I’ve never heard anyone say that they don’t like nachos. I mean, literally, NEVER. My first encounter with nachos was at Winslow’s Cafe here in Fairhope, Alabama, in the early ‘80s when I was a freshman or sophomore in high school. By the time I was working at Rube Burrows in Birmingham’s Five Points South in the late ‘80s, nachos were hugely popular and our Ultimate Nachos with beef, beans, cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, and sour cream were the best in town. I still adore nachos, and the loaded beef and bean version will always be my favorite. I make standard chips-and-toppings nachos fairly frequently, but I started making this Ultimate Nachos Casserole too, probably 20 years ago. Ultimate Nachos Casserole began as a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com, and I’ve tweaked it over the years, and it’s always been popular with the people in my universe. It’s is great for a crowd and it can be as mild or as spicy as you like depending on the heat level of the ingredients.
Ultimate Nachos Casserole calls for crushed tortilla chips as a bottom crust, and stale chips work just fine. It also calls for 2 cups of salsa (mild, medium, or hot, as you prefer), an undrained can of ranch or chili beans (ditto), a pound of ground beef, a layer of sour cream, plus a generous layer of cheese. (You’re starting to see the appeal, no?) Anyway, you can imagine all that makes a pretty large casserole. Think lasagna pan sized. This is crazy helpful if you’re feeding hungry growing kids, or are having friends over for dinner. These days I often divide Ultimate Nachos Casserole between two smaller baking pans, bake them both, and put one in the freezer.
Other than that, put your favorite hot sauce on the table, and call it good. Serve with Restaurant-Style Salsa, Homemade Guacamole, and a smile!
Ultimate Nachos Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning, or an equivalent amount of homemade taco seasoning
- 2 cups salsa
- 1 can ranch beans or chili beans in sauce, undrained
- 3 cups crushed tortilla chips, stale chips are fine
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cups chopped tomato
- 1 2.25 oz. can sliced black olives
- 3 scallions, sliced
- ¼ cup sliced pickled jalapenos, optional
Instructions
- Cook diced onion and ground beef together until beef is no longer pink. Drain. Add the taco seasoning, salsa, and beans. Simmer for 10-15 minutes while the beef mixture thickens a bit.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9X13 casserole dish, and spread the crushed chips over the bottom of the pan. Alternately, grease two 8X8 pans and divide the casserole ingredients equally between the pans.
- Spoon the ground beef mixture on top of the crushed chips. Spread the sour cream on top of the beef. Top with the cheese. Scatter the tomatoes, olives, scallions and jalapenos (if using) over the cheese. Bake uncovered 20-30 minutes, or until casserole is hot and the cheese is bubbly around the edges.
- Ultimate Nacho Casserole freezes well after baking. To freeze, wrap in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months.
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