We eat tacos a lot but sometimes you just have an excess of tortillas that you just can’t eat before they dry up and are just not great for tacos (read: break into bits before your first bite, so your taco filling gets everywhere!). So… what to do with all those tortillas? Make them into chips, of course! And then take those chips and make a big ol’ pile of nachos. Here’s some options: vegan and non!
Let’s make some chippies:
Take whatever tortillas you have but keep in mind you need probably 6 tortillas to make enough chips for a robust helping of nachos. So govern yourself accordingly.
Cutting tortillas for nachos
Pre heat your oven to 350F. Line one or two baking trays with parchment paper.
Take 4 tortillas at a time and pile them on top of each other on a cutting board. If you have a pizza cutter, use it to cut the tortillas in half. Then cut each half into thirds. So you’ll get 6 chips per tortilla. Cut up as many as will fit on your baking tray (you may end up doing a few rounds to use up all your tortillas).
Put the cut-up tortillas in a bag along with a few tablespoons of oil and a teaspoon of salt. Shake it all around until the little triangles are all lightly coated in oil and salt.
Place the triangles in a single layer on the baking sheet. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 10 min. Remove the tray and flip all the chips. Return them to the oven and bake for another 10 min. Watch them though to make sure they don’t overbake. You want them a light golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool. Repeat until you’ve used up all your old tortillas. They keep in a sealed container or Ziploc bag for weeks.
Topping it up
During the summer and if you’ve got a veggie patch in your garden, it’s a great time for making nachos. They’re also so easy to make vegan or vegetarian. Here’s some topping options.
- Roasted poblano peppers – diced
- Diced red bell peppers
- Diced tomatoes
- Chopped green onion or chives
- Sautéed mushrooms (sauté them in a chile oil with a spritz of lime juice at the end and they’re magnificent)
- Grated cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
- Creamy vegan cashew “cheese” sauce (here’s one to try – it’s a mac n cheese recipe but just add a bit more chile powder and lemon juice and it’s great on nachos)
- Leftover grilled chicken or steak
- Refried or plain pinto beans
- Pickled or fresh jalapenos
- Whatever else your heart desires
Once you’ve figured out your toppings, pile it all together on a piece of parchment on a baking sheet. I like to make two layers with a bit of cheese between the top and bottom layer, then all the goodies on top. Others like to make a larger, single layer with stuff all over! You choose.
Pop in the oven for 10 minutes or so at 350F.
Serve with sliced avocado or guacamole, sour cream, and/or salsa. Enjoy
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