Avocado

Salad Nachos

by:
October  4, 2022
4.5
2 Ratings
Salad Nachos
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

Much like  Salad Pizza, the appeal of Salad Nachos is in the marriage of hot and cold—hot, cheesy nachos with cool, crisp greens.

The ingredients shown are the ones I like, but this can—and should!—be customized, whether you like ground beef, or prefer black olives to green, make it your own!

Don't feel tied to the dressing either. I like a creamy dressing as a stand-in for dollops of sour cream, but an olive vinaigrette could be interesting, as could a salsa-ranch mix. —Lindsay-Jean Hard

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Salad Nachos
  • 1 bag (13 ounce) tortilla chips
  • 1 cup black beans
  • 1 cup refried beans (vegetarian if serving this to vegetarians)
  • 16 ounces cheese, shredded (I used half pepper jack and half cheddar)
  • 1/2 cup white onion, diced
  • 4 to 5 cups finely shredded romaine lettuce
  • 3/4 cup thinly sliced grape tomatoes (or halved cherry tomatoes)
  • 1/4 cup sliced or chopped green olives
  • 1 to 2 avocados, diced
  • Hot sauce (optional)
  • CIlantro-Sour Cream Dressing
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro (small stems are okay)
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • Fine-grain sea salt
Directions
  1. Combine garlic, cilantro, mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, and lemon juice in a mini processor. Add a pinch of salt and process until smooth. Taste and add more salt if necessary. (An immersion blender would work for this, too!)
  2. Line a half sheet tray (18 x 13 inches) with aluminum foil and turn on your broiler (or heat oven to 500° F).
  3. Follow thirschfeld's advice and open your chips over the lined tray from the bottom of the bag rather than the top. This keeps the small broken bits hidden on the bottom. Spread out the chips.
  4. Sprinkle about half of the cheese over the chips, then sprinkle with black beans, little blobs of refried beans, and the onions. Cover with the rest of the cheese.
  5. Broil the chips until all of the cheese has melted, 4 to 5 minutes . (This step might take a few more minutes if you're baking them.)
  6. While you're broiling the chips, add the lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and avocado to a medium bowl. Toss with about 2/3 of the dressing, then add more dressing if desired and toss again.
  7. Once the chips are done, remove from the oven and scatter the dressed salad over the top of them. Serve with hot sauce. And plenty of napkins.
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Lindsay-Jean Hard
I like esoteric facts about vegetables. Author of the IACP Award-nominated cookbook, Cooking with Scraps.

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1 Review

Mel F.
Mel F. September 24, 2016
Delicious! A great recipe to make your own. I definitely needed some heat, added jalapeños and hot sauce.