Beef and Bean Nachos
Beef and Bean Nachos are a hearty, flavor-packed dish featuring crispy tortilla chips topped with seasoned ground beef, savory beans, melted cheese, and fresh garnishes like sliced avocado, jalapeños, and sour cream. These delicious nachos are perfect for sharing!
Ground Beef Nachos Recipe
I don’t know about you, but I love eating nachos for a meal. Not that I do it very often, but hey, every once in a while I choose to eat “junk” for dinner. Gimme a big ‘ole beer and a tray of nachos (to share, of course), and I’m a happy camper.
There are so many flavors and textures in this sheet pan snack. I love that they taste salty, creamy, crunchy, and spicy all at the same time.
Next time you need a junk food recipe for dinner, try our Smoked Pulled Pork Nachos!
Why This Recipe Works:
- SIMPLE – After you make the meat and bean mixture, these are a breeze. In fact, cook the beef in advance and it’s even easier.
- IMPRESSIVE – We love serving these at parties and everyone is always impressed. They are pretty to look at and tasty to eat!
- FILLING – Lots of protein in this tray of nachos so that is always a good thing.
- DELICIOUS – I enjoy “junk food” on a Friday or Saturday night. Yes please.
Ingredients needed for Beef and Bean Nachos:
- Olive Oil – Used to sauté the veggies.
- Onion, jalapeño, and garlic
- Beef – Use lean ground beef or any version you prefer. You could even use ground turkey or ground sausage.
- Spices – Cumin, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Add red pepper flakes for additional spice.
- Beans – Use one can of black beans. Pinto or cannellini would also work.
- Other canned goods – Fire-roasted diced tomatoes, Mexicorn, and green chiles (strained well).
- Chips – I used a combo of corn tortilla chips and blue tortilla chips.
- Cheese – A combo of sliced cheddar cheese and shredded Mexican cheese for maximum cheesiness!
- Toppings – Top the baked nachos with avocado slices, sour cream, cilantro, and jalapeno slices!
How to make Beef and Bean Nachos:
Step 1
Saute veggies. In a medium stock pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add diced onion and jalapeño and cook until softened, approximately 4 minutes. Then add garlic and stir for another 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Step 2
Add beef and seasonings. Add the ground beef and seasonings – the cumin, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until the beef is completely done.
Step 3
Add canned veggies. Pour in the black beans, Mexicorn, fire-roasted tomatoes, and green chilies. Stir and cook over medium heat until liquids are absorbed. You don’t want soggy nachos!
Step 4
Prep for baking. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 5
Assemble nachos. Layer half of the corn and blue tortilla chips, half of the sliced cheese, half the beef and bean mixture, and repeat – more chips, sliced cheese, and beef and bean mixture. Top with shredded cheese.
Step 6
Bake. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until nachos are slightly browned on top, and the cheese is bubbly hot.
Step 7
Serve. To serve, add the avocado slices, sour cream, and jalapeño slices.
TO REHEAT: Warm leftover nachos in a toaster oven or an air fryer until crisp. A microwave works too but the texture won’t be crispy. If you have extra cheese, add it to the leftover nachos to help bind the ingredients together.
Other Delicious Tex-Mex Recipes:
We’re fans of everything Tex-Mex, including tacos, quesadillas, taco salads, tostadas, and burritos.
Recipe FAQs:
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
You can prepare the beef and beans ahead, but assemble and bake just before serving to keep the chips crispy.
It depends on your preference! Black beans provide texture, while refried beans create a creamy layer.
Instead of ground beef, try ground turkey or ground chicken. You could use Homemade Taco Seasoning instead of ground cumin. Use any tortilla chips or a combination of different types of chips. Try a mixture of your favorite types of cheese.
Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Beef and Bean Nachos Recipe
Ingredients
For the meat and beans:
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion – diced
- 1 medium jalapeno – diced (with or without seeds)
- 2 cloves garlic – diced
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper – to taste
- 15 oz. black beans – rinsed and drained
- 8 oz. Mexicorn – drained
- 15 oz. fire-roasted tomatoes – drained
- 4 oz. green chiles
For the other nacho ingredients:
- 12 oz. corn tortilla chips – any combination of blue chips and corn chips
- 8 oz. sliced cheddar cheese
- 8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese
- sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, sour cream, cilantro – to serve
Instructions
For the meat and beans:
- Heat a medium saucepan on the stove and add olive oil. When hot, add onion and jalapeño, and sauté until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.1 Tablespoon olive oil, 1 medium jalapeno 1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic
- Add ground beef, cumin, salt and pepper – and cook until brown and crumbled. Drain excess grease and return to pot. For extra spice, add red pepper flakes.1 pound lean ground beef, 1 Tablespoon ground cumin, kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Add beans, corn, tomatoes, and chiles. Stir and continue to cook for about 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Set aside.15 oz. black beans, 8 oz. Mexicorn, 15 oz. fire-roasted tomatoes, 4 oz. green chiles
For the nachos:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Layer chips, sliced cheese, meat and bean mixture. Repeat by adding more chips, sliced cheese, meat and bean mixture. Add shredded cheese to the top and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.12 oz. corn tortilla chips, 8 oz. sliced cheddar cheese, 8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese
- To serve, top with avocado slices, sour cream, jalapeño slices, and cilantro.sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado slices, sour cream, cilantro
Great recipe for Super Bowl viewing. Throughly enjoyed. Thanks.
So great to hear, Mary!
What exactly is “Mexican cheese”? What kind of cheese?
The Mexican cheese that I use is a shredded blend of both Monterey Jack and sharp Cheddar cheese.
So it’s not a secret I love Tex-Mex and nachos are my JAM!! I could eat this entire pan, all the flavors are so perfect.
Thanks Shari!
The meat and bean mixture is delicious. I cook for only one so I just put chips on a plate, putting mixture on top with shredded cheese on top of that and microwave until cheese melts. I freeze the rest for more nachos and tacos.
That sounds great too, Shelby!! Thanks for your sweet comments!
Going to a party and need an awesome appetizer! Here it is! Satisfaction Guaranteed!