Mexican food is my favorite food in the world, but with the excess of cheese, white rice, and meat, I often walk away from the table feeling weighed down. Luckily, it only takes a few tweaks to enjoy a figure-friendly Mexican dish, including nachos. This vegan nachos recipe is as traditional as it gets, only without the cheese and ground beef.

Cheese basically makes nachos, well, nachos. So, it would be a travesty to ignore this vital component to such a delicious snack dish. This is where vegan cooking gets creative. Instead of regular cheese, this recipe uses a creamy sweet-potato cream alternative. Nutritional yeast provides the cheesy taste while the baked sweet potato offers unparalleled consistency.

Loaded Vegan Nachos Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the layers

• 4 cups corn tortilla chips
• 1 cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cooked kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups refried beans
• 1 1/2 cups homemade or your favorite store-bought salsa
• 1 1/2 cups guacamole
• 1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives
• 1/2 cup pickled jalapenos
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• Handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

For the “cheese” sauce

• 1 medium sweet potato, baked tender and peeled
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the vegan cheese, add all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Layer half of the chips out on a baking sheet. Dollop half of the vegan cheese mixture evenly atop the chips. Scoop 1 cup of the refried beans atop the chips as well as 1/2 cup of both the black and kidney beans.

Layer the other half of the chips atop the mixture and follow with the remainder of the vegan cheese, refried beans, and beans.

Place the nachos into the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the chips, cheese, and beans have warmed. Before serving, evenly disperse the salsa, guacamole, tomatoes, olives, jalapeños, scallions, shallot, and cilantro.

Enjoy!

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Nachos image via Shutterstock

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