All the flavour of Nachos….with far less guilt! This is how you can get your Nachos fix midweek. A big slice of this Nachos Pie has only has 420 calories!
Nachos is one of those universal foods that everyone loves, whether health conscious or not! But let’s face it – the calories in a pile of nachos goodness isn’t the best for our health. Does it stop us? Never! BUT it means we can’t eat nachos as often as we like.
So I present to you….midweek Nachos Pie! All the flavour, much of the crunch, with far less calories to satisfy your Nachos craving any day of the week!
This is like a mash up of lasagne and Nachos. Nachos flavoured ground/minced beef cooked with beans layered between tortillas, topped with corn chips, cheese and an avocado pico de gallo. I love that it can be sliced and served up like a pie!
You can be as generous as you want – or not – with the corn chips. With a dish like this, 6 or so corn chips per serving seems to go a long way and that is a LOT less than the 20 30 or so I’d ordinarily scoff down for Nachos!
It’s also surprising how far this recipe goes. I used to think it was just for 4 – but really, it serves 6 quite generously. Or even 8 for ordinary people.
I filled out the beef filling with red kidney beans but you can substitute with any type of beans you want. Or you could even cut down the amount of beef in this even further and add other vegetables – corn, diced zucchini and bell peppers (capsicum) would be fabulous in this!
You will find the filling very saucy. The reason is that the extra sauce is used to top the final layer. The alternative is to make the filling and a separate sauce, but to me that’s just too much effort for midweek! So I make it all in one pan then use a slotted spoon to scoop out meat for the layers without too much sauce, then pour the sauce over the final layer.
SO TASTY! I could eat this every night. I just adore Mexican food (real and Tex-Mex!).
– Nagi x
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Nachos Pie
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , diced (brown, yellow, white)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 13 oz / 400 g ground/mince beef (use lean!)
- 1 oz / 28 g packet Taco Seasoning OR make your own - see Note 1
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 700 g / 24oz tomato passata or pureed canned tomatoes (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup water
- 14 oz / 400 g canned red kidney beans (or any other beans), drained
- 3 - 4 soft tortillas (flour or corn) - for layering
- 1 cup grated cheese (I used mozzarella, but any melting cheese is fine)
- 2 oz / 70 g corn chips
Pico de Gallo (optional)
- 1/2 avocado , diced
- 1 large tomato , deseeded and diced (Note 3)
- 1/4 spanish (red) onion, diced
- 2 tbsp lime juice (fresh or bottled)
- 3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
To serve
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the over to 350F/180C.
Filling
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.
- Add the garlic and onion, and cook until translucent.
- Add the beef and cook, breaking up into pieces, until browned. Add the Taco Seasoning and pepper about halfway through browning the beef.
- Add the tomato passata, water and beans. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened but still very saucy. Remove from heat.
Assemble & Bake
- Lay a tortilla in a pie dish (24 cm / 9 inch diameter). Use a slotted spoon to top with just under 1/2 the meat. Try to avoid using too much sauce so sort of "shake" each spoonful to drain out sauce.
- Top with another tortilla + torn/cut pieces of another tortilla to cover completely.
- Top with the remaining meat, again avoiding the sauce.
- Top with remaining tortillas, then pour over all the sauce (and any residual meat).
- Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. If you're worried about overspill, place it on a baking tray.
- Remove from the oven, cover with corn chips then scatter with cheese. Bake until the chips are a bit golden and the cheese is melted - 10 to 15 minutes.
- Serve, topped with Pico De Gallo and Sour Cream on the side, if using.
Pico de Gallo
- Combine ingredients in a bowl. Toss and adjust salt/pepper to taste.
Recipe Notes:
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp sea salt + more to taste 2. Tomato passata is just pureed tinned tomatoes. Nowadays it is readily available in supermarkets, usually alongside pasta sauces. It costs just a tiny bit more, sometimes the same, as canned tomatoes. If you can't find it, puree canned tomatoes or use crushed canned tomatoes. 3. To desseed a tomato, cut it in half and use a teaspoon to scoop out the watery seeds inside. 4. Make it gluten free by using corn tortillas. 5. Nutrition assuming 6 servings, excluding sour cream.
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
And…the usual Dozer shot. No Dozer! No Nachos for you!
This is such a cool idea Nagi! Homemade nachos is the best! Pinned!
Thanks Mira!! 🙂 And I totally agree with you! N x
Perfection in a dish. This is going on the menu for next week – next Saturday night to be precise – it’s our 5-year wedding anniversary and J Daddy LOVES Mexican food!!!
My pantry is so well stocked with so many great goodies since I started cooking your recipes, including all the ingredients to make homemade taco seasoning. Love your work!
