Loaded Vegan Nachos with Chipotle “Cheese” Sauce
Insanely delicious loaded vegan nachos topped with a creamy chipotle “cheese” sauce and nutrient-rich beans, corn, avocado, roasted jackfruit, and fresh veggies. Packed with amazing flavors, textures, and whole plant foods, this is an easy-to-make, nourishing, and comforting meal or appetizer! Even better when paired with a margarita.
It’s no surprise that I’ve become obsessed with nachos. I absolutely love any and all foods that are loaded with tons of different ingredients and flavors, especially when they’re also easy to make and comforting. After playing around with various versions, I’ve come up with my favorite loaded nacho recipe that’s centered around a super creamy chipotle “cheese” sauce and topped with tons of different nourishing and super flavorful foods. They taste absolutely divine and are insanely satisfying - especially if served alongside a marg or two!
Why You’ll Love these Nachos
Insanely delicious flavors. These nachos layer on diverse flavors and textures to create a perfectly satisfying and mouth-watering bite every time. Crunchy chips, creamy cheese sauce, velvety refried beans, “meaty” jackfruit, plus delicious add-on toppings like corn, whole beans, avocado, fresh cilantro, and more - what’s not to love?! Whenever I make these, I end up eating a few too many because they’re so insanely tasty that they’re kind of addictive - just a warning. 😉
Loaded with nourishing whole foods. I always knew nachos were delicious, but it wasn’t until pretty recently that I’d thought about just how nutritious nachos can be. There’s no need for the traditional dairy or meat when you’ve got protein-rich beans, a nut-based “cheese,” and the typical veggies/herbs you’d find on top of any good batch of loaded nachos. And because these nachos are loaded with whole plant ingredients, that means they’ve got lots of fiber, vitamins, and nutrients! Amazing taste + more nutrition = win-win.
Pack in lots of plant diversity. Not only do these nachos contain wholesome ingredients, they’ve also got a huge variety of them. We’re talking two types of beans (refried pintos and whole black beans), jackfruit, corn, cashews, nutritional yeast, and loads of fresh post-oven toppings like avocado, tomato, cilantro, jalapeños, pickled red onions, scallions, radishes, and more! That’s 13 different whole foods before counting all the spices and other flavoring agents. A great start toward meeting the recommended weekly target of eating 30-40+ different plant foods for a healthy gut microbiota!
Customizable. Nachos are one of those choose-your-own-adventure types of dishes where you can layer on practically any toppings you love (well, within reason) and they’ll come out tasting amazing, which is perfect if you don’t like any of the ingredients in this recipe or just don’t have them around but you still want to get your fill of nachos ASAP. Don’t like/have fresh tomatoes? Swap in some salsa! Not feeling avocado chunks? Make some guac instead! You get the idea - feel free to customize the toppings to your own taste with whatever ingredients are accessible to you.
Easy to make. There aren’t really any fancy techniques involved in making nachos - they’re a simple dump and bake kind of dish! Just note there’s a bit of prep work involved beforehand like making some of the main components and chopping all the toppings. (See the “Tips for Making and Serving these Nachos” section below for more details.) But other than that, it’s just a matter of baking and assembling!
Ingredient Overview
Tortilla chips. The base of the nachos, obviously! I love blue corn tortilla chips, but any kind works. Use your favorites!
Chipotle cheese sauce. Arguably the most important component of nachos since it coats them with that characteristic creamy and cheesy sauce we all crave! And it’s simple to make by blending a few ingredients together:
Cashews and water, for the creamy base
Lemon juice, for a bit of acidity to balance the sauce
Nutritional yeast, for “cheesiness”
Chipotles in adobo sauce, for the chipotle flavor
Spices (chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper), to amp up the chipotle flavor and add more depth
Salt
Refried black beans & pinto beans. For protein, texture, and flavor! Beans are incredibly healthy foods that pack in tons of fiber, protein, and nutrients - not to mention they’re also incredibly delicious! For some extra plant diversity, these nachos call for both pinto and black beans. And to make the textures more interesting, the nachos combine the creaminess of refried black beans with whole pinto beans for added texture. If you want to switch it up, feel free to reverse which beans get refried and which ones stay whole by swapping in refried pinto beans for the refried black beans and whole black beans for the whole pinto beans.
Corn. Fresh corn kernels add sweetness and pair deliciously with the black beans and cheesy chipotle sauce. And they provide more bits of texture, just like the whole beans!
Jackfruit. For some delightfully textured “meaty” shreds (because you can’t have too many textures!)! Shred some canned jackfruit, lightly spice it to add a hint of chili flavor, then bake to achieve the ideal texture before sprinkling it onto the nachos. And as an added bonus, jackfruit is incredibly rich in fiber - a single 20-ounce can adds 14 grams of fiber!
Fresh and pickled toppings. To finish off the nachos post-baking with some fresh elements, while also providing a final boost of plant diversity! For added freshness, I love avocados, tomatoes, radishes, scallions, cilantro, and some fresh jalapeños (if I’m feeling up for extra heat). And for a briny element, you can’t beat pickled red onions. While the recipe lists suggested quantities, feel free to add on as many/few of each ingredient as you like and swap in any other favorite toppings you have!
Tips for Making and Serving these Nachos
How to make nachos: 3 easy steps. Pre-heat your oven and (1) bake your chips briefly to warm them, then (2) add on all your hot toppings and return everything to the oven to bake for a few minutes until everything is warmed through. (3) After baking, layer on the cold/room temp toppings to finish and voilà - they’re ready to serve!
