Who thought low sodium nachos would ever be a thing? Good news – they are a thing. They are a delicious, crunchy, cheesy, satisfying thing.

Happy Friday and happy almost game day. I was really resistant to posting this recipe because I am not in love with the photos. But then I decided that you might be sitting at home today or tomorrow thinking about all the salty snacks that you are missing out on and I really wanted to give you a low salt alternative.

I have been knocking around ideas for how to make a decent cheese sauce for a while. I am not sure why it took me so long to come up with the idea to use pepperjack. It boosts the flavor without blowing the sodium through the roof. Throw it on some Garden of Eatin’ No Salt Added Blue Corn Tortilla Chips with some seasoned beef and beans and top with fresh veggies and you have something sorta special.

A few tips:

If you can’t find unsalted corn chips or prefer to bake your own, you can make your own following the instructions in the Easy Salsa and Baked Chips Recipe. This will change the nutritional information somewhat, but as long as you use corn tortillas with little to no sodium, the numbers should be similar.
I like to lay my chips on a baking sheet and bake them at about 350°F for 5-7 minutes to give them a little extra toasty flavor. But be careful because the chips can burn.
You can assemble these on a sheet pan to keep things simple, but I would only advise doing so if you have a group who will eat the nachos in one sitting. The chips will get soggy if they are left assembled for too long.

Looking for other game day snacks?

Loaded Beef Nachos

Print Recipe

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SODIUM COUNT: 290 mg per serving; 1157 mg in the entire recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

1 8 ounce bag of no salt added corn tortilla chips*

Meat topping

1 pound ground beef
½ medium onion ((minced))
1 15 ounce can no salt added black beans ((rinsed and drained))
1 Tbsp unsalted chili powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 ½ tsp cumin
Ground black pepper ((to taste))

Cheese Sauce

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
3 ounces pepper jack cheese** ((grated))

Optional toppings***

Avocado
Tomato
Lettuce
Jalapenos
Diced peppers
Fresh pico de gallo
Fresh cilantro
Sour cream
Your favorite low-salt hot sauce

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Instructions

Meat mixture

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the burger and minced onion and cook until the meat completely cooked through. Drain off the fat and place the meat back into the skillet along with the black beans and spices. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes to allow the spices to cook into the food a bit. Keep warm until ready to use.

Cheese Sauce

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let cook for about a minute.
Slowly add the milk, about 2-4 tablespoons at a time, stirring very well after each addition. Make sure that you get into the corners of the pan when you stir so that no lumps remain.
Once you’ve added all the milk, continue to cook until the mixture just begins to simmer, stirring frequently. As soon as it simmers, remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Once the cheese has melted, the sauce is ready.

Assembly

Place two ounces unsalted chips on each plate. Top the chips with the meat mixture, and drizzle on the cheese sauce. Top with any other optional toppings that you like.
Note that you can assemble these on a sheet pan to keep things simple, but I would only advise doing so if you have a group who will eat the nachos in one sitting. The chips will get soggy if they are left assembled for too long.

Notes

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION – Yield: 4 servings

Sodium: 289.2 mg, Calories: 704.8, Total Fat: 33.4 g, Saturated Fat: 12.2 g, Cholesterol: 108.8 mg, Carbohydrates: 60.9 g, Fiber: 10.4 g, Sugar: 0.6 g, Protein: 39.8 g.

* I use Garden of Eatin’ No Salt Added Blue Chips, which have 10 mg sodium per ounce.

** For nutritional information we used Tillamook pepper jack, which has 210 mg sodium per ounce.

*** Optional toppings are not included in the nutritional information. Many of the items listed contain little to no sodium.

Loaded Beef Nachos

A few tips:

Looking for other game day snacks?