Easy Vegan Weeknight Nachos with Creamy Cashew Queso

Cheesy, Crunchy, Fresh Deliciousness.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Mexican

Keyword gluten free, nachos, queso, Vegan

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Servings

Calories 621kcal

1 13 oz bag sturdy tortilla chips
1 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp shallot-infused olive oil (or: oil of choice +½ teaspoon onion powder +½ teaspoon garlic powder)
1 tsp chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 pinch salt
1 7 oz bag vegan cheese shreds (or: shredded mexican cheese blend for non-vegan)
2 bell peppers , diced

Preheat: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Blend: Add cashews, water, green chilis, nutritional yeast, chili powder, cumin, and salt to blender. Blend until smooth.
Toast: Spread chips out onto a large lined baking tray. Bake for 5 minutes.
Toss: In a medium mixing bowl, toss together the oil, beans, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt. When the chips have toasted for 5 minutes, remove from oven and turn oven down to 300 degrees.
Bake: Add the beans, bell peppers, queso, and cheese to the chips. Bake at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until cheese appears melted.
Top: Once nachos have finishes baking, add desired toppings such as salsa, vegan sour cream, pickled jalapeno slices and cilantro.
Store: Nachos are best when they're fresh. However, if you do not add the cold toppings, you can store the nachos 1-3 days in the fridge. They are best reheated in the oven at 300 degrees for ~10 minutes.

The queso comes together best with a high-speed blender such as a Vitamix or the kitchenaid blender above (this is what I have). If your blender is not high-speed, it may help to soak the cashews in the hot water for about 15 minutes before blending.
I like to thin my sour cream with a little water to squeeze it over the nachos since I have noticed vegan sour cream does not seem to squeeze out of a bottle very well otherwise.
These nachos are also great without the queso if you are really pinched for time.
Likewise, you can skip the toasting step to save another 5 minutes.