I created this recipe a few weeks ago, but I was saving it until I was fully migrated to my very own, self-hosted site! My re-design is still very much in progress, but since my site is up and running, I thought I could share this recipe with all of you. This recipe was literally inspired by a late night craving for nachos. The hubby and I had gone to see Jerry Seinfeld’s standup routine (which was hilarious btw) and hadn’t eaten dinner before the show – so we were totally starving when we left. I suggested nachos since I figured I could make them really quickly when we got home – with a few fun swaps to make them guilt-free. They ended up tasting great – better than the “original” that you’d normally get at bars or diners.
Here are some of my easy swaps that make these nachos amazing, nutritious, and totally guilt free – along with a picture of the ingredients I used…
The key swaps here are:
- Use organic, real corn tortilla chips – the chips I bought had only 140 calories for 14 HUGE chips, and only 3 ingredients (corn, oil, salt)
- Add veggies! I chose red onions and cherry tomatoes
- Substitute fat free sour cream for the original – it has only 35 calories for 2 Tbsp and none of the fat from regular sour cream. This is a great swap and you really can’t tell the difference between this and the original
- Go easy on the cheese – I used about 1/4 cup per serving of nachos. I’m pretty sure these nachos were 2 servings – so I probably used about 1/2 cup max.
- Buy vegetarian refried beans with only ingredients you can pronounce. This way the beans are healthier and not cooked in lard like the traditional refried beans you can get. Season them with taco seasoning and they taste great!
The Directions
Step 1: Heat the beans over medium-low heat, and stir in the taco seasoning. Assemble the chips, diced red onions, beans and cheese on a baking sheet covered with foil (helps with cleanup)
Step 2: Bake the nachos in an oven at 350 degrees, for about 5-10 min max (until the cheese is melted and bubbling). While the nachos are baking, chop the cherry tomatoes.
Step 3: Pull the nachos out of the oven, and let cool slightly.
Step 4: Top with sour cream (use 2 Tbsp per serving of nachos) and the diced tomatoes. Enjoy!
The great thing about these nachos, is that 1 serving (14 chips with toppings) ends up being about ~350-400 calories depending on how much beans, cheese and sour cream you use. It’s super filling and has tons of fiber and protein. Not bad for a late night dish!
1 serving (14 chips with toppings) ends up being about ~350-400 calories depending on how much beans, cheese and sour cream you use.
Ingredients
- 28 Organic, real corn tortilla chips (The chips I bought had only 140 calories for 14 HUGE chips, and only 3 ingredients - corn, oil, salt)
- 1 box cherry tomatoes, diced
- 1 red onion, diced
- 4 Tbsp fat free sour cream or 0% Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend
- 15 oz can Vegetarian Refried Beans
- Taco Seasoning
Instructions
- Heat the beans over medium-low heat, and stir in the taco seasoning. Assemble the chips, diced red onions, beans and cheese on a baking sheet covered with foil (helps with cleanup)
- Bake the nachos in an oven at 350 degrees, for about 5-10 min max (until the cheese is melted and bubbling). While the nachos are baking, chop the cherry tomatoes.
- Pull the nachos out of the oven, and let cool slightly.
- Top with sour cream (use 2 Tbsp per serving of nachos) and the diced tomatoes.
TAGS: appetizers, entrees, gluten-free, kid friendly recipes, mexican recipes, quick meals, side dishes, snacks, vegetarian
YAY! Guilt free nachos, how fabulous!! I will definitely be making these in my immediate future, they look delicious! Loving your blog! 🙂
Thank you so much!! Hope you enjoyed the nachos when you made them!
Yummylicious …..truly guilt free!
Thanks Sutapa! Enjoy!
Mmmmmmmmm! Yum yum yum. I’ve got to subscribe to your blog!! If you’re ever wanting some recipes to try check out my blog. I use natural ingredients & try to keep it as healthy as possible too. Can’t wait to try these nachos 🙂
When did you use the Pace?
My husband used it as a topping for his nachos after they were done & cooled slightly. I just ate mine straight out of the oven – the sour cream + tomatoes were enough for me! So basically, treat the salsa as an optional topping for anyone who wants it. 🙂
Aw thank you so much! Looking forward to trying some of the recipes on your blog as well!
This looks really good, I may have to give it a whirl sometime.
Thanks Courteney! Let me know how you like it! 🙂
I don’t think you should feel guilty about full-fat sour cream, as long as it comes from grass-fed cows. When cows are allowed to graze on pasture and eat their natural diet, their milk is high in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats. It’s grain-fed animals that produce milk high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats.
If you can’t find grass-fed sour cream, at least use organic sour cream, so you know that it is free of hormone and antibiotic residues.
Also, full-fat sour cream is a whole food, while fat-free and low-fat sour creams are processed foods. When they take the fat out, they have to add unhealthy additives that mimic the flavor and texture. The real thing is always better!
I agree, full-fat sour cream does have less additives than fat-free; and when you buy organic it’s definitely better. But some fat-free sour creams do have all-natural ingredients (like the one from Trader Joe’s), and in larger quantities is definitely more guilt-free than full-fat!
Great redesign! It’s really easy to navigate, and the colors work really well together. Excellent recipe too. A guilt-free, late night treat is always necessary.
Thanks so much! 🙂 So glad you like it!
Is it still guilt-free if I eat it all myself?
Haha! Probably not 😛 But that’s mainly because you’ll be eating too big a portion – but at least the ingredients are super healthy individually, so you’re still getting a good meal!
I like to make my healthy nachos with multigrain scoops (I like the individual cups, every bite has the perfect portion of ingredients), olive slices, diced green chilies, cheese, grilled chicken for the boyfriend, a pinch of cajun seasoning, tomato, guacamole, and spinach and arugula (I thin cut the greens to make them look like shredded lettuce). I’ve been meaning to try them with some re-fried black beans. But they are de-licious.
What a great recipe for nachos!! Thanks so much for sharing it with me Malka – I’m going to try it this weekend!
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