Loaded Vegan Nachos

Ingredients
To make these loaded vegan nachos, you’ll need:

tortilla chips (store-bought or make your own)
black beans
vegan nacho cheese (make your own)
shredded purple cabbage
shredded lettuce
pico de gallo (store-bought or make your own)
vegan sour cream (store-bought or make your own)
sliced jalapeño
sliced avocado
You can use this recipe as a base or inspiration and use store bought ingredients, as needed. Or, make everything homemade (you won’t regret it!).

You can substitute other ingredients in this recipe, depending on what you have on hand. Nachos are flexible like that, y’all.

Tortilla Chips
Any kind of corn tortilla chip will work.
Yellow corn, white corn, blue corn, tortilla strips, tortilla triangles, etc.
(But, not fritos.)
I wouldn’t recommend a super thin tortilla chip, since it won’t stand up to the weight of the toppings.
You can make your own fat free tortilla chips in 15 minutes with just corn tortillas.
Or, if you have tostadas at home, you can break those into chips, too.

Black Beans
Refried beans would be delicious here (add a little water or salsa to them and season with cumin or taco seasoning. Then, heat to warm).
Also, vegan spicy charro pinto beans would be delicious, as well. Eat leftovers with rice or add to tacos.
Cooked lentils could also work.
finished meal in bowl

Vegan Queso Nacho Cheese Sauce
This is arguably the most important element of these Loaded Vegan Nachos. So, if you make anything from scratch, make this.
However, you can use vegan shredded cheese instead, if you like. If you do this, definitely add some hot sauce or salsa to your nachos for heat.

Pico de Gallo
Instead of pico, add some chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro/coriander and squeeze of lime juice to your nachos.
Vegan Sour Cream
You can omit the sour cream if you don’t have any and can’t make my homemade version.
Or, you could use a dollop of plain vegan yogurt in a pinch, but I would taste a little with the nachos first to see if you like it. Yogurt is not the same as sour cream, so you may prefer to just omit it.
You could also add extra avocado, since it has a soothing, creamy affect.
finished sauce
Avocado
If you don’t have any avocado, you can use extra sour cream.
Or, just omit it.
sliced avocado

Jalapeño
Substitute any hot pepper you like.
Or, hot sauce, like Cholula, Tabasco, sriracha, chile garlic sauce or hot pepper oil.
Sheet Pan
Instead of assembling on a sheet pan, you could make individual servings on plates.
🔪 Instructions
Prep your ingredients
Your first step is to prep all your ingredients.

If you decide to only make one thing from scratch, I would recommend making the Easy Vegan Chile con Queso Nacho Cheese Sauce.

It’s a very important element to these loaded plant-based nachos.

One batch of my vegan nacho cheese sauce will make about 4 cups of sauce, which is the perfect amount for these nachos.

If you make extra, you can save it in the refrigerator to make more nachos later in the week. It’s also freezable!

Keep your nacho cheese sauce hot by simmering it on low on the stove, until you’re ready to assemble your nachos.

Assemble your nachos
Here’s the layers for our nachos:

half of the chips
half of the black beans, purple cabbage and cheese sauce
the rest of the chips
the rest of the black beans, purple cabbage and cheese sauce
top with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, sliced avocado, sliced jalapeño, vegan sour cream
process shot – chips

Loaded Vegan Nachos

Ingredients
10 cups tortilla chips
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 quart vegan queso cheese sauce
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
½ cup pico de gallo
1 avocado, sliced
½ cup shredded lettuce
½ cup vegan sour cream
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
Instructions
Prepare Chips, Queso, Pico and Sour Cream
If you’re using store bought or already prepared ingredients, skip to “Assemble Nachos” section. To make your own, here are links to my easy recipes:

Chips: Prepare homemade fat free tortilla chips.
Queso: Prepare homemade vegan queso nacho cheese sauce.
Pico de Gallo: Prepare homemade pico de gallo (salsa fresca).
Sour Cream: Prepare homemade vegan sour cream.
Assemble Nachos
Heat cheese sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to assemble your nachos.
Spread half of the tortilla chips over the bottom of a large empty sheet pan.
Sprinkle half of the black beans and purple cabbage over chips.
Drizzle half of hot vegan queso over chips.
Spread out remaining chips, black beans, purple cabbage and drizzle cheese sauce evenly across pan.
Top with pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, vegan sour cream, sliced avocado and jalapeños.
Notes
If you’re using a shredded vegan cheese, pre-heat your oven to 400F. Assemble both layers of chips, black beans and shredded cheese, then heat until melty in the oven. Then, add all remaining toppings and enjoy!

Substitution Ideas:

Tortilla Chips: any kind of corn tortilla chip will work. You can make your own fat free tortilla chips in 15 minutes with corn tortillas. Or, if you have tostadas at home, you can break those into chips, too.
Black Beans: Refried beans would be delicious here (add a little water or salsa to them and season with cumin or taco seasoning. Then, heat to warm). Also, vegan spicy charro pinto beans would be delicious, as well. Eat leftovers with rice or add to tacos. Cooked lentils could also work.
Vegan Queso Nacho Cheese Sauce: This is arguably the most important element of these Loaded Vegan Nachos. So, if you make anything from scratch, make this. However, you can use vegan shredded cheese instead, if you like. If you do this, definitely add some hot sauce or salsa to your nachos for heat.
Purple Cabbage: This is optional, but I really like the crunch. You could also use shredded green cabbage, if you like. Or don’t use it at all. Or, add extra shredded lettuce.
Pico de Gallo: Instead of pico, add some chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro/coriander and squeeze of lime juice to your nachos.
Vegan Sour Cream: You can omit the sour cream if you don’t have any and can’t make my homemade version. Or, you could use a dollop of plain vegan yogurt in a pinch, but I would taste a little with the nachos first to see if you like it. Yogurt is not the same as sour cream, so you may prefer to just omit it. You can also use extra avocado, since it has a similar cooling affect.
Avocado: If you don’t have any avocado, you can use extra sour cream. Or, just omit it.
Jalapeño: substitute any hot pepper you like. Or, hot sauce, like Cholula, Tabasco, sriracha, chile garlic sauce or hot pepper oil.
Sheet Pan: Instead of assembling on a sheet pan, you could make individual servings on plates.