A Tower of Yum! — Nacho Towers

Around here it’s a constant battle for food — yet there is always food to be had. What it actually is, is a battle for everyone’s “fair” share, and everyone thinks their “fair” share is only possible to receive if they get what they can while they can. You snooze, you lose! That seems to be the mindset around here.

I love nachos. I truly do. The one thing about nachos that I don’t like however is sharing. Whenever I make them for a snack or appetizer, you’d think I’d never fed the family. I’m not exaggerating when I say there are elbows flying, hands being slapped, and nachos disappearing without a trace. To remedy this situation when it came to enjoying nachos, I tried making them for dinner. As a main course I thought everyone would get their fill and the battle would cease. I was wrong. Not only was it a race to see who could get more nachos on their plate than anyone else, finish that, and then dive in for seconds, but using my largest tray, heaped with nacho chips, meat, cheese and toppings just wasn’t enough for the four of us.

There had to be a way to serve nachos so that everyone would get their fill, without me having to make more than one tray. This meant thinking outside the box, or in this case, outside the traditional nacho experience.

First, in order to make nachos more filling, I added refried beans to mix. These would not only serve to make nachos heartier, but it would also hold the nachos together so the meat and toppings wouldn’t fall off so easily.

Second, rather than spreading the nachos out, I thought it would be better to build them up. This brought me to the third change — adding a base to build the nachos on. This could be done several ways, but I opted to go with a 6″ flour tortilla. Depending on your crowd, you could go with 8″ tortillas or even larger ones to make extra-large nachos for sharing (that just brings back bad memories for me–but if it works for you, go for it). The 6″ tortillas were the perfect size for each person to have their own person nachos.

With these changes I set to work to build my Nacho Towers. On a parchment lined baking sheet I placed six 6″ flour tortillas, covered them with refried beans and then covered those with a layer of tortilla chips.

From there it was like building a nacho over and over again. The chips were covered with meat and cheese and then another layer of chips was pressed into the cheese; repeat.

I repeated this 2 – 4 times, depending on who I was making the nacho tower for. Hubby and Zeb got larger ones while Grace and myself had smaller ones.

Once the towers were assembled, I put them in the oven to heat and melt the cheese. After 15 minutes I pulled out the towers, put them on the table with all the fixings and called the family.

They were a hit and everyone was stuffed to boot! Hubby and Zeb actually had the nerve to complain that they almost couldn’t finish theirs, while Grace didn’t finish hers and put the leftovers in a bowl to take for lunch.

Nacho Towers

• Servings: 4 - 6 Towers
• Print

Ingredients

• 1 Pkg. 6″ Flour Tortillas
• 1½ Pounds Ground Beef
• 4 Tbsp. Taco/Burrito Seasoning
• ¾ Cup Water
• 1½ Cups Refried Beans
• 1 Bag Tortilla Chips
• 8 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
• 8 oz. Colby-Jack Cheese, shredded
• Garnish:
  • Lettuce
  • Onion
  • Green Pepper
  • Tomato
  • Olives
  • Jalapeno Peppers
  • Sour Cream
  • Avocado
  • Salsa

Directions

1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place 4 – 6 flour tortillas on it; set aside
2. Spread ¼ cup refried beans on each flour tortilla.
3. Cover refried beans with tortilla chips.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Brown ground beef over medium-high heat in large fry pan; drain fat.
6. Add water and taco/burrito seasoning to drained beef and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
7. Top tortilla chips with a hearty portion of meat mixture, then 1/3 cup cheese (use a combination of both cheeses), then more tortilla chips.
8. Repeat layers, pressing down slightly on the tortilla chips at each level to make sure your towers don’t topple. Make as many layers as you like. Three layers is usually more than enough for a serving.
9. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, until heated through and all cheese is melted.
10. Serve immediately with choice of garnish.

Cooking Note

These nacho towers are surprisingly filling. Hubby can eat one, while Grace and myself will usually split one or eat half and save half for later.

If you only make four towers, you should have meat and cheese leftover, otherwise the listed ingredients will comfortably make six.

Another great topper for these nachos would be some homemade nacho cheese sauce. Click HERE for my easy recipe.

Recipe by:  Tilly Frueh – Simply Grateful Cooking 2019

The battle for food continues in our house, which honestly is quite a compliment if you ask me. I guess if they didn’t like my cooking so much, they wouldn’t fight over it so fervently, and for this I am — Simply Grateful.

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