Best Nacho Cheesy Chili Recipes

CHILI NACHOS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• On an ovensafe plate, arrange some of the chips in a single layer, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle on a good layer of cheese, then add a layer of the chili, then another round of chips, cheese and chili. Keep going until you feel you've successfully built Mount St. Nacho!
• Put the plate in the oven and heat the nachos until the cheese is totally melted, 4 to 5 minutes. Then dive right in and devour them.
• In a large, heavy pot, brown the ground beef with the garlic over medium heat until the beef is totally cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain off most of the excess fat, leaving a little behind for moisture and flavor. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and cayenne. Stir together well, cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally; if the liquid level seems low, add up to 1 cup water to keep it from burning.
• After an hour, stir in the kidney and pinto beans. In a small bowl, combine the masa harina with 1/2 cup water and stir together with a fork until it's smooth. Pour the masa mixture into the chili. Stir together well, then taste the chili and adjust the seasonings. Simmer the chili for another 10 minutes to thicken, then turn off the heat and let it cool.
• Fill freezer bags with 2-cup portions and freeze them flat for easy stacking (or freeze in other freezer-safe containers).

ULTIMATE CHILI "CHEESE" NACHOS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• For the meatless chili: Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan. Stir in the onions and red bell pepper and fry at a gentle sizzle until just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the kidney beans, plant-based meat, green beans and garlic. Turn up the heat to hear that sizzle and cook, about 1 minute.
• Stir in the tamari, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, chili paste, chopped tomatoes and 1/3 cup water. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook, checking and stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. The sauce should be rich, tangy and thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally, stir in the cilantro.
• For the nacho "cheese" sauce: Heat the oil in a medium pan, stir in the flour and cook, about 1 minute. Gradually stir in the milk using a wooden spoon or whisk to avoid any lumps. Bring to a gently bubbling simmer and cook until the sauce thickens to a creamy consistency and coats the back of a wooden spoon, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add the nutritional yeast, chipotle paste, bouillon and turmeric, stirring constantly to marry all the flavors, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• For the assembly: Spread the nacho chips on a baking sheet and bake to warm them through, about 3 minutes.
• Spread the chips out onto a platter or in individual bowls. Spoon the nacho sauce onto the warm tortilla chips, add the chili in the middle and top with the jalapenos and cilantro.

NACHO CHEESY CHILI

Steps:

• Heat a dutch oven over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cook the onions for about 2 minutes or until they just begin to soften. Add the ground beef, 1 1/4 teaspoons of kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Cook until brown then drain. To the browned meat, add the chili seasoning, garlic, and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the V8 Juice, chili beans, can of tomatoes, crushed Doritos, and any of the optional ingredients listed above. Do NOT add the cheeses yet. Stir, cover, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to maintain a very gentle simmer (around medium-low). Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the cheeses and stir to combine. Allow the cheese to melt for about a minute then stir again. Taste for seasoning and adjust salt and pepper as needed. It is highly likely you will need more salt. I add anywhere from 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of additional kosher salt (half that amount for table salt) but I'll let you decide how much to add. The chili should be rich and thick and the ground beef should be very tender. If it is too thick add a little water or V8 Juice.
• To serve, ladle some chili into a bowl and top with some additional Doritos and freshly grated cheddar cheese.
• * Chili Seasoning and chili powder are technically different things. Popular brands of chili seasoning include Williams and McCormick. Chili seasoning contains chili powder as the primary ingredient but also includes things like onion powder, garlic powder, etc. If you can't find chili seasoning, no biggie. Use chili powder instead.
• ** Why V8 Juice? V8 juice is made up of several pureed veggies including tomatoes, carrots, celery, and more. Plain tomato juice or canned tomato sauce does not have the same depth of flavor.
• *** To make 1/3 cup of finely crushed Doritos, measure out 1 cup of Doritos - breaking each Dorito into a few pieces so they lay properly in the cup. If you have some Doritos left in the bottom of the bag that are already in small pieces, this is a great use for them. Dump the cup of Doritos into a resealable bag and use a rolling pin to finely crush the chips. After they are finely crushed, you'll have about 1/3 cup.
• **** You really need to use freshly grated cheese in this instead of the stuff that comes pre-shredded. Pre-shredded cheeses contains stabilizers that can sometimes impede melting. For this reason, I highly recommend that you use freshly grated in this recipe.

EASY CHEESY NACHOS

Steps:

• Divide chips among six plates; set aside. In a saucepan, warm chili until heated through. , Meanwhile, in another saucepan, heat cheese over medium-low heat until melted, stirring frequently. Spoon chili over chips; drizzle with cheese. Sprinkle with onions and tomato.