These Ground Beef Nachos are the best easy dinner or crowd-pleasing appetizer! They’re made with crispy tortilla chips layered with melty cheddar, taco-seasoned ground beef, and all your favorite nacho toppings!
When dinner needs to be fast, fun, and guaranteed to disappear, these Ground Beef Nachos come to the rescue. They’re loaded with seasoned meat, melty cheese, and all your favorite toppings. I can’t think of anything more delicious for busy weeknights, game days, or a no-fuss Friday night.
If your crew loves nachos as much as mine, make sure to check out my carnitas nachos, BBQ chicken nachos, and chicken fajita nachos – they’re all quick, customizable, and totally crowd-pleasing.
These Sheet Pan Nachos are a simple recipe that yields big flavor and delicious results!
Why I LOVE this recipe!
- A quick and easy classic – Just 20 minutes from start to finish until you’re digging into this mouthwatering app.
- Customizable – Enjoy the recipe as-is OR customize this recipe to suit your tastes with any of your favorite toppings. The possibilities are (almost) endless!
- SO tasty – Who doesn’t love a big plate of hearty, cheesy nachos? These loaded beef nachos hit the spot every time.
Recipe Notes
This Sheet Pan Nachos recipe is as simple as promised! Just a quick 20 minutes for a family friendly meal.
In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use for how to make nachos with ground beef to get the absolute best and most delicious results.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Ground Beef – I recommend using lean ground beef for this recipe.
- Onion
- Taco Seasoning – You can use store-bought seasoning or whip up a batch of my Homemade Taco Seasoning.
- Tortilla Chips
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- Pinto Beans – Drained and rinsed. If you prefer another type of bean, try these nachos with black beans or refried beans instead.
- Toppings – I love a combination of pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and chopped, fresh cilantro. You can also try these with chopped tomatoes, shredded lettuce, diced avocado, green onion, black olives, red onion, you name it.
Make sure to see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full quantities and ingredients list.
Recipe Variations
If you love this recipe for homemade nachos as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!
- Use another meat – No ground beef on hand? Swap it out for ground turkey or ground chicken instead!
- Make vegetarian nachos – You can easily make these nachos vegetarian by swapping the beef out for a vegetarian variety OR by simply leaving it out. You can even add extra beans to supplement if you want!
- Make them spicy – If you like your nachos with some extra heat, try layering on diced jalapeños, green chiles, or your favorite spicy salsa.
Recipe Step by Step
I am going to highlight a few key steps in the recipe here, but make sure to jump down to the recipe card for comprehensive instructions on how to make Sheet Pan Nachos.
In a large skillet, combine the ground beef and diced onion. Cook on the stove over medium heat until browned.
Drain any excess fat out of the skillet, then sprinkle in the taco seasoning. Stir until fully coated.
Spread tortilla chips over a baking sheet, then top with half of the cheese, ground beef mixture, and beans. Finish with the remaining cheese.
Bake your nachos at 400°F for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Finish with the toppings of your choice, then dig in!
Recipe Tips
- Drain the fat before seasoning – Once the beef and onion are browned, be sure to drain any excess grease out of the pan before adding the taco seasoning. If you drain the grease after seasoning, then you’ll just drain out all that tasty flavor.
- Serve immediately – Nachos are best served hot and fresh out of the oven. The fresher, the crispier!
- Leftovers? Use ’em! – These nachos are a great way to use up leftover taco meat if you have it! You can skip the ground beef, onion, and taco seasoning and swap it out for 2-3 cups of leftover meat.
Recipe Short Cuts
If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this recipe even faster!
- Pre-cook the beef and onion – The beef and onion mix can be cooked and seasoned, then stored in the fridge a couple of days before serving.
- Get pre-shredded cheese – I love to shred my own cheese, but if you’re shorter on time, then pre-shredded cheese will do the trick!
What to Serve with Sheet Pan Beef Nachos
Since this protein based dinner has the delicious flavors of taco seasoning, it will pair well with many of your favorite Mexican-inspired side dishes.
Choose one or several of these side dishes to create a wholesome, well-rounded dinner. There are both classic options and some healthy options to keep it light.
Side Dish Ideas
- Mexican Street Corn Casserole – I love any reason to make this Mexican Street Corn Casserole. This recipe yields a mouthwatering dish of sweet corn smothered in a spicy, creamy, and cheesy sauce, then finished with cilantro and a dash of lime juice.
- Easy Mexican Rice – This Easy Mexican Rice is a restaurant-quality side dish that takes every meal to the next level. This simple recipe is made with tender white rice simmered in broth with a combination of peas, carrots, and serrano pepper.
- Mexican Roasted Vegetables – These Mexican Roasted Vegetables are a great lighter side dish option! This vibrant side dish features red onion, bell pepper, broccoli, and squash tossed in taco seasoning, then roasted to crisp-tender perfection.
Recipe FAQ’s
How do you keep nachos from getting soggy in the oven?
There are a couple of things that you can do to keep your nachos crispier for longer:
1. Use sturdy chips! Thinner chips won’t hold up as well against the toppings.
2. Cheese goes first! The melted cheese acts as a buffer between the chips and the juicy meat.
What temperature do you cook nachos in a sheet pan?
I set the oven at 400°F. It’s low enough to give the cheese plenty of time to melt, but high enough to keep the chips nice and crispy.
More EASY Dinner Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!
You can check out all of my easy dinner recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite Mexican-inspired recipes below.
Ground Beef Nachos
Ingredients
To build the nachos
- 1 pound lean ground beef, (see note)
- ½ onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning, (1 packet)
- 16 ounces tortilla chips
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, or more to preference
- 1 cup pinto beans, canned, drained and rinsed
To top the nachos
- ¼ cup pico de gallo
- ¼ cup guacamole
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef and onion until cooked through. Drain any excess fat or liquid, then stir in the taco seasoning until coated.
- Spread corn tortilla chips over the entire baking sheet. Place half the cheese over the chips, then evenly place the ground beef and beans over the cheese. Top with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges are golden.
- Remove from oven. Sprinkle with cilantro, then dollop the sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo over the nachos (or leave on the side for dipping.)
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