Super Nachos — Beef, Beans & Guac in Every Bite
- January 2022
- By Michelle Ezratty Murphy
- Recipe from Everywhere Latino
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These super nachos are super ready for your next event, loaded with all the fixings and maximum sabor. If you like yours con todo—with everything—this Tex-Mex take on beefed-up nachos are for you.
Whether it’s the Super Bowl or you’re summer entertaining, this loaded take on America’s favorite snack is topped with seasoned shredded beef, refried beans, melted queso, and crema. Thank you Michelle Ezratty Murphy, one of our favorite Puerto Rican-food cooks, for sending this family-favorite recipe. Cheering her on from the kitchen sidelines while she worked up this batch was her No. 1 fan and lover of all comida deliciosa, her Boricua husband Pat.
(If you prefer your snacks on the slim side, may we turn your attention to our Healthy & Delicioso nachos, flipped to good-for-you by our favorite Latina food and wellness coach Naihomy Jerez? Naihomy used lean, ground turkey and roasted brussels to keep things low-fat and menos calories in her version.)
But back to decadent! Michelle set out to make sheet tray nachos offering all the ingredients in each bite. She first developed this recipe for Super Bowl game watching, but she and we agree: loaded nachos are delicioso any time of year. And extra rico on summer days.
Here’s the secret to prepping ahead of your event: be it a family party or your go-to sports game: “Ahead of time, I’ll have the parts ready to go—the shredded beef and the refried beans get made the day before. All I have to do that day is melt the cheese over the tortilla chips in the oven and then load them up with topping,” says Michelle.
We put the sabor question to the Puerto Rican in the room, who is known to like his nachos packed. Are these superstar nachos Super Bowl-worthy, Pat?
Pat nods his head: Absolutely. ”It’s the shredded beef. It is so good,” sighs her husband. Plus the refried beans Michelle made, with caramelized onions and spices, are to die for, he says. So well seasoned and creamy-perfect.
Pat confesses he picked off a couple rows from the sheet tray while Michelle was photographing the guacamole bowl in the other room. ”Don’t judge,” he smiles.
In other words: these nachos are packed, loaded and ready to steal the show.
”The other best thing about these nachos,” adds Pat, ”is that Michelle made them in a sheet pan, so they are flat. All the ingredients are layered right there. It’s not like when you go to a restaurant and the waiter brings out a plate of nachos—with the toppings in sections. And you have to sometimes get to the bottom to get the meat or the bean dip or the guacamole—because they are just in that one spot.”
”These nachos have all the toppings over the whole thing,” says Pat. ”So you are going to get everything in one bite.”
That is exactly what Michelle was going for—and she 100% agrees on the restaurant-nachos problem. ”You know how when you go to a restaurant,” she says, ”and you’re with friends, and the person who is on that side of the table gets all the meat?
Pat chimes in: ”And the guacamole is way over there. And one person gets stuck with only sour cream.”
Michelle nods. ”Right! So you have the turn the plate around to get to the good stuff, and by the time you turn it around to you, it’s all gone. And then you have that guilt thing, where if there is anything left, you have to ask the others, ’Did you have any meat?‘—before you can help yourself to any.”
None of that is happening here. ”In these nachos, it’s all even. So, everybody who digs in gets everything,” adds Michelle. Everything for everybody. That is exactly how Super Bowl super nachos—and truth be told—all nachos should be. Michelle and Pat look at each other, in complete nachos sync. Yet one more reason they’ve been together since 1983 and married since 1990.
With this delicioso, evenly distributed tray of nachos, if you make them for sports watching, you won’t miss a second of the game because you’re too busy scheming how to score some of that guac or shredded beef on the far side of the platter. This recipe is a Super Bowl nachos success. Congrats on the winning snack strategy, Michelle.
For more Super Bowl-worthy super snacks to feed your game-day crowd, check out these Familia Kitchen fan game-day favorites: Belqui’s queso fundido melted cheese and chorizo dip, Bex’s chile con carne and hominy—the winner of our Familia Kitchen Your Favorite Chile Con Carne Recipe Contest, and everyone’s favorite green dip, guacamole—we love this amazingly simple version by Anjie Villalobos, one of our favorite Mexican-food home cooks.
