Our Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos are a delicious snack to share with friends and family or a fun weeknight dinner. Topped with our yummy Walnut & Cauliflower vegan "ground beef" and served with a homemade cashew sauce, this recipe will become a family favorite!
We started making these loaded vegan nachos when our son Luca was just a few days old. Being so tired and overwhelmed we kept looking for comfort recipes that were healthy-ish and that wouldn't leave the kitchen in a mess.
We just needed fast and delicious recipes that were at the same time nutritious, especially for me, as I was breastfeeding and feeling completely drained.
Luca is now a two-and-a-half years old toddler and we are still making this recipe at least twice a month. Now, we have to make enough for the three of us! We have been perfecting our original recipe, so we guarantee this has been fully tested in our kitchen and it's a family winner.
To make our loaded nachos into a fun main dish, we added our yummy grounded Walnut and Cauliflower mixture. Grounded cauliflower and walnuts are used constantly at home to prepare vegan minced meat, from Vegan Bolognese to Vegan Tacos. It has the perfect texture and taste plus it's super healthy!
How to make the Best Loaded Vegan Nachos?
Ingredients
Tortilla Chips. Regular tortilla chips is all you need. Avoid flavoured chips as they are full of additives and you will be adding loads of healthy flavours to your tortillas.
Protein. Loaded means that you won't need anything else to complete your meal. These loaded vegan nachos have everything you need to keep going. As protein, we use our vegan "minced meat" made from grounded baked cauliflower and walnuts. You will need to make this part fresh cauliflower, walnuts, yeast flakes, spices for seasoning, chipotle and some tomato paste or sauce.
Fresh Ingredients. Tomatoes, peppers, avocado, onion, sweet corn, and cilantro are our favourite ingredients when making loaded nachos. We finely chop all the ingredients and mash the avocado to add on the top of the tortilla chips.
Spiciness. We load our nachos with jalapeños so we can leave some places without any for our toddler to be able to enjoy the dish too. You can use tabasco, chilis or any other spicy sauces you may want to add.
Vegan Dip. Who doesn't love a cheesy dip with their nachos? For our vegan nachos we make a dip from cashews, yeast flakes, smoked paprika, maple, turmeric, lemon juice and water. I could drink this sauce, it's seriously delicious!
Loading your nachos
- Start by placing the chips on a big tray.
- Add evenly the baked grounded cauliflower and walnut and the mashed avocado.
- Place the rest of the finely chopped ingredients on the top.
- Add the dip and the fresh cilantro to finish the tray.
- Serve and enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
This recipe works really well when you have people coming over for dinner, or just for a snack.
As much as nachos are a snack or starter, our loaded nachos can be served as a main dish. It is a perfect option for those days that you just don't feel like cooking, cause we've all been there. It is loaded with fresh vegetables and healthy unsaturated fats from the avocado.
The vegan cheese dip is made from cashews and other natural ingredients so you can be sure that this meal gives you all you need to keep going with your day.
We love placing the tray in the middle of the dining table and sharing the nachos with family or friends. You can serve other dips with it like bean dips, hummus, or guacamole.
If you are looking for more finger-food recipes, here are our most popular ones:
- Hummus. Roasted Red Pepper or Beetroot Hummus
- Baba Ganoush. Delicious aubergine dip
- Vegan Spicy Cauliflower Bites
- Lemon & Rosemary Potato Wedges
Vegan Cheese Dip
The perfect nachos should always come with the perfect Cheese Dip.
Our vegan cheese dip is made with pre-soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, lemon juice, turmeric, garlic powder, maple syrup, water, and salt.
All ingredients combined into a blender and blended until smooth make a delicious dip that you won't be able to stop eating.
Tips: We normally soak the cashews overnight as you get a smoother dip, but you can also speed up the process by soaking them in hot water for 20-25 minutes.
Walnut and Cauliflower Vegan "Minced Meat"
Preparing your vegan "minced meat" will take a really short time and all you have to do is leave the mixture baking while preparing the rest of the ingredients. You can as well, use other meat substitutes such as TVP (textured vegetable protein), pulses such as black beans, lentils or kidney beans, minced tofu, or this delicious Vegan Taco Meat from Loving It Vegan.
Step by Step Recipe for Vegan "Minced Meat"
- Cut the cauliflower into big florets and add it into a food processor. Add the walnuts and pulse a couple of times.
- For seasoning, add into the food processor yeast flakes, black pepper, chipotle sauce (optional for extra seasoning and spice) salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Keep pulsing a few times until everything is completely combined and grounded.
Transfer the mixture into a baking tray. We place a silicone baking mat on our tray before adding the cauliflower and walnut mixture so it doesn’t stick to the bottom (what a great discovery!). Drizzle some olive oil, some extra chipotle sauce on the top, and bake for about 20 minutes stirring the mixture halfway through.
Are our Loaded Nachos Kid and Toddler Friendly?
Our loaded nachos are totally kid and toddler-friendly. Our toddler loves the tortilla chips dipped with vegan dip. It's a fun dish loaded with fresh veggies and nuts so the perfect option for your little ones.
We make a side of the tray without jalapeños or smoked paprika for him but the rest he can eat!
Make sure to get the good quality tortilla chips if your little ones will be joining. Some of them contain too much salt and other unnecessary additives.
The Best Loaded Vegan Nachos
Ingredients
Ingredients for the vegan "minced meat"
- 200 g cauliflower
- 100 g walnuts
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon chipotle
- Black pepper
- salt
- 4 tablespoon tomato sauce
Ingredients for the loaded nachos
- 300 g tortilla Chips
- 2 tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper finely chopped
- ½ red onion finely chopped
- 1 avocado chopped
- sweet corn
- A Handful of jalapeños
- A Handful of fresh cilantro
- Half a lime
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Ingredients for the vegan cheese dip
- 100 g overnight soaked cashews
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Vegan "minced meat"
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC or 400ºF
- Cut the cauliflower into big florets and add into a food processor. Add the walnuts and pulse a couple of times.
- For seasoning, add into the food processor yeast flakes, garlic powder, black pepper and a pinch of salt. Keep pulsing a few times until everything is completely combined and grounded.
- Transfer the mixture into a baking tray. Drizzle the chipotle on the top and bake for about 20 minutes stirring the mixture halfway through. When the mixture is cooked, add the tomato sauce, mix again and leave aside.
Loaded Nachos
- Place the tortilla chips evenly on a tray.
- Add the cauliflower and walnut mixture. Mash the avocado and add evenly on the top of the "minced meat".
- Squeeze some of the water out of the chopped tomatoes and add them evenly to the tray. Add the chopped red bell pepper and onion so you create the next layer.
- Add the jalapeños, and the cilantro finely chopped.
- Squeeze half a lime on the top and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
Vegan Cheese Dip
- For the vegan cheese dip, add to a blender the presoaked cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, smoked paprika, turmeric, water, maple syrup and salt. Blend all the ingredients until you have a smooth consistency.
- Pour some of the vegan cheese dip into a squeeze sauce bottle and squeeze on the nachos. Reserve some of the dip and pour it into a small bowl for extra dipping.
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Linda Pennil says
Looks delicious, I’ll surely try it
Laura says
Thank you Linda! 🙂