These Refried Bean Nachos are super easy made right on a sheet pan. Refried beans spread on crispy tortilla chips topped with tons of melty cheese, onions, tomatoes, fresh cilantro, avocado, and a limey sour cream. It’s a great vegetarian nacho appetizer that even meat eaters will love.
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Ingredients
A list of the ingredients needed to make refried beans nachos and some context for each of them is below. When it comes to the toppings, the best toppings for nachos are your favorite toppings, so take what I provide as a base and add/remove based on what you love.
- Tortilla chips: Grab your favorite tortilla chips! I do not recommend using thin chips, though, as they struggle to hold up with all the toppings. I like to use corn tortilla chips.
- Refried beans: Store-bought or homemade are both great. For an easier option I definitely recommend store-bought. If you want to keep the nachos vegetarian make sure you’re buying vegetarian refried beans. Sometimes they’re made with meat products so you’ll want to avoid that.
- Salsa: Similar to beans, keep it easy and grab your favorite store-bought salsa. This gets mixed in with the beans so it should be good but doesn’t have to be anything fancy.
- Cheese: Cheesy nachos is a must. This recipe calls for a mix of sharp cheddar cheese and monterey jack cheese. Buying the cheese in a brick and shredding it yourself is always the best option when you’re melting cheese because it means there’s no additives and the cheese will melt seamlessly.
- If you’re in a pinch or can’t be bothered, the pre-shredded Mexican cheese blend will work just fine.
- Onion: A little red onion for topping on the nachos at the end.
- Tomatoes: Whatever tomatoes you like work well here. If you’re going for a larger variety, try to remove the liquid and seeds from the inside so they don’t make the nachos soggy.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro adds a nice fresh flavor to the nachos which helps balance them out from all the heavier ingredients.
- Avocado: Some nice creamy chunks of avocado help bring a bit of textural variety.
- Lime: You can either give a nice squeeze of lime juice over the top of the nachos right before serving to add some acidity and balance, or you can mix the lime with the sour cream to make a quick crema-like topping.
- Sour cream: Some people are adverse to sour cream so leave it out if you wish. But if you’d like, it’s ideal to stir in some lime juice to thin it out and drizzle it over the nachos. Full fat sour cream is best.
Instead of onions/tomatoes/cilantro separately, you could just buy some pico de gallo and use that instead.
Step by step instructions
Sheet pan vegetarian nachos are notoriously easy to put together and that stays true with this variety as well. Just a few quick steps.
1. Thin out the refried beans. You want to get the beans to a smooth, easily spreadable consistency, so in a small bowl mix together the refried beans and salsa.
2. Assemble. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread small spoonfuls of the refried bean mixture onto individual chips and place on the baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle cheese overtop. Repeat for a second layer of chips and cheese.
3. Bake. Bake the chips at 425°F for 10 minutes or just until the cheese melts.
4. Add toppings. Right out of the oven sprinkle the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado evenly around. Then combine sour cream and lime juice and drizzle all over as desired.
Tips and tricks
Homemade nachos are relatively straightforward to make and anything you might do that doesn’t exactly follow this recipe just makes them ~customized. But regardless, below are some tips to nail these refried bean nachos.
- Work in layers. Don’t you hate it when you eat nachos and once that first layer is eaten the second is completely bare and you’re basically just eating plain chips? Same. To avoid that, work in layers of chips, beans, and cheese. A single layer of chips - beans - cheese - repeat layers.
- To avoid soggy nachos, eat them once they’re fresh out of the oven! What usually makes them soggy is letting them sit for a while and the chips absorb the moisture of all the toppings.
- The best cheese for nachos – I like to use a blend of cheese for nachos, specifically ones with rather sharper/distinct flavor as opposed to mellow. So monterey jack and sharp cheddar are a perfect pairing. Avoid cheeses like mozzarella and provolone.
- The easiest way to spread refried beans on nachos is to simply take a butter knife, back of a spoon, or small spatula and spread gently.
- You can make your own refried beans, this recipe here is a great simple option.
- If you want to skip using refried beans and simply sprinkle a can of beans all over the nachos that’s totally fine - the best kind of beans for nachos are black beans or pinto beans. Drain and rinse them before putting them on the nachos. I like to do chip-bean-cheese-bake that way the melted cheese kind of holds them in place.
- If you don't want any chunks of bean, pulse the canned refried beans and salsa together in a food processor.
More nacho topping ideas
Beyond what’s included in this recipe, below are some more ideas for nacho toppings. Toppings are totally personal preference, so use what you love!
- Guacamole
- Jalapeño slices
- Pickled jalapeños
- Canned green chilies
- Corn
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Pickled red onions
- Pico de gallo
- Cotija cheese
- Black olives
- Green onions
- To skew outside of the vegetarian space: pulled pork, pulled chicken, ground beef.
Storage and reheating
I’ll be honest with ya, storing and reheating nachos is not ideal. They are best served warm right out of the oven and gobbled all up in one serving. BUT if you don’t finish them and want to save them, the below is the best bet:
- Storage: transfer what’s left to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: to get the crispiest result, put the leftovers on a parchment lined baking sheet and warm in the oven on 350°F until the cheese is melty again. For a quicker option, warm them in the microwave for a few minutes, but they’ll likely turn out a little soggy this way.
FAQs
I don’t really ever use this kind of cheese so I’m not sure how well it melts, but if you need to, no harm in trying.
They’re likely a bit more flimsy, so that’s something to consider, but you definitely can.
One of my favorite things to do is use them in a quesadilla. Spread an even layer then top with cheese and warm on the stovetop. You can also use them in tostadas – use them in place of black beans in this bean and avocado tostada recipe.
To thin out refried beans add a little more salsa.
You can, but there's really no difference! Follow the same instructions but heat the air fryer to 325°F and air fry for 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted.
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📖 Recipe
Refried Bean Nachos
INGREDIENTS
- ½ bag corn tortilla chips
- 8 oz refried beans
- ½ cup salsa
- 1 cup monterey jack cheese shredded
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 roma tomato diced
- ½ small red onion diced
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 425℉.
- In a small bowl mix together the refried beans and salsa.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread small spoonfuls of the refried bean mixture onto individual chips and place on the baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle cheese overtop. Repeat for a second layer of chips and cheese.
- Bake the chips for 10 minutes or just until the cheese melts.
- Right out of the oven sprinkle the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado evenly around. Then combine sour cream and lime juice and drizzle all over as desired.
NOTES
- Work in layers. Don’t you hate it when you eat nachos and once that first layer is eaten the second is completely bare and you’re basically just eating plain chips? Same. To avoid that, work in layers of chips, beans, and cheese. A single layer of chips - beans - cheese - repeat layers.
- To avoid soggy nachos, eat them once they’re fresh out of the oven! What usually makes them soggy is letting them sit for a while and the chips absorb the moisture of all the toppings.
- The best cheese for nachos – I like to use a blend of cheese for nachos, specifically ones with rather sharper/distinct flavor as opposed to mellow. So monterey jack and sharp cheddar are a perfect pairing. Avoid cheeses like mozzarella and provolone.
- The easiest way to spread refried beans on nachos is to simply take a butter knife, back of a spoon, or small spatula and spread gently.
- You can make your own refried beans, this recipe here is a great simple option.
- If you want to skip using refried beans and simply sprinkle a can of beans all over the nachos that’s totally fine - the best kind of beans for nachos are black beans or pinto beans. Drain and rinse them before putting them on the nachos. I like to do chip-bean-cheese-bake that way the melted cheese kind of holds them in place.
- If you don't want any chunks of bean, pulse the canned refried beans and salsa together in a food processor.
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