Super Bowl Super Nachos: Beef, Beans and Guac in Every Bite
8
servings2
hours20
minutesIngredients
- For the Shredded Beef
2 lbs round chuck steak
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 clov es garlic, large, finely chopped
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/4 cup flour
2 to 3 cups beef broth ( or 2 to 3 cps water with 2 heaping Tbsp of Better Than Bouillon beef)
2 Tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
- For the Refried Beans
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, small, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 cans pinto beans, or 30 oz, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup water
1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 scallion, finely chopped
1 lime, freshly juiced
For the Guacamole
- For the Guacamole
3 ripe avocados, large, peeled and cubed
1/2 bunch cilantro, very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, large, minced
1/2 red onion, large, minced
1 Tbsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 tsp kosher salt
- For the Seasoning
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
3 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes, (optional, if you want the beef to be spicy)
- For the Crema
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 to 2 juiced limes, freshly squeezed
1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
1/2 tsp salt
- For the Queso, Garnishes & Assembly
11 oz can jalapeños, sliced (or 1 fresh jalapeño, very thinly sliced)
1 cup black olives
1 cup freshly diced tomatoes
2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded
1 cup cotija, grated
1 bag corn tortilla chips
1 quarter sheet tray, lined with parchment paper
Directions
- Make the Shredded Beef
- In a small bowl, add all the seasoning ingredients and mix together, set aside
- On a large cutting board, cut the chuck steak into large cubes. Arrange the cubes flat on the cutting board and salt them with the kosher salt, distributing evenly. Sprinkle the flour all over the salted cubes. Toss to evenly coat the steak cubes with the flour. This method will caramelize the steak when sautéing, as well as thicken the liquid when it is simmering. Set aside.
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat the olive oil on medium high heat.
- Lower heat to medium and add in the onion. Stir until translucent. About 3 t 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and stir for another minute.
- If necessary, add a little more olive oil to the bottom of the pot (about 2 tsp) if the onions have absorbed it all.
- Bring temperature back up to medium high heat. Place the beef into the pot with the onions and garlic in small batches so it caramelizes. Don’t crowd them in the pot. This will steam the beef. We want to form a crust on the chunks, so let the beef cook, untouched, for about 2 minutes. Turn the beef cubes over one more time, and caramelize the other side. It is okay for the beef not to be completely cooked in the center.
- Remove the beef as it cooks onto a plate, and repeat this process until all the beef is caramelized.
- Once all the beef is browned on both sides, return all the chunks back into the pot. Pour in the beef broth, making sure to cover the beef. Add a small amount of water if needed to make sure that the beef is covered with liquid.
- Sprinkle in the combined seasonings.
- Add the lime juice and optional red pepper flakes. Stir well, and bring to a boil.
- Once the pot is boiling, cover and bring the heat to low. Simmer for 2 to 3 hours, or until the beef is tender, can be easily shredded with a fork, and the liquid has thickened.
- Remove the beef from the liquid and shred. Set aside. (At this time, you can add a small amount of the pan liquid to the beef if it is very dry, but keep in mind the beef will be going on top of the tortilla chips, and you don’t want to make them soggy.)
- Make the Refried Beans
- In a medium pot, heat olive oil on medium heat.
- Add the finely chopped onion and green pepper. Sprinkle the salt over the mixture and sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and green pepper is soft.
- Add the garlic and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chile powder and stir well.
- Pour in the drained beans and water. Stir well, cover and simmer for about 5 to 6 minutes, on medium heat.
- Remove the lid, and check to make sure that the beans are tender and can be mashed with a fork.
- Bring the heat to low. With a masher, press the beans. They will be very wet, but continue mashing until you find the consistency you like. The refried beans should be somewhat thick. This will take about 2 to 3 minutes of mashing, so that all of the liquid is absorbed into the beans.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the cilantro, scallions and lime juice. Taste for salt.
- Make the Guacamole
- In a bowl, add all ingredients. Lightly mash, leaving the guacamole slightly chunky. Taste for salt and lime juice, adding more if needed.
- Make the Crema
- Mix all ingredients together. Taste for lime and salt, adding more if needed.
- For pretty results, pour the crema into a squeeze bottle, so that you can get that restaurant-y drizzled look over the nachos. If you don’t have a bottle, you can add a little extra whipping cream into the crema to thin it out. This makes spooning the soft crema over the nachos a little easier.
- Putting It All Together
- Line a quarter-size sheet tray with parchment paper. Spread the tortilla chips in one layer the full length of the tray.
- Evenly sprinkle the colby jack cheese over all the tortilla chips.
- Place the tray under your oven’s broiler for 2 to 3 minutes. Watch the tray carefully, so the cheese does not burn. You just want to quickly melt the queso over the chips. When it does, remove the tray from the oven.
- Evenly spoon the shredded beef over the layer of chips.
- Evenly spoon the guacamole over the layer of chips.
- Evenly spoon the refried beans over the layer of chips.
- Evenly distribute the diced tomatoes, sliced black olives and jalapeños over the chips.
- Evenly sprinkle the grated cotija cheese over all the chips.
- Generously drizzle the finished nachos with crema. Your super nachos are ready to serve!
Notes
- Michelle recommends making fresh flour tortillas to eat with the leftover refried beans. Or you can make fresh corn tortillas like these simple, handmade ones!
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