Restaurant Style Nachos at Home

It's no secret.

I love nachos.  My husband loves nachos and my kids like really basic (meat & cheese) nachos.

Nachos are such a fun dinner and are easy to customize for your crew.

I really love game day food this time of year so I try to work in all the appetizer and fun finger foods during the footballs season.  Notre Dame played last weekend.  We wrapped up the game with some amazing Restaurant Style Nachos.  They were really easy to make and were AMAZING!!

I couldn't wait to share the recipe and directions with you!

We loved them so much we had them two nights in a row.  I try to keep the majority of these ingredients on hand and really stock up when I go to Aldi.  In full disclosure, my kids are still learning to love nachos.  They prefer a soft taco or deconstructed taco with all the ingredients separately.  The adults really did LOVE LOVE LOVE this meal.  Isn't it beautiful!?!

Ingredients:
1 lb of taco meat with your favorite seasoning (leave meat chunky instead of breaking it up)
1 handful of tortilla chips per person
shredded cheese (I did a mix of mozzarella & sharp cheddar)
Tamed jalapenos
black beans
lettuce
tomatoes
olive oil
half an onion diced
sweet peppers diced
sour cream
guacamole
fresh salsa &/or jarred salsa
1/2 lime juice  
*black olives would have been great, too.

Cook the meat.
Saute the onions and peppers in olive oil.

Line your favorite baking pan (with an edge) with chips.  Do a single layer.  I did a handful of chips per person and tried not to overlap them very much.  Top with meat, cheese, black beans, sauteed onions and peppers and jalapenos.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

While the nachos bake, chop up all the other toppings.  Let the nachos cool for a minute and then top them with the remaining toppings.  Serve!

Fresh out of the oven and waiting to cool just a minute.

Time to add all the fresh toppings!  I did 2/3 the pan for Kevin and his favorites and 1/3 for me!  The kids had soft tacos this night.

If you are worried about the toppings sticking to your pan, you can always spray some cooking spray down first.

The first night I made the nachos I did a kid side (meat and cheese) and then did the top fourth for Kevin (less cheese) and the bottom fourth of the pan for me (sour cream, guac, generous cheese and tomatoes).  These nachos are so easy to personalize!!

And the leftover ingredients work really well for school lunches.  Olive was excited to have tacos for lunch.

Would your friends or family enjoy these restaurant style nachos??