Recommended ingredient prep order. Although the nachos come together very quickly during baking, there’s some required prep beforehand, mostly involving chopping all the toppings and making three components: the jackfruit, cheese sauce, and the quick-pickled onions (and the optional fourth component, refried beans, if making your own). I recommend making these components in this order as listed on the recipe below:
Bake the jackfruit.
Make the quick-pickled onions so they have time to pickle.
Prep all the hot toppings (i.e. the toppings that will bake with the nachos) except the cheese sauce.
Make cheese sauce right before you’re ready to assemble and bake the nachos.
Prep the fresh toppings as the nachos are baking. They’ll be ready to pile on once the nachos are done!
Use a high-powered blender to make the cheese sauce. To achieve the perfectly creamy consistency for the cheese sauce, you’ll need to use a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix) that’s powerful enough to pulverize the cashews and transform them into a delightfully creamy cheese sauce. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, I suggest soaking your cashews to help your blender break them down better, but note that the texture won’t be completely creamy without one since there will be tiny bits of cashews throughout.
BTW, if you’ve thought about investing in a high-powered blender but haven’t gathered the courage to do so yet, I can absolutely vouch for mine. I didn’t think I’d use mine nearly as much as I have, and within just a month of getting it, it quickly became my favorite kitchen appliance - ever. 1000% worth the investment!
Serve with a margarita! Totally optional but definitely recommended. There’s nothing quite like a refreshing margarita alongside Mexican-inspired fare! It’s so delicious, refreshing, and the perfect drink pairing that’ll take these nachos to the next level (not that they need it!).
Loaded Nachos with Chipotle “Cheese” Sauce
Vegan, Gluten-Free
Serves ~4 as a main or 8-10 as an appetizer
For the Nachos
Ingredients
10-11 ounces corn tortilla chips (I used blue corn chips)
1 batch chipotle “cheese” sauce (recipe below)
1 15.5-ounce can vegan refried black beans or ~1 ¾ cups homemade refried black beans
1 ½ cups cooked pinto beans or 1 15.5-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 batch baked jackfruit (recipe below)
1 cup corn kernels (fresh or thawed first if using frozen)
Toppings for serving (quantities below are listed as a general guidance - use as many/few as you like):
1 avocado, chopped into chunks
1 tomato, diced
½-1 jalapeño, thinly sliced (optional, for added heat)
Handful of fresh cilantro leaves
Quick-pickled red onions (recipe below)
2-3 scallions, thinly sliced
2-3 radishes, thinly sliced
Directions
Before baking the nachos, make sure you’ve prepared the jackfruit, quick-pickled onions, and chipotle cheese sauce (recipes for each are below). See the “Tips for Making and Serving these Nachos” section above for my recommended ingredient preparation order.
Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Spread the tortilla chips evenly across the entire baking sheet (some chips will be overlapping). Transfer to the oven to bake for 2 minutes, until lightly warmed and toasted.
Remove the warmed chips from the oven. Layer the “cheese” sauce, refried black beans, whole pinto beans, baked jackfruit, and corn evenly onto the chips. Transfer to the oven and bake for 7-8 minutes, until all the toppings have warmed through. While these are baking, prep all the fresh toppings you plan to serve on top of the baked nachos.
Remove the baked nachos from the oven and layer on the fresh toppings (radishes, avocado chunks, tomato, cilantro, scallions, jalapeños, pickled onions, etc.). Serve immediately.
For the Jackfruit
Ingredients
1 20-ounce can young green jackfruit in water or brine
2 teaspoons neutral oil like avocado, sunflower, etc.
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Drain and rinse the jackfruit, then use your hands to squeeze out as much moisture out of it as possible. Using your hands, pull the jackfruit into shreds (the jackfruit will naturally separate and the texture will resemble pulled meat shreds). Use a knife to chop any remaining hard pieces that don’t easily tear.
To a medium bowl, add the jackfruit, oil, chili powder, cumin, and smoked paprika and mix together until combined.
Spread the jackfruit onto the prepared baking sheet and transfer to the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir, then return to the oven and bake for 8-10 more minutes, until the excess moisture has cooked out.
Set aside until ready to use. It’s okay if the jackfruit cools to room temperature as you prepare the rest of the dish components - it will get reheated while baking the nachos!
For the Quick-Pickled Red Onions
Ingredients
½ medium red onion, sliced very thinly
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup boiling hot water
2 ½ teaspoons cane sugar
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon sea salt
Directions
In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the vinegar, water, sugar and salt and stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
Add the onions to a medium bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the onions, then stir to combine.
Set aside at room temperature for 20+ minutes to pickle.
For the Chipotle “Cheese” Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews, preferably soaked for 8 hours in cool water or for 1 hour in boiling hot water, then drained
1 cup fresh water
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (from a can)
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
¾ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon sea salt
A few cracks of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
In a high speed blender (such as a Vitamix), combine the soaked and drained cashews and the remainder of the ingredients. Blend on medium for a few seconds to begin incorporating the ingredients, then blend on high until completely creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
Note: If making ahead, note that the sauce will thicken as it sits so you may need to add a splash of water and blend again to thin it out.
*Recipe originally published 7/22/2021; last updated 9/1/2022.
Enjoying these loaded nachos? Please take a moment to leave a review in the comments below, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@teostinykitchen) when you show them off so that I can see how they turned out!