Loaded Steak Nachos

I’ve made these Loaded Steak Nachos so many times on my socials! They’ve become one of my favorite meals to make. There are a decent amount of moving parts, but once you break them down into their individual components, it’ll seem much less daunting if you’re nervous. Each part is very straightforward.

You can cut down on the amount of effort and time involved by swapping out my from-scratch recipes for store-bought components. You could also stop by your favorite Mexican or Tex-Mex joint and grab a large order of chips and queso. You might wonder “well why wouldn’t I just order steak nachos there” and my answer to that is I don’t know, but I’ve done exactly what I suggest myself, and I don’t know why I didn’t either.

Loaded Steak Nachos Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are helpful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Loaded Steak Nachos recipe:

• Thin-sliced top-round steak: Cheap, easy to find, easy to prepare. You can use thinly sliced skirt or flank steak instead. Honestly, you can use whatever type of steak you want, just make sure it’s cut as thin as possible against the grain and you should be good. Leftover steak from a previous meal works as well.
• Corn tortillas: Yellow corn is my preference, but white or blue is cool too. You just want them to be small ones, taco sized. Obviously, a burrito-sized tortilla will make for like… tostada-sized chips.
• Chile Queso, colby jack cheese: I am very partial to my queso recipe – to the point where I legit think it’s what makes these Loaded steaks so damn good – but if you have a favorite of your own feel free. You could also pick up a store-bought jar of queso. Colby jack is my preference for both flavor and meltiness. Feel free to swap it out for whatever you prefer or have on hand.
• Refried Beans: The very last time I made these Loaded Steak Nachos I used black beans instead of pinto beans. I actually think I’d prepare them slightly differently so if you make my recipe stick with pinto beans and expect a Refried Black Beans recipe soon.
• Pico de Gallo: Again, mine is really good, but if you’re looking for a shortcut storebought is fine. My favorite is from The Pick, sold at Whole Foods. Just note that pico is much, much cheaper to make than to purchase.
• Jalapeños, white onion, cilantro leaves, garlic, lime: To marinate the steak.
• Sazon, Kosher salt, liquid smoke: Confession time! I have always thought I hated Sazon, like my entire life. This is because I had only tried the Goya brand, apparently. I recently tried Savor Spice Co‘s Sazon blend and I love it! Another reason Goya absolutely sucks.
• Vegetable oil: For frying, and also for sauteing the steak, if needed. I generally use peanut or avocado oil.
• Sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, etc for garnish: Top these Loaded Steak Nachos with whatever you like!

How to Make Loaded Steak Nachos

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some essential tidbits to help you make the most of this Loaded Steak Nachos recipe:

• Before We Begin. Most of this Loaded Steak Nachos recipe is guidance on when to make the different components so that everything is ready around the same time. Adjust and pivot as needed.
• A Bit of Prep Work. Begin by making the Pico de Gallo if you haven’t already, so the flavor has time to meld. Store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. Ignore this if you’ve already made it, or if you’re using store-bought. Add the steak to a medium-sized mixing bowl, along with the sliced jalapeno and onion, cilantro leaves, and minced garlic. Next, add in the sazon, kosher salt, lime juice, and liquid smoke. Toss with tongs and make sure everything is well combined and the meat is evenly seasoned. Set the steak aside and let it marinate. 
• Start on your Chile Queso. Once you’ve reached the step in this Loaded Steak Nachos recipe where it’s time to whisk out the lumps, start on the Refried Beans, too. When it gets to the step where you will mash or blend the beans, go ahead and start preheating the oil you’ll use to fry your tortillas. Also, turn your oven on to the lowest setting, or to ‘warm’ if it has that option.  Keep the Chile Queso and Easy Refried Beans on the lowest setting, just to stay warm.
• Fry Your Chips. When the oil has reached around 365°F degrees begin frying the chips in small batches. Don’t crowd the pan or the temperature will drop causing the chips to become greasy and possibly hard and chewy. It should only take about 2 minutes before they’re floating on the oil and ready to flip. Fry for another 1-2 minutes, just until golden brown, and remove with a slotted spoon to a wire rack over a baking sheet. They’ll continue to deepen in color while they rest, so don’t fry them for too long. Once all of the chips are fried, pop the baking sheet into the oven so they stay warm while we work on the steak.
• Cook the Steak. Place a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and allow it to preheat for 3 minutes, or until the surface of the pan is smoking slightly. Add your steak mixture to the pan and spread it out into an even layer. Let the meat sear undisturbed for 3 minutes, then use tongs or a spatula to flip the meat over and toss it around. Once the steak is mostly cooked through and the onions and peppers are charred, turn off the heat. It’s time to build the Loaded Steak Nachos! 
• Salt the Chips. Pull the cooked tortilla chips out of the oven and move the rack to the highest shelf. Switch the oven from warm to broil on high. Pour the chips into a large bowl and sprinkle in a fat pinch of Kosher salt. Move your arm in a circular motion to toss the chips around in the bowl and distribute the salt evenly amongst them. 
• Layer the Loaded Steak Nachos. Line another large baking sheet with parchment paper, then add some chips. Spread them out into an even layer. You should use about half of the chips you made. Top with about half of the shredded cheese, distributing it evenly over the chips. Next, add a light but even drizzle of Chile Queso, then follow that up with a sparse layer of Easy Refried Beans, then a layer of the steak. Top with a light sprinkling of shredded cheese, then pop the baking sheet in the oven. Allow it to broil for about 2 minutes, just until the cheese has melted. 
• The Finishing Touches. Pull the nachos from the oven, then repeat the layers: scatter the remaining chips evenly across the top, followed by most of the remaining cheese, the rest of the queso, the rest of the beans, the rest of the steak, and the final bit of shredded cheese. Pop it back under the broiler and let it do its thing until the cheese on top is melted and bubbling. Now all that’s left is to spoon on the pico de Gallo and any other toppings you’ve got: Sour cream, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, whatever. You’re done, dassit! 

Switch Up These Loaded Nachos

You can make endless variations with this Loaded Steak Nachos recipe, so please feel free to customize yours to taste!  For example, you could…

• Chili Nachos. Make a batch of María’s Favorite Chili and use that instead of steak. Even messier than Loaded Steak Nachos, but equally delicious as hell. There’s steak in that chili recipe, so these would still be steak nachos!
• Chicken Tinga Nachos. Scattering a batch of my Chicken Tinga recipe over the tortilla chips would make for nachos just as good as the Chicken Tinga Tostadas I generally use it for!
• Chorizo Refried Beans. For yet another layer of flavor, substitute these Chorizo Refried Beans for plain ol’ Refried Beans.

Obligatory Pinterest Graphics –

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