Vegan nachos! Who wants some?!? I’ll admit I don’t make recipes like this too often, but I recently noticed a non-vegan superbowl food spread in a magazine. It had gigantic bowls of salty snacks, massive sandwiches, and of course a platter of gooey, spicy nachos.
I thought to myself, “That would be really enjoyable, minus the football and the animal products.”
So I set out to make some “loaded” (i.e. stuff piled on top) vegan nachos that are perfect for sharing.
According to legend, nachos were invented in the 1940s by Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, a chef at the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, a Mexican town near the Texas border. He was said to offer a snack of baked chips with cheese and sliced jalapeno which was then served with salsa and sour cream.
Nachos are only as good as what sits on top of the chips. High quality ingredients are essential, so use crispy fresh vegetables and herbs and whole grain tortilla chips. Baking makes the chips a little chewy and of course melts the cheese.
For more variety in your vegan nachos, combine different-colored tortilla chips, add other vegetables (diced avocado, bell pepper, corn kernels) fresh salsa or non-dairy sour cream. Enjoy with friends!
- 2 t olive oil
- 12 oz veggie crumbles (I used the Yves brand)
- 1 c yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 t ground cumin
- 2 t chili powder
- ¼ t salt (optional. If the your tortilla chips are particularly salty, you may skip this)
- ½ c parsley or cilantro, chopped
- 2 c shredded non-dairy cheese (I use Daiya, but any kind that melts would work)
- 6-8 oz tortilla chips
- ½ c pitted, sliced black olives
- ½ c tomatoes, diced
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced (more depending on your preference for heat)
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large saute pan, heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook about 3 minutes. Stir in cumin and chili powder. Stir in veggie crumbles. Cook about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in salt (optional) and parsley or cilantro.
- On an oven-proof platter or baking sheet, spread out tortilla chips. Top with veggie crumble mixture and non-dairy cheese and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Top with olives, tomatoes and jalapeno. Squeeze lime juice over the top. Sprinkle additional parsley or cilantro if you like. Enjoy hot.
Kathy @ Olives & Garlic says
These look scrumptious. I love loaded nachos.
Sara says
Thank you, Kathy! Me too! I couldn’t stop eating them 🙂