I have an obsession with nachos. Any nachos, even 30 second microwave nachos.
When they’re done right, I think they’re the perfect food. Just think: hot and crispy corn tortilla chips, melty cheese, and all the toppings. I love my nachos fully loaded: seasoned ground beef, avocados or guacamole, salsa, sour cream, green onions, cilantro. I want it all. Even though I’m obsessed with the perfect nacho, I’m so obsessed with nachos in general that I’ll take whatever I can get.
I love all nachos
Truth: I’ve even been known to eat just tortilla chips with melted “cheese” on top. A couple of years ago Mike and I were in Madrid. I was overcome by an intense craving for nachos. Luckily, they had tortilla chips at the store right around the corner from the Airbnb we rented.
There wasn’t any shredded cheese, but they did have some squares of unidentifiable queso and jars of “American” salsa. My need for melted cheese on tortilla chips was so great that I didn’t care that the whole thing was questionable. And hell yes that plate of Spanish nachos hit the spot.
Writing that kind of makes me miss Europe. It goes to show that it’s the random things in life that are completely memorable, like making microwave nachos in your European apartment. Yup, we could have gone out for cervezas (claras for me!) and jamon at midnight. But sometimes, it’s those down home things that really matter, especially when traveling.
Microwave nachos are the way to go
Speaking of microwaves, microwave nachos are the way to go. Especially right now when your house is so hot that you feel like you’re melted cheese. Microwaves are an awesome invention perfect for when it comes to melting cheese on chips. Be careful not to microwave too long. You want melty stringy cheese, not crispy.
Perfect microwave nachos
I was inspired by this post to use scoops tortilla chips. Previous to this I would obsessively arrange toppings on flat round tortilla chips, which wasn’t as neat and tidy. Scoops are a total game changer. Each chip is perfectly topped. It takes a little bit of extra effort to layer each chip individually, but it is totally worth it because when you sit down to eat, you can just shove them in your mouth without thinking about which chip has the most cheese. Even better, you don’t even need to scoop up the salsa, because it’s already dressed. Pure nacho perfection.
Taco seasoning
For the ground beef, I just browned some up with a bit of garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. If you somehow have left over taco meat, this is perfect, and if you need it, this is my taco seasoning recipe.
Perfect Microwave Nachos
Ingredients
- 30 tortilla scoops or chips of choice
- 1/2 cup ground beef cooked with taco seasoning, about 1/4lb
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella
- jalapeño sliced, as desired
- green onions sliced, as desired
- 1/2 avocado cubed
- cilantro roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup salsa
- 1/4 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Arrange your chips in a single layer on a microwavable plate. Add a bit of ground beef to each chip then top with a generous amount of cheese. Add one slice of jalapeño and a pinch of sliced green onions to each chip.
- Microwave (1-2 minutes, depending on microwave) until cheese is melty, but not over cooked and crispy. You want the cheese to be still stringy. I start with 1 minute and then do 30 second intervals until it’s melted to my liking.
- Top each chip with a cube of avocado, a sprinkle of cilantro, and a dab each of sour cream and salsa. Enjoy!
Thanks! Brought back a few travel memories for us. My Mexican mother-in-law taught me how to make every food you can think of from menudo to home made tortillas, but microwave nachos? I didn’t even realize you didn’t have to make a big deal out of it! Thanks again!
I make these all the time. Its great if you cover the chips in microwave cos then the cheese melts easily and you get this slightly leathery tortilla chip thing going on with the cheese. i add guac instead of just avocado……this is just great!
microwave nachos really are the best :)