Sometimes it just happens. I get a massive craving for nachos and it won´t go away until I eat them. And when I eat nachos, I want them to be FULLY LOADED. The more toppings, the better. Which is why these Ultimate Vegan Nachos make an appearance a decent amount in my household! These nachos are perfect to eat when entertaining, on game day, or even to share just for a weeknight dinner.
What I like the most about these nachos is that they are super easy to throw together. The nacho cheese is absolutely BOMB and is just a bunch of ingredients thrown into a blender and then heated up on the stove. The vegan meat crumbles is simply crumbled tofu tossed in loads of spices and tomato sauce and baked. The rest of the toppings are simply store-bought ingredients which are thrown on top!
And while my number 1 priority is not health when I am eating nachos, these are naturally on the healthy side, which is an even bigger justification to dig in!
So here is what I call the VIP Ultimate Vegan Nacho toppings:
- Vegan Nacho cheese (Can you even have nachos without cheese?)
- Vegan Meat Crumbles – To make these nachos super hearty
- Quick Guacamole – sometimes you don’t have time for the real deal, this this is a great substitute!
And then there are all of the extras which are optional, but kind of not optional! If you are going to do nachos, go BIG.
- Black beans
- Corn
- Salsa
- Jalapeños
- Chopped red onion
Vegan Nacho Cheese
Vegan nacho cheese can be made in various ways. Some of them have a base of cooked vegetables such as onion, carrot, and potato. I have honestly wanted to try this before because I love the idea of feeling like I´m eating nachos but I´m really eating a bunch of veggies. The problem is that when I have a nacho craving, I am too lazy for the two-step process of cooking and then blending!
Another way that is popular is to blend cashews with liquid and spices. This way does make a nice tasting sauce, however when I eat nachos I eat A LOT of the cheese, and this method is obviously higher in fat. Eating monosaturated fats aren´t my biggest worry, but if there is a way to make it a littleee bit healthier I am here for it! Which is how I found my favorite method in making nacho cheese…
A mix of silken tofu and cashews is where it´s at. You get that silkiness from the silken tofu and the creaminess from the cashews, which pairs perfectly to reach a consistency that is nacho cheese-like! PLUS it is super high in protein given that the majority of the base is tofu…post-workout nachos, anyone?
It may seem like this vegan nacho cheese has a lot of ingredients, but most of them are spices and other ingredients that you will use to make the rest of the nachos (salsa, jalapeños, etc).
Silken Tofu
I get it, using tofu to make cheese sounds weird. Just trust me here. When you blend up tofu with some liquid it forms a smooth, silky consistency that works perfectly for creamy sauces. It blows my mind every time I use it! Obviously it has no taste on its own, but does a great job of absorbing other flavors. I use loads of nutritional yeast and spices in this recipe, which gives it that perfect nacho-cheese flavor!
In the US you can buy silken tofu at most grocery stores. In Europe you can find it at grocery stores with a health-food focus.
Vegan Meat Crumbles
These vegan meat crumbles are going to impress you. They are so easy to make and so flavorful! When I started experimenting with vegan meat recipes, I was honestly hesitant as I really didn’t think that I would find a way to make crumbled tofu taste meaty. Boy, was I wrong! My dad even tried it (a carnivore) and he was impressed!
Quick Guacamole
This is a go-to for me. I absolutely love guac but sometimes want it RIGHT NOW and don’t want to wait to do the whole sha-bang. So I simply mash up an avocado, chop up some onion, mix it up and add lime juice and salt. It is best if you let it sit in the fridge for 10 min, but you can also eat it right away. Claudio LOVES it when I make this, he is always impressed and it takes barely any effort!
The Ultimate Vegan Nachos
Ingredients
Vegan Meat Crumbles
- 9 oz firm tofu (1 block or 250g)
- 2 tsp chili powder Chili powder from US differs from Europe – See note 1
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp cayenne powder optional if you want to add heat
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs olive oil or neutral oil
- 2 tbs tomato paste
Nacho Cheese
- 9 oz silken tofu (250g)
- 1/2 cup unsalted cashews (75g)
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (30g)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened plant-based milk (60ml) can sub water
- 2-6 jalapeño rounds from a jar start with 2 and work your way up if you want more heat
- 1 tbs jalapeño liquid from jar
- 1 tbs medium salsa
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1.5 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp turmeric for color, optional
- 1 tbs lemon juice add one more if it needs more zing
- 1/2 tsp salt more to taste
Quick Guacamole
- 1 avocado, mashed up
- 1/4 onion, chopped
- 1 tbs fresh lime juice (from half a lime)
- good pinch salt
Other ingredients and nacho toppings
- Tortilla chips (duh)
- Black beans
- Jalapeños
- Corn
- Chopped red onion
- Chunky tomato salsa
Instructions
Vegan Taco Meat
- Preheat over to 350°F/180°C
- To a large bowl, add all of the spices and mix well.
- Add the soy sauce, oil, and tomato paste and stir to combine with the spices.
- Crumble the tofu in small crumbles with your fingers or with a fork, and stir to combine with the taco flavor mixture.
- Coat a baking sheet with 2tbs of oil and spread out the mixture evenly on top. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 15min.
Vegan Nacho Cheese
- Add all ingredients to a blender minus the lemon juice and blend on high until combined. Add the lemon juice and blend for a few more seconds until mixed through.
- Taste the nacho cheese. Add nutritional yeast if you want it to be more cheesy, jalapeños for more heat, spices to taste, and more salt if necessary.
- In a small to medium-sized sauce pan, add the vegan nacho cheese. Turn heat to medium/medium-low and heat through, stirring frequently.
Quick Guacamole
- Mash up the avocado with a fork and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Let chill for 10min in the fridge. Add more salt or lime if necessary.
Load up those nachos!
- Fill a large place with nachos. Layer the warm nacho cheese, vegan tofu crumbles, guacamole, and all the other fixin´s on top!