Easy Vegan Nachos

This is a paid collaboration with Mister Free'd.

As much as it hurts to say, until yesterday I hadn't eaten nachos in four years. FOUR YEARS.

Nachos used to be up there as one of my top 3 favourite meals / side dishes. I used to get hyped whenever the family would make fajitas as I knew that would mean I could make a side of nachos for all of us. Since going vegan, I thought the idea of nachos would be out the window, but with all the vegan options in supermarkets now, any meal is possible to make vegan. So, with the help of Mister Free'd I thought, why not try to make one of my childhood favourites vegan?

I don't know if its the lack of nachos i've consumed for the past few years, but I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this recipe is, like seriously, I want to make it every day it's THAT good.

- EASY VEGAN NACHOS - 

You will need:

- 2 bags of Mister Free'd chia seed tortilla chips*
- 1/4 red onion
- 1 can black eyed beans / kidney beans
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 2 tbsp jalapeños
- 1 cup salsa

For the cheese sauce:

- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp mustard
- 2 cups dairy free milk
- 1/2 cup vegan cheese
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp onion granules / powder
- 1 tsp garlic granulas / powder

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 200C.

2. Pour the black eyed beans into a saucepan with the water from the tin. Keep these on medium heat for 4 - 6 minutes.

3. While the beans are cooking, start making the cheese sauce. In a seperate small saucepan, add the oil and allow it to heat up before adding the flour and mixing it together with a wooden spoon.

4. Pour in the dairy free milk (any will do, but I used almond) Use a whisk to stir everything together and prevent any lumps from forming. Keep whisking until the sauce begins to thicken. This should take around 3 minutes.

5. Add the vegan cheese to the sauce, once again stirring it in until well combined. Allow the cheese to melt into the sauce and once it has reached a thick enough consistency, remove from the heat. Also bear in mind that the sauce thickens on its own once removed from heat.

6. Add the mustard, onion granules, garlic granules, pepper, salt and nutritional yeast to the sauce and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Put the saucepan to one side.

7. Once the beans are cooked, pour them into a colander and allow them to drain. Once there is no excess water, pour the beans into a bowl and use a fork / masher to mash them up lightly. Sprinkle in the taco seasoning along with 1 - 2 tsp of cold water and stir.

8. In a deep enough oven tray, lay out a bags worth of Mister Free'd Chia Seed Tortillas and lay them out equally.

9. Drizzle 1/2 cup of salsa on top of the tortilla chips along with half of the amount of cheese sauce. Spread the seasoned beans on top of the cheese and then layer another bags worth of chia seed tortillas on top.

10. Spread another 1/2 cup of salsa on top of the second layer of tortilla chips along with the cheese sauce.

11. This step is optional, but I would highly suggest doing it. Cut up 1/4 of a red onion and dice it up into tiny pieces. Sprinkle these all over the top layer along with as many jalapeños as you would like, the more you add, the spicer it will be of course.

12. Finally, place the tray in the oven for 10 minutes until it has completely warmed through. Remove from the oven and enjoy straight away!

Even just writing this recipe out is making me want to devour an entire batch of these.. oops. I am honestly so happy with the outcome of these nachos, they're just as good - if not better than the ones I used to make before I was vegan, so I would highly suggest trying them out yourself!

The addition of Mister Free'd chia seed tortillas was also amazing and would really recommend checking them out if you haven't already. They currently have six different tortilla flavours, chia seed, kale & spinach, blue maize, cheezie, beetroot with onion and avocado & chilli! All equally as delicious as each other. 

What's your favourite childhood meal?

Love Always,

Shannon x