I’d say that almost everything I make is pretty delicious, but some meals honestly feel divinely inspired. This is one of those meals. Breakfast nachos.
It all started the evening of Wednesday, February 10, 2021, when I ordered two honey soy salmon tacos with avocado pasta salad and an order of chips and queso from Cabo Fish Taco, a food staple in the NoDa area of Charlotte, NC. The tacos were delicious. Pasta salad was refreshing. Chips and queso are always a hit. But I still couldn’t eat it all in one sitting.
Fast-forward to the next morning: I’m hungry, naturally. Enter, those leftover chips and queso. I could’ve been basic and just warmed up the queso and had it beside my sandwich for lunch, but I didn’t want to wait for lunch time.
My next thought: “How can I make these chips and queso breakfast-y?”
This dish is the result.
What to put on your breakfast nachos
Just like when you make regular nachos, the toppings are completely up to you. There are just chips, cheesy elements, meaty elements (if you’d like), and some fresh elements. So feel free to put anything you enjoy for breakfast on your nachos. Here’s my list of things that you can include:
- Tortilla chips of your choice
- Warm queso sauce (a quick recipe + instructions included below)
- Fried or scrambled eggs
- Pan-fried sausage rounds
- Bacon crumbles
- Green onions
- Shredded cheese
- Cilantro
- Diced tomato
- Diced avocado
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- A dollop of sour cream
I wouldn’t call it a recipe because half of the ingredients and techniques used to create this dish are those many people already use to make their everyday American breakfast. The other half is just prepping fresh produce to your liking and then assembling. The most involved pieces will be making the tortilla chips or queso from scratch. I did neither of those this go-’round, but I am interested in how different that would be – as far as flavor and just overall self-satisfaction. Stay tuned for updates, but for now, stop by your local grocery store or order chips and queso from your favorite local restaurant then skip to assembling.
How to make the queso
This recipe was adapted from Delish.com’s queso dip recipe. A full ingredients list and simple instructions are included below. This makes enough for 10-12 servings.
- 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, minced
- 10 oz. American cheese, shredded
- 6 oz. Pepper Jack, shredded
- 1 c. milk (whole or 2%)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (fire-roasted or regular), drained OR 1 medium fresh tomato, diced + 1 small green chile, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
- 2-3 stalks of green onion, chopped with green and white parts separated
Instructions for making the queso
- First, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil and wait until it comes to temperature (when you can feel the heat with your hand from a few inches away from the bottom of the skillet).
- Add onion and white parts of the green onion and cook until soft, 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep the onions from sticking or burning. Add garlic and jalapeño and cook until fragrant, 1-2 more minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium low.
- Add cheeses and milk and stir until cheese is melted and queso is smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, green chiles (either canned or fresh), half of the cilantro, and stir to combine.
- Remove the skillet from the heat completely and garnish with green parts of green onion and more cilantro.
How to put the nachos together
Okay, first is your layer of tortilla chips. You can either make your own or buy some, but this is for breakfast (or brunch), so there’s absolutely no judgment if you just want to pick up a bag of your favorite tortilla chips and use that as the base to this delicious creation. My favorites are Tostitos Hint of Lime. They’re just…. perfect. *chef’s kiss*
Next, pour the warm queso on the tortilla chips. Simple, right?
About the meat
I usually go ahead and cook the meats first because they take longer than eggs and I wouldn’t want my eggs getting cold while I wait for them to finish. So fry up some sausage and/or bacon and set those aside on a paper towel to drain off any excess oil.
I used about 4 oz. of Hillshire Farms’ Smoked Beef Sausage and Sam’s Choice Uncured Turkey Bacon. Use whatever breakfast meat you have on hand or run to the store for your favorite, if you’re in the mood. Either will be delicious. You could obviously use pork bacon, fried chicken pieces, your favorite tofu, or even skip the meat altogether. These are your nachos! Make something you love.
“How you like your eggs?” Fried or- nvm… lol
These nachos wouldn’t really scream breakfast without eggs. Once the meat and queso are finished, it’s time to prepare those fried (or scrambled) eggs. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a pan over medium-low heat. I crack my eggs directly into the pan, but if you’re worried about eggshells, definitely crack them into a bowl first then pour them shell-free into the pan when it’s hot enough. Add salt and pepper to your eggs.
If you’re into runny yolks, which will add to the creaminess of your nachos in the end, keep the yolks intact by (1) adding a bit more oil and (2) carefully making sure the eggs don’t stick the pan and when flipping them. Maybe you don’t want to risk flipping your eggs and breaking the yolks, lower the temperature a bit to cook the egg whites through without burning the bottoms. Or, you can do like my granny taught me and cook the tops by pouring hot oil over the top of the eggs. Tilt the pan to create a pool of oil. Use a spoon to gather oil to repeatedly cover the tops of the eggs until they are cooked to your liking. Usually a minute or so.
If you’re not into runny yolks, you can break those at any time and allow the egg to cook for 1-2 minutes on each side.
I only ever add salt to the first side of my fried eggs, but ground black pepper to both sides. You don’t want the egg to be too salty, and I really like pepper. Just seasoning one side of the egg is enough though, especially since there are other heavily-seasoned elements to the dish – the queso, sausage, bacon.
Incredible final dishes come from appropriately seasoning each individual component of the dish. But you must also consider the overall seasoning level (especially for salt) and make sure no flavor will be too overwhelming.
The fresh parts
Finally is the garnish. It’s not really last, considering I usually end up prepping the tomato & avocado while the sausage cooks, but you know what I mean. Dice half of an avocado and half of a tomato for your nachos. Make sure to store the other halves in an airtight container in the fridge for your next meal. Feel free to add some jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice to your avocado & tomato to make actual guacamole. Or add a dollop of your favorite salsa to add a kick.
Use more chopped green onions (the green parts) and cilantro as garnish, as much as you want but I’d recommend at least half a tablespoon of each.
And that’s it!
It really just a matter of paying attention to each component of the nachos and choosing ingredients that you know you love together. The form of the ingredient – whether you use fried or scrambled eggs, warm queso, or freshly shredded cheese that’s just melted onto the eggs a bit – is less important than putting care and consideration into everything you put on the plate.
Breakfast Nachos
Equipment
- Knife & cutting board, for prep
- Small pot, to make queso
- Skillet, for cooking sausage, bacon & eggs
Ingredients
- 4 cups Tortilla chips of your choice
- 2 cups warm queso , (recipe above for questo from scratch)
- 12-16 ounces smoked beef sausage, sliced and sauteed
- 4-6 ounces bacon, cooked and chopped
- 1-2 avocados, diced
- 1-2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- Salsa, optional
- Sour cream, optional
- Red pepper flakes, optional
Instructions
- Layer large plate or shallow bowl with tortilla chips. Pour warm queso evenly across the chips. Add sauteed sausage and bacon crumbles. Then top with fresh items: diced tomato and avocado, green onions, cilantro, salsa, sour cream, and red pepper flakes, if you like a little kick.
Notes
- You can substitute the avocado & tomato for guacamole by adding diced jalapeno, lime juice, and finely chopped red onion. Add salt and pepper to finish then add this to your nachos instead.
- Same with the salsa, if you want to use that as your tomato element, that’s fine. It’ll be delicious!
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