These vegan nachos are piled high with dairy free cheese, beans, salsa, vegan sour cream, and guacamole! They’re a hit with a hungry crowd, perfect for a party or game day, and an easy weekday meal or snack.
Who doesn’t love a plate of loaded nachos? Those crispy tortilla chips smothered in melty cheese, beans, sour cream, salsa, and guac! But usually those also come along with a ton of saturated fat.
Like a lot of other comfort foods I’ve been able to veganize, it’s easy to make healthy vegan nachos. With some homemade tortilla chips, and your favorite toppings like non-dairy cheese, beans, fresh salsa, and guacamole, you can make an amazingly delicious plate of nachos!
When to serve vegan nachos
Nachos are perfect to serve for a party or game day. But they’re also delicious any day for a meal or snack. And these are great for meal prep, because you can make most of the components days ahead of time.
You can set this up as a nacho bar, with all the toppings in separate bowls. Then each person can assemble their own plate of nachos with the toppings they love. I do this with my family, since there are different ingredient preferences among family members.
What toppings are used in these oil free vegan nachos?
There are so many different toppings that can be added to nachos. Here’s what I chose to use for this vegan nachos recipe.
- Oil free tortilla chips – if you are not avoiding oil, use any tortilla chips you like. Sturdier chips are better for scooping up the toppings.
- Cashew Cheese Sauce – I love using this cheese sauce recipe on my nachos. This is based on the recipe that helped my give up dairy when I first went vegan. My Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese or my Vegan Cheddar Cheese would be other good options. Feel free to substitute with your favorite vegan cheese sauce recipe or store bought vegan cheese shreds.
- Black beans – canned black beans are fine, or you can make them from dry beans with my recipe for Savory Black Beans in the Instant Pot
- Dairy Free Sour Cream – my homemade sour cream is easy to make and tasty. Store bought vegan sour cream can be substituted for this recipe.
- Homemade guacamole – my husband created this tasty recipe! It can be substituted with store bought guacamole, your favorite guacamole recipe, or sliced or diced avocado.
- Salsa or pico de gallo – my Cherry Tomato Salsa would add a delicious sweet flavor to these nachos.
- Sliced black olives
- Sliced green onions
- Sliced jalapeños
- Chopped cilantro
What other toppings can you add to vegan nachos?
The sky’s the limit! Feel free to add whatever toppings you like. Here are some ideas for optional toppings:
- Refried beans
- Vegan taco meat like my Lentil Walnut Taco Meat
- Pinto Beans
- Chili
- Diced red onion
- Hot sauce
- Radishes
- Lettuce
- Diced tomatoes
- Corn kernels
How to make loaded vegan nachos
This mega platter of nachos is meant to share. If you prefer, you can prepare individual plates of nachos, letting everybody choose the toppings they like.
If you are not purchasing store bought chips, begin by making your oil free tortilla chips. Cut your tortillas into 6 or 8 wedges and bake or air fry until golden brown. Detailed instructions are in my Oil Free Tortilla Chips post.
Next, make the cheese sauce and the sour cream, unless you are purchasing store bought versions of these items. The links will bring you to these recipes.
Prep all the remaining toppings you want to use on these nachos – black beans, olives, cilantro, slice a jalapeno, green olives, and anything else you want to add.
Place a layer of tortilla chips on a platter. Drizzle cheese sauce over them and then sprinkle some black beans over the cheese sauce.
Repeat this two times to get three layers of cheesy chips.
Top the pile of cheesy chips with a drizzle of the sour cream, some green onions, and the olive slices. The place some pico de gallo and guacamole on top of the pile, and garnish with cilantro and sliced jalapeños.
Then top with some salsa, guacamole, jalapeño slices, and cilantro. Of course, you can change the toppings to whichever are your favorites and make a plate of nachos you’re sure to love!
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Almost all of the ingredients can be made ahead of time, making this a great meal prep recipe. The cheese sauce, sour cream, and baked tortilla chips can all be made a few days ahead, and other toppings can be chopped or diced in advance. This saves lots of time on you nacho building day.
These nachos are best when eaten fresh. If you need to reheat them, the best way is be putting the in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes at 300° F.
Absolutely, yes! While we picture nachos as a pile of crispy tortilla chips smothered in cheese and sour cream filled with dairy and saturated fat, it is easy to make amazing vegan nachos with dairy free, oil free, and gluten free ingredients. While these nachos are not a health food that should be eaten every day, they are a much healthier alternative to regular nachos.
If you are sensitive to corn products, you can make nachos with baked sliced potatoes.
More Tex-Mex and Mexican-Inspired Recipes
- Vegan Soy Curl Fajitas
- Quinoa and Black Bean Enchiladas
- Vegan Taco Salad
- Mexican Vegetable Saute
- Vegan Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
- Vegan Tostadas
For my entire collection of Mexican and Southwestern recipes, see my Cinco de Mayo roundup.
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a rating and feedback below. It only takes a few seconds, but helps other visitors to my site. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment!
And come join my Oil Free Vegan Recipes and Support Facebook group, where you can share your favorite oil free vegan recipes, and give and receive support on your plant based journey.
Vegan Nachos – Oil Free!
Ingredients
- 15 corn tortillas
- ¾ cup Cashew Cheese Sauce
- ½ cup black beans
- ¼ cup Dairy Free Sour Cream
- ½ cup pico de gallo or salsa
- ⅔ cup Easy Homemade Guacamole
- 2 tablepoons sliced black olives
- 2 tablespoons sliced green onions
- ¼ jalapeno sliced
- 1 teaspoon cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Make the Oil Free Tortilla Chips.
- While the tortillas are baking, make the Cashew Cheese Sauce. You can substitute with your favorite vegan cheese sauce or cheese shreds.
- Make the non-dairy sour cream.
- Place a layer of tortilla chips on a platter or plate. Drizzle with cheese sauce and sprinkle black beans of the top. Repeat this step two more times to get a heaping pile of cheesy tortillas!
- Drizzle of spoon sour cream over the top, and sprinkle with black olive slices and sliced greeen onion.
- Top with salsa, guacamole, jalapeno slices, and cilantro.
