A Nacho Bar is a great way to have a fun family meal where everyone gets to customize their dish to their liking. Lots of condiments and garnishes give everyone plenty to choose from to make nachos their favorite way.

This is a good opportunity to build up your freezer stock of cooked ground beef (or use cooked beef from the freezer to speed up prep time). Using dried beans as part of your nacho bake is less expensive than canned and allows you to stock your freezer if you'd like to cook extra. For quicker prep, use 2- 14.5 oz. cans of drained pinto beans.

📖 Recipe

Clear glass casserole dish with beans topped with melted cheese and garnished with a sprig of cilantro. In the background is a red bowl of sliced black olives, a clear bowl of jalepeno slices, a clear bowl of diced green onions, a white bowl of diced tomatoes, and a basket of tortilla chips.

Nacho Bar

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Mary Ann

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 3 20

Soaking Time 12

Total Time 15 30

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Tex-Mex

Servings servings

Calories 618

Ingredients

3 cups dry pinto beans
Water as needed for beans
1 lb. ground beef
6 Tbsp. taco seasoning mix, divided
⅓ cup water
1 ½ cups salsa
1 ½ cups sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
22 oz. tortilla chips
additional toppings for nachos as desired (such as olives, tomatoes, green onions, jalapeño slices)

Instructions

In a large pot, soak beans covered with water overnight.
The next day, drain off water used to soak the beans and add 12 cups fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook beans for 2½- 3 hours or until tender. When done, set aside.
Brown the ground beef in a large frypan. When it is cooked through, add 2 Tbsp. taco seasoning and ⅓ cup water and simmer for 2 minutes. Add salsa and drained beans to taste and mix gently.
Pour ground beef/bean mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. In a bowl, combine sour cream with remaining taco seasoning until well combined. Spread sour cream mixture evenly over beef mixture. Top with desired amount of cheese. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Serve with bowls of toppings and a large bowl of tortilla chips.

Notes

If you have cooked ground beef in the freezer, you can use that. If your stock is low, cook extra to stock the freezer.

If you'd like to prepare extra beans for the freezer, double the recipe and freeze in 2 cup portions with a little bit of bean juice from the pot in each bag.

Nutrition data uses 4 cups of pinto beans and does not include additional toppings.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 618 calCarbohydrates: 60 gProtein: 26 gFat: 32 gSodium: 1616 mgFiber: 9 gSugar: 3 g

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