I recently made a batch of vegan mac & cheese, and made some extra cheese sauce to make nachos. A friend of mine had requested a recipe for vegan nachos forever ago, and I was finally able to oblige. Plus, I have recently been mildly obsessed with “nacho slices” — those pickled jalapeno slices that you buy in a jar. As their name might suggest, they go perfectly with a large pile of cheesy, beany tortilla chips.

Vegan Nachos

Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cashews
• 2 cups hot water
• 2 teaspoons veggie oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon powdered mustard
• 2 cups cooked diced butternut squash*
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup salsa

Instructions:

1. Put cashews in a bowl and cover with 2 cups hot water. Let sit for 20 minutes.
2. Peel, dice and steam butternut squash until soft.*
3. Dice onion.
4. Heat 2 teaspoons veggie oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
5. Sauté onion until translucent.
6. Add onion powder, garlic powder and tomato paste.
7. Stir and let cook 3 minutes.
8. Add 1/4 cup water to saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes more.
9. Take off heat and let cool.
10. Drain cashews.
11. Put cashews, broth, brandy, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, powdered mustard, onion mixture, butternut squash, and nutritional yeast in blender. Blend until smooth. Add onion-tomato mixture. Blend. Depending on the size of your blender, you may need to blend in batches.
12. Remove from blender and stir in salsa.
13. Set aside.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 2 avocados
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tomato
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Peel avocado and put into a bowl.
2. Make a paste with the garlic and 1 teaspoon salt. Peel garlic cloves and put on a cutting board. Sprinkle garlic with salt and use the blade of a knife to smash the garlic into a paste.
3. Put garlic paste in bowl with avocado.
4. Chop tomato. Add to bowl.
5. Add lemon juice.
6. Mash mixture together.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Set aside.

Black Beans

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup veggie oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 15 ounce cans black beans
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat veggie oil in a medium-sized frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add diced onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add garlic and spices. Stir and cook 5 minutes more.
4. Add tomato paste. Stir and cook for 3 minutes more.
5. Add black beans and broth.
6. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low, stirring occasionally to prevent the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
7. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.
8. Add fresh cilantro and stir to incorporate.
9. Season with salt and pepper. Take off heat and set aside.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup veggie oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 bunch of kale, washed and dried
• Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix oil and spices together.
3. Put kale leaves on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with veggie oil.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, or until leaves are crispy.
5. Remove from oven and cool.
6. Cut kale chips into bite-sized pieces.
7. Set aside.

Nachos

Ingredients:

• 1 14 ounce bag of tortilla chips
• Scallions, sliced
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Sliced black olives
• Cilantro
• Lime wedges
• Jalapeno slices
• Vegan Sour Cream

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spread chips out on a rimmed cookie sheet.
3. Bake chips until warm, about 10 minutes. Rotate the pan after 5 minutes to ensure even heating. Be sure to check chips periodically to prevent them from burning.
4. Wash and slice scallions and cherry tomatoes.
5. Wash, spin and separate cilantro. Slice limes into wedges.
6. Divide warm chips among serving plates.
7. Spread cheese sauce over chips. Spread even amounts of bean mixture over chips.
8. Spread scallions, tomatoes and black olives over chips.
9. Put 1/4 cup vegan sour cream and 1/2 cup guacamole on top of nachos.
10. Sprinkle even amounts of kale chips on nachos.
11. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.
12. Enjoy!