/
CHOW: Recipes: Basic Cheese Nachos

Basic Cheese Nachos Recipe

By
Basic Cheese Nachos
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 10 mins | Active Time: | Makes: 4 to 6 servings

With only two ingredients, these nachos are a cinch to make. Layering the chips and cheese ensures that every chip has molten goodness on it.

This recipe was featured as part of our Nacho Recipes photo gallery.

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oven to 450°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Meanwhile, shred 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread about half of a 14-ounce bag of tortilla chips on the baking sheet in an even layer. Sprinkle half of the cheese evenly over the chips. Repeat with remaining chips and cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with your choice of toppings. Serve immediately.
    Write a review | 8 Reviews
POST A COMMENT |8 Comments

COMMENT

  • @SusanaTheConqueress--thanks for the story; I was cracking up at my desk. Hillarious. @DiveFan, kpaxonite and Dave MP--gotta agree with Chow on this one. This was part of a series, building from basic to greater levels of complexity. My wife and I make nachos regularly (never liked them before I met her but she instilled the craving in me) and I for one was glad to have some suggestions for...+READ

    @SusanaTheConqueress--thanks for the story; I was cracking up at my desk. Hillarious. @DiveFan, kpaxonite and Dave MP--gotta agree with Chow on this one. This was part of a series, building from basic to greater levels of complexity. My wife and I make nachos regularly (never liked them before I met her but she instilled the craving in me) and I for one was glad to have some suggestions for things I hadn't done previously, esp. the beer-braised pulled pork, the ersatz papalote and the chipotle.-COLLAPSE

  • DiveFan & Dave MP, it seem that you may have missed our link above to our more extensive nachos recipes http://www.chow.com/galleries/88/nach... Chips and cheese are only the beginning!
    Thanks for the comments, all.

    Amy Wisniewski
    CHOW Assoc. Food Editor

  • +1 for compassion toward the uninitiated - we were all one, once.
    This reminds me of February 1978. I was new to So. Cal., coming from The Deep South and immediately was introduced to "nachos". My roomies had already purchased the chips (in the pantry by the homemade Kaluah) & brick of cheddar. When leaving me home alone for the first time, they suggested I make nachos for their return. I was...+READ

    +1 for compassion toward the uninitiated - we were all one, once.
    This reminds me of February 1978. I was new to So. Cal., coming from The Deep South and immediately was introduced to "nachos". My roomies had already purchased the chips (in the pantry by the homemade Kaluah) & brick of cheddar. When leaving me home alone for the first time, they suggested I make nachos for their return. I was clueless. They said, "It's simple! Just bake the chips with the cheese on them!"
    Imagine me in the kitchen, tediously culling any broken chips and casting them aside; carefully cutting triangles from the carefully cut slices of cheddar - (which I placed a chip on the sliced cheddar to use as a template!); and, artfully placing them, like cookie dough, on a baking sheet.
    Now, imagine me perplexed at WHY the cheese so carefully cut "to fit" overran each chip.
    Now, imagine me perplexed WHY the platter of nachos looked more like cheese & crackers than "nachos" ~
    Now, imagine me running out of cheese after a scant amount of chips were "turned into nachos 1 by 1"...
    Yes, we all learn, given the opportunity & this is a fine learning opportunity.
    Kudos to CHOWHOUND for "taking the starch out of nachos"!
    As an aside: Cheese in a can, used at many fundraisers, etc is _not_ a food ~ Use real cheese, or break out the salsa - Just say "Noooo!" to the canned cheese "food product", please. '-)
    And, just about anything from chili con carne to chives, to olives, to shredded lettuce with diced tomatoes & sour cream may be used to "gussy up" a plate of nachos. It's one of the most forgivingly flexible quick-fix dishes around, like a potato, or, pasta ~ Starch + Fat + just about anything = YUM!-COLLAPSE

  • Let's think outside the box here. Not everyone in the world has heard of nachos. My German friend heard about nachos, and she went looking on the internet for the recipe. She hadn't even HEARD of chilies or guacamole before going online. She wouldn't know how hot to set the oven, that layering the chips is better than just dumping cheese on the whole pile, and that the oils can indeed separate if...+READ

    Let's think outside the box here. Not everyone in the world has heard of nachos. My German friend heard about nachos, and she went looking on the internet for the recipe. She hadn't even HEARD of chilies or guacamole before going online. She wouldn't know how hot to set the oven, that layering the chips is better than just dumping cheese on the whole pile, and that the oils can indeed separate if you cook the nachos too long or on too high a heat. Now that she's found CHOW, she has a place to go where she can find more sophisticated fare. Also consider, suppose I was a pre-teen looking for a recipe I could use that was simple. You can't go wrong with "layer the chips and cheese" can ya? Let's not look down our noses at newbies who need basic recipes OK?-COLLAPSE

  • The only reason that I can *possibly* imagine posting this recipe is to attract new users to the site. Maybe people will do a google search for "nacho recipe" and discover chow.com for the first time. So that is great, and makes sense.

    But seriously, whether that is the reason or not, why not post a more creative recipe? Maybe add some refried beans, or some chilies, as DiveFan suggests. Maybe...+READ

    The only reason that I can *possibly* imagine posting this recipe is to attract new users to the site. Maybe people will do a google search for "nacho recipe" and discover chow.com for the first time. So that is great, and makes sense.

    But seriously, whether that is the reason or not, why not post a more creative recipe? Maybe add some refried beans, or some chilies, as DiveFan suggests. Maybe even suggest something that most people haven't even thought of! Surely a food website like chow.com can offer something beyond "layer the chips and cheese" - otherwise it's just adding to the plethora of mediocre internet recipes that people like me (and many others on this site) try to avoid.-COLLAPSE

  • Spoiler alert! Nachos are made from chips and cheese.

    Next up, "Mother's Homemade Ice-Water".

  • this is rediculous

  • Much as I think that a 'recipe' for nachos is silly, you've left out a critical ingredient - CHILES!

    If you aren't tolerant of chile heat, start out with a small amount of finely minced *pickled* jalapenos or serve them on the side.

    Using good cheddar cheese can be tricky - if heated too long the fat may separate.