Oven Baked Nachos (Sheet Pan Nachos)

Everyone loves digging into a big pile of nachos. This meaty oven nachos recipe makes a substantial but simple sheet pan meal, layered with crunchy tortilla chips, beef, beans, and cheese — baked on one sheet pan in 30 minutes. An easy weeknight dinner, appetizer, or winning game-day food.

I have always loved seeing a heap of hot, loaded nachos arrive at the table: that blissful, crispy pile of warm tortilla chips layered beneath gobs of beans, ground beef, guacamole, olives, pickled jalapeños, and — ideally — so much melted cheese that there’s a 50/50 chance the tortilla chip will collapse under its weight on the way to your mouth.

But for most of my life, I mostly just ate nachos at Mexican restaurants. Big mistake. Learning how to make oven baked nachos at home was a game changer. Homemade nachos are just as good (if not better) and so simple to make.

There are lots of great sheet pan nacho recipes out there, but I like mine for its determination to be un-fancy. This loaded sheet pan nachos recipe is easy, smothered in meat, cheese, and toppings, tastes nostalgic and comfy, and takes minutes to prepare and bake in the oven.

And for more Southwest-style food, check out this recipe for Hatch Green Chile Cheeseburgers.

What You Need to Make Oven Baked Nachos

This sheet pan oven nachos recipe is so easy because it requires very little actual cooking. Mostly it’s about dumping a bunch of tasty ingredients over tortilla chips, then baking until warm. Here are the major ingredients you’ll need. The full list is in the recipe, below.

• Tortilla chips: Use a thick, sturdy chip. Juanita’s and Xochitl are both excellent brands. A well-made store brand with good thickness works fine. Avoid multigrain or flavored chips.
• Ground beef: 90% lean is specified here for a reason. An 80/20 beef will release too much fat and pool on the sheet pan beneath the chips. If you use a fattier grind, though, drain it before it goes over the chips.
• Cheese: Use Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend. Pre-shredded cheese from a bag is convenient and works well. Block cheese that you shred yourself melts better. (Pre-shredded cheese is coated in a light anti-caking starch.) The difference is there, but either will give you good nachos. I don’t love cheddar cheese for nachos. Cheddar melts ok, but tends to release grease and firm up quickly once it comes off the heat.
• Beans: Black beans or pinto beans both work. Cook them in the pan with the beef and onion to combine all the flavors and textures for easier spreading over the chips.

Recipe Steps

1. First, spread a single layer of fresh tortilla chips on a half-sheet pan. A half-sheet pan measures 18 x 13 inches, and I use a full 10-ounce bag of tortilla chips.
2.  In a large skillet, heat the oil and cook the beef, onions, beans, and seasoning until cooked fully. Break up the meat as much as possible, so it’s in small crumbles.
3. Spoon the onion and beef mixture over the tortilla chips. Add the cheese, the olives, and jalapeños.
4. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted. Top with sliced scallions, plus generous blobs of guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo as you like.

How to Keep Oven Nachos From Getting Soggy?

Soggy nachos are almost always a layering problem or a timing problem. Here is how to avoid them:

Use a single, even layer of chips. Stacked chips trap moisture between them. Spread them in one layer across the pan.

Use lean ground beef. Fat released from an 80/20 grind pools on the sheet pan and steams the chips from below. A leaner 90% lean beef solves this without any draining required.

Bake at 400°F. I like a higher temperature because it melts the cheese quickly, before the beef and beans have a chance to “soak into” the tortilla chips.

Serve immediately. Even well-made nachos will begin to soften within 10 to 15 minutes of coming out of the oven. If you want them to hold heat at the table longer, bake them in a cast-iron skillet or on a cast-iron griddle. Thick cast iron retains heat much better than a standard sheet pan, and keeps the chips crisper longer.

How to Layer Sheet Pan Nachos the Right Way

Layering sheet pan nachos correctly requires two considerations: 1) practicality, and 2) looks. The best way to layer your oven-baked nachos on the sheet pan is like so:

• Bottom layer tortilla chips
• Next, layer the beef and onions,
• Cover with grated cheese
• Top with sliced onion and jalapeños (these will “pop” and look nice when served)
• After baking, add lots of color with guacamole, pico de gallo, and scallions

Enjoy the ultimate sheet pan dinner: homemade nachos, right in the oven. If you like homemade nachos, you’ll love these other easy sheet pan and beef recipes:

• Fresh Salsa Fresca (Pico de Gallo)
• Hatch Green Chile Cheeseburgers
• Sheet Pan Blueberry Pancakes
• Italian Sausage, Peppers, and Onions
• Ground Beef Shepherd’s Pie