Oh Gloria!! Happy anniversary!! How lucky J Daddy is to have you 🙂 I’m so chuffed to think that you’ll be having this on the weekend!!! 🙂 Perfect for the cold weather here! N x
haven’t had Nachos in years but I love them! Fab idea for a pie: it looks great!
Oh Nagi… I don’t even know where to begin, this recipe is the epitome of perfection and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. You have all of my favorite savory things in here… literally mouthwatering <3
Aw Sam, thank you sweetie! You’re way too kind! N x
DEFINITE make! I love how you layered the tortillas like lasagna noodles! And thank you for a good taco seasoning, homemade, instead of package stuff with all those added colors, and non readable ingredients 😉 AS ALWAYS.. WINNER! Perfect weather in Portland! Lisa
I thought you were on the coast!! So jealous of your perfect weather, it is definitely winter here in Sydney!! 🙂 I suspected you would like the homemade seasoning 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful break!! N x
Looks awesome Nagi! I particularly love the mini little cast iron in the background…I have 4 of them and never quite figured out what to do with them…perfect sauce holders!
Thanks Mila! Oh, I love my little cast iron pans – I use them often – sauces, olives, dukkha! 🙂
Oh.Mah.Gawd! This Nacho pie screams face plant city! My tummy has got a serious case of the rumbles and my keyboard is soaked with slobbery drool from the photos of this delicious and genius pie! Gimme ALL the Nacho pie! Pinned♡ Cheers, Nagi and thanks for making me supa’ hungry!!
Cheyanne, you crack me up as usual! Face plant city – ba ha ha ha!!! N x
Oh, Dozer – hope you got some of this gorgeous dish:-) As usual lovely Nagi!
Never! No Nachos for Dozer! 🙂
Nagi, I am sending blessings to you, this nacho pie is hands down amazing, I have never even thought of a nacho pie, and here I am drooling and counting in my finance mind that one slice is only 400 something calories, so it means I can add a side of guacamole too and have a delicious, flavorful Mexican dinner, that looks so good and my husband will be very happy that I made it! Great idea, a must try for sure!
Thanks so much for your sweet comment Katalina!!! I love how your mind works, as a fellow accountant, that’s EXACTLY what I do too!!! Too funny! 🙂
You are seriously creative Nagi 🙂 This pie is exciting. I know my husband would love it.
Thanks Kathy! Creative? Nope….I usually have an agenda and my stubbornness is what results in things like this. I MUST get my Nachos fix!
Ok this is getting spooky Nagi! So did Dozer have a helping of this nachos pie? This kind of food is right up my alley, one of my favorite appetizers to order are nachos, but this looks way better. 🙂
No! No nachos for Dozer! 🙂 And – well…why does it not surprise me in the least that this is your kind of food? 😉
Hi Nagi! That shot of the slice is making my stomach growl! I love nachos, but like you said not good to eat frequently unless you need to put on a few pounds! I’m a fan of refried beans myself and I usually use Cheddar (and sour cream). Okay, I oink a little (or a lot)! Believe this is on the menu for the weekend! 🙂
Refried beans aren’t great here in Australia which is why I rarely use them myself! You’re so lucky, quality and variety of Mexican ingredients in the US is so much better! 🙂 I have to admit, I know I showed this as a sensible meal…..but I may have added an extra handful of corn chips to scoop up the pie with….I think I ended up pretty much eating it like Nachos!!!!
Love this Nagi!! I love Nachos, but sadly can’t eat more than a few corn chips at a time 🙁 Still, this pie looks like it would be worth risking it! 😉
Skip the chips! Just have the pie! 😉 N x
Great dish! There’s a dish in the US called Frito Pie that combines the Frito-brand of corn chips with chili. Similar to this, but yours is better. Really nice — thanks.
Frito Pie? *Ears perk up* Seriously? Mmmm….gotta search for it! Will start on your site 🙂
Such a clever idea!
And a great way to avoid the ‘snack hand’ which is my name for the my uncontrollable right hand! If there are snack within reach it just moves between them and my mouth!!! I love snacks and nibbles. I keep thinking I should turn my blog into a Nibbles, snacks and appetisers blog!
Great to know you can cut down the calories and still get the snack hit…not that I worry about calories, I just buy bigger pants 😉
Claire, you’re talking to a fellow snack monster here. My family always jokes about how I love “snacky things”!!! 🙂 N x
Um. this is genius!! What a great idea!
Thanks Cathleen! 🙂 N x Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
What a clever way to make and serve a tortilla dish. 🙂 I love that it can be served in wedges so tidily. 🙂
Thanks Krista!! 🙂 N x