I found a “healthy” nacho recipe a few years ago that I absolutely loved. It was considered healthy because it was lower sodium and allegedly lower in fat, blah blah blah. Was it really healthier? I have no idea. And I totally forgot about it until I recently had a craving for nachos. And I don’t mean nachos where you dump a bunch of cheese or tortilla chips and nuke the plate, and voila, nachos! I know I’m not the only one who’s done that!
Anywho, nachos. Every once in a while, I love to treat us to loaded nachos for dinner, and so, recently, I had a craving. But, it wasn’t until I got a mishap order of groceries in from Target. Let me back up. I do most of my grocery shopping at my local store, where I often will just walk there to stretch my legs. However, I like to order groceries from Target… and I order them because Target is a just a bit too far for me to want to drive and do a quickie shop ~ I hate driving, what can I say? So instead of driving, I order groceries. And let me tell you, I save a ton of money on certain items over my local grocery store! Most of the shoppers are awesome, and I’ve literally only had problems a small, small handful of times.
Well, Memorial Day weekend comes and we decide to keep it easy and just grill up some steaks. My husband loves baked potatoes with steak, and when we decide to go that route, I always opt for the healthier option of a baked sweet potato. Baked sweet potato with a small amount of butter and a tablespoon of brown sugar. I know, now it doesn’t sound as healthy! But when you think about all the fixings that normally go on a baked potato (cheese, sour cream, etc., etc.), a little butter and brown sugar is nothing!
Okay, I’m getting away from myself. So, we decide on steak and baked potatoes. I place an order to Target to get my usual stuff (fruit, eggs, etc.), and I order a sweet potato for dinner. Well, this is one of the few times that the shopper messed up my order. And I shouldn’t say “my order”; she messed up one item: the sweet potato. Instead of grabbing me one sweet potato, she got me an entire bag of sweet potatoes! Oof! And unfortunately, they were all these tiny, thin potatoes that I couldn’t even really have as a baked potato!
Then I remembered my craving for nachos, and it occurred to me… sweet potato nachos! Talk about making lemonade out of lemons… that’s how the saying goes, right? Well, make sweet potato nachos out of sweet potatoes 😜.
Now, the easiest way to make sweet potato chips is with a mandolin. But, if you happen to get super thin sweet potatoes like I got, the super easy way is to use the slice blade on a food processor! Even if you have “normal” sweet potatoes, you can save time by cutting them in half and feeding them into a food processor. I mean, all your potatoes will be sliced up in minutes ~ easy peasy!
It does take a couple of batches to bake them, but I baked them two trays at a time, just flipping the trays around halfway through. I also found that the potatoes sometimes still seem slightly soft when you take them out of the oven, but they firm up as they cool. Some will still be soft after they cool, and those you can throw back in the oven for another 5 minutes to crisp up a bit further. These can be made several days in advance too! Just let them cool completely before putting them in ziplock bags, otherwise the heat will create moisture in the bag and ruin all of your hard work!
Now, my son does not like sweet potatoes. It is beyond me why not. It’s not like sweet potatoes are super sweet or anything. I find them to have the perfect level of sweetness to compliment spicy dishes, which is why I love them here! But, if you have someone in your entourage who also doesn’t like sweet potatoes, then substitute some of the chips with corn tortillas. I filled up half a tray with corn tortillas and the rest of the tray with sweet potato chips. That way everyone was happy!
From there, I added chorizo, “refried” beans, and cheese and broiled it until the cheese melted and turned lightly brown. I finished loading up the chips with guacamole and pico de gallo before plopping the tray down in the middle of the table (on top of oven mitts!) and let us all dig in family style! It was actually a really enjoyable way to share dinner. And although this may be a bit higher on the calorie side for some, you can reduce your serving size and pair this with a salad. But, calories or not, this meal is loaded with vitamins and protein, making it a very healthy option for a great family weeknight dinner!
Enjoy!
Loaded Sweet Potato Nachos with Chorizo & Homemade “Refried” Beans
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 – 6 servings 1x
- Category: Nachos, TexMex, Latin American
- Cuisine: Dinner, Snacks
Ingredients
Sweet Potatoes
3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (see note)
nonstick spray
salt (I used pink Himalayan salt)
“Refried” Beans
1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 TB chipotle in adobo sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 lime, juiced
½ tsp salt
Toppings
~10 oz chorizo (about 3 links)
8 oz shredded cheddar
Pico de Gallo
1 lb Roma tomatoes, deseeded and cut into small cubes
3 TBs white onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime, juiced
salt & pepper
To Serve
homemade or store-bought guacamole
sour cream
cilantro to garnish
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Working in batches, spread some of the sweet potatoes over a baking sheet, minimizing how many potatoes overlap. Lightly spray with nonstick spray and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through. (Note: you can do two sheets at a time. When tossing halfway through, also switch the racks that the baking sheets are sitting on to ensure even baking). Some potatoes may still be a little soft. Let cool for 5 minutes. Any potatoes that are still soft, put back in the oven for another 5 minutes. Repeat until all of the potatoes are baked and potato chip crispy. Turn the oven off.
Meanwhile, make the refried beans by adding the pinto beans, chipotle in adobo sauce, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, and salt to a food processor. Process until smooth.
Cook the chorizo in a frying pan, breaking up the sausage as it cooks into smaller crumbles. Cook until browned through 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. If desired, remove the sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Prepare the pico de gallo by adding the tomatoes, white onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste to a medium bowl. Stir to combine.
Set a rack to the second slot in the oven. Turn the broiler to high. Arrange the sweet potato chips on a baking sheet (see note if doing corn tortilla chips and sweet potato chips). Using the back of a spoon or rubber spatula, carefully spread the pinto beans over the chips, spreading as well as possible. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the chips and then add the chorizo evenly over the top. Place under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cheese melts and lightly browns (keep a close eye on it!).
Remove from the oven, spread pico de gallo and guacamole over the top and garnish with cilantro, if desired.
Place on oven mitts in the center of your table and dig in! Serve with sides of sour cream. Enjoy!
Notes
For the sweet potatoes, using a mandolin is the easiest, quickest way to slice these consistently thin. The sweet potatoes I got were very narrow, so I used the slice blade on my food processor. You can also cut these, trying to maintain a consistent thickness.
If you have a household like mine (aka, someone who hates sweet potatoes!), reduce the sweet potatoes to 2 pounds and substitute 2 to 3 cups corn tortilla chips. When arranging the baking sheet, arrange the corn tortilla chips on one half and the already baked sweet potatoes on the other half.
Keywords: sweet potato chips, baked sweet potato chips, sweet potato nachos, baked nachos, chorizo nachos, pico de gallo, homemade refried beans, pinto beans
