel free to taste and add more to the cheese if you like. Whenever I’m cooking something with spice/heat, I like to start small and add more as I go, because if you make something too spicy for you it’s pretty much impossible to go back. So just start with one, but I’m sure some of you will want more.
– You could absolutely change up what vegetables go into this dish. To me, onions and peppers just feel right for nachos, but any vegetable the sounds good to you covered in nacho cheese is a go here. 🙂 Experiment with what may be in season or what you have in your refrigerator that you need to use up. There’s lots of possibilities here.
– This will make plenty of nacho cheese for two servings, and you may have some left over. If you do, you can totally save it in an airtight container for at least three days in your refrigerator (probably longer, but that’s how long I’ve done it so far with good results). When you reheat it, if it seems too thick just thin it out with water again. I’ve found that when I reheat this cheese, it seems a little too thick at first, but it’s a super easy solve.
– I suspect that you could swap out the potatoes for a similar weight in tofu for the nacho cheese. I haven’t tried it yet, but I just have a feeling it would work well. You’d need to warm it after blending since the heat from the cooked potatoes wouldn’t be a part of it anymore. But yeah, just options in case anyone is like, “I hate potatoes” or something.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna dim the lights and put on a movie because I’ve got some nachos to DEVOUR IN THE DARK LIKE A PSYCHO. 🙂 xo. Emma
21 Comments
I love how colourful this dish is! And it’s a much more nutritious version of the cinema snack too!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
I’ve wanted to try a dairy free cheese sauce for a taco bowl bar dinner party since I have some vegan friends. I’ll have to give this version a shot!
Yes, try it! See if you can get your non vegan friends to give it whirl too, I think they may be surprised by how similar it really is.
Yes yes yes! Totally trying this!
Looks delcious i love all your recipes
New post: http://thepinkpineappleblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/see-you-soon-summer.html
Blog:http://thepinkpineappleblog.blogspot.com/
So pretty to look at and I’ll bet it tastes delish! Have you heard of The Honest Stand? They make a fantastic cheese sauce from cashews. So good. I’m not associated with the company–just a fan.
Cashew cheese sounds delicious! If I ever see that in stores I’ll have to pick it up, thanks for the rec.
This looks so delicious (and actually healthy) that I would even try that special cheese!
https://www.makeandmess.com
These looks amazing! And I love that most of the ingredients are already in our pantry! Thanks for sharing 🙂
These nachos look incredible! These are perfect for football season.
Thank you! I didn’t even think of that but you’re right!
HOLY CRAP these look amazeballs! TRYING THIS WEEK! 🙂
Sounds great! In addition to, or instead of, black beans, I love making veg nachos with cut up vegetarian sauage (field roast brand apple sage). So yummy
Yum! I have a love/hate relationship with nutritional yeast, it’s great but I always make a huge mess with it! Ha! Also, I love that you said you’re gonna devour them like a psycho. That made me giggle.
Oooh this is so what I need! I’ve had a mad craving for nachos but I’m lactose intolerant. Aaand I have a big ol’ jar of yeast flakes just waiting to convert itself into “cheese”. Thanks!!!
These look amazing! Adding them to the menu plan next week!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Oh My God…..My boyfriend would be screaming “sacrilege” over this one!!! His favourite food is nachos but his recipe is very specific and has nothing to do with what you come across in movie theatres. First he likes to get whole wheat tortilla chips which he lays on a parchment paper covered tray so it covers the whole tray evenly. Then he adds red and green bell peppers and red onion cut in tiny little pieces all over the chips. He then cooks a full chicken breast with some Montreal chicken spices and a few slices of maple bacon to a crispy perfection. He sprinkles the chicken over the chips and then adds grated marbled cheddar cheese on top of all of this, adds the crumbled bacon, tiny pieces of jalapenos and chopped green onions on top of the cheese and puts it in the over at high broil for a couple minutes till the cheese is well melted. Those are the best nachos I’ve ever had ;p
Now I’m deathly allergic to beans and absolutely hate cilantro so I might not give a try to your full recipe but I’m curious about the vegan cheese recipe…..might be interesting to try as a cheese dipping sauce in an upcoming potluck.
SERIOUSLY this recipe is SO GOOD!! Should I be ashamed to say I’ve made it three times since seeing it here? Well, I’m not! It’s finger-licking delicious! Perfect over vegan chili, baked potatoes and on top of burrito bowls. Thank you!!
K, I’m hungry now.
This looks tasty! Can’t wait to serve this on Friday chill nights with friends. Thanks for this delightful recipe.
– Novie
http://naturallypretty.info
These are seriously the best nachos ever! I’ve made them at least 5 times now and am about to make them again right now for dinner. 🙂 One thing I change is sometimes I swap the black beans for veggie ground “beef” that I warm up first with taco seasoning. So good!!