Loaded nachos that are made on a sheet pan and baked in the oven is the best way to make nachos and so easy too. These ground beef nachos make a great meal or warm appetizer to serve to guests. This sheet pan nachos recipe is loaded with delicious seasoned ground beef, cheese and delicious toppings. It takes only a little time to prepare and it bakes up in just 10 minutes. You can make the pico de gallo portion of this recipe the day before, making the prep time even less.

oven baked nachos — The BEST loaded nachos!

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Total Time: 30

About these Sheet Pan Nachos

Sheet pan nachos are a quick and easy way to make a big batch of nachos for a group. You can make them as loaded nachos or as simple as cheese nachos, depending on your mood.

The great thing about these sheet pan nachos is everything is thrown together on a single sheet and baked in the oven until melted and delicious. It is so easy to put together.

You can choose any variety of toppings that you like. This baked nachos recipe uses three types of cheese, seasoned ground beef, pico de gallo, scallions and pickled jalapeños.

To make things even better, because these loaded nachos are cooked on a sheet pan, it allows us to make a large batch of nachos at once. It really is such a great quick meal or party food.

I love making these loaded nachos on game days along with my watermelon margaritas or for the kids, watermelon popsicles and lavender lemonade.

When serving these oven baked nachos, I like to serve sour cream on the side. You can also serve it with guacamole, cilantro lime sauce, poblano sauce or even an avocado dip! You can add more toppings or less depending on your preference.

loaded nachos closeup — Closeup of those loaded nachos.

Ground beef nachos ingredients

Tortilla Chips.
Cheese. I like to to use a blend of cheeses. The cheddar and jack cheese is for flavor and the queso quesadilla cheese is for that beautiful creamy melting ability. If you cannot find queso quesadilla, just substitute it with more of the jack cheese.
Ground beef.
Seasonings for the ground beef (sweet paprika, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, kosher salt). You can also use store bought chili seasoning mix if that is easier.
Pickled jalapeños.
Scallions
Homemade pico de gallo. This can be made a day ahead of time. If you are unable to make your own, many grocery stores will sell fresh pico de gallo in the produce section.

How to make Sheet Pan Nachos

Making these sheet pan nachos is so simple. It is all about preparing a few ingredients and then assembling.

Here is what it looks like:

Brown the meat: This takes only a few minutes.

2. Add the Seasoning: The Seasoning for these sheet pan nachos is so simple. You probably already have all of these items in your pantry. Just add the paprika, chili powder, salt, cumin, garlic and onion powder. You can make this even easier and use chili seasoning if you have that on hand.

I prefer making my own chili seasoning when I make my classic chili so I always have these spices on hand.

3: Mix it all together: Mix well for 1 minute. You want the ground beef to pick up all of that delicious seasoning flavor.

4: Layer Tortilla Chips: Layer tortilla chips on sheet pan. You want to make sure not too many tortilla chips are stacked up so when you eat the nachos, there will not be any chips that missed the toppings and cheese.

5: Add meat and cheese: Add thin layer of cheese then meat. Adding the cheese first really helps prevent the nachos from becoming mushy.

6: Add remaining cheese: Once you have added some of the cheese and all of the ground beef on top of the tortillas, add the remaining cheese to the top and bake for 10 minutes.

7: Add the toppings: Once the nachos come out of the oven, now you add all of those fresh ingredient toppings. The pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, scallions, etc.

These loaded baked nachos are so easy. They are mainly assembling and they only need 10 minutes in a 375 degree oven to cook up until the cheese is bubbly. Just add your toppings right before serving and that is it.

PRO-TIP:

If you add a thin layer of cheese on top of the tortilla chips before you add the ground beef, it prevents the nachos from becoming mushy from the moisture of the beef. No one likes mushy nachos 🙂

Variations for these ground beef nachos

If you want to change up the flavor to these ground beef nachos, go for it! One of our favorite additions is adding leftover classic chili as a topping instead of the ground beef. Here are some more favorites we like:

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Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Our Favorite Oven Baked Nachos (Sheet Pan Recipe)

A delicious and easy to make oven baked nachos recipe that can feed a crowd or makes a great easy dinner.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Servings: people

Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!

Author: Melissa

Equipment

1 large sheet pan

Ingredients

Homemade Pico de Gallo

1 ½ cups tomatoes diced with juice squeezed out before dicing.
¾ cup white onion diced finely
½ of a medium jalapeño diced finely
⅓ cup fresh cilantro chopped finely. You can use less if you like less cilantro.
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 lime

Nachos

14 ounces tortilla chips one large bag
1 pound ground beef 80/20 blend
2 cups assorted mixed Mexican cheese shredded I prefer a combination of cheddar, jack cheese and queso quesadilla cheese. Just make sure you have a few that you can mix and match for flavor and good melting.
½ cup pickled jalapeños
½ cup scallions diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
sour cream for serving

Ground Beef Seasoning (Taco seasoning)

1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
½ teaspoon cumin powder
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder

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Instructions

Pico de Gallo

Cut your tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out any liquid and scrape out the seeds.
Dice your tomatoes and add them to a medium bowl.
1 ½ cups tomatoes
Dice your onion extra finely and add those to the bowl.
¾ cup white onion
Dice your jalapeño extra finely and add those to the bowl.
½ of a medium jalapeño
Add the salt, cilantro and fresh squeezed juice of one lime.
1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 lime, ⅓ cup fresh cilantro
Mix well.
Let rest covered on the counter for 15 minutes or up to one hour to allow the flavors to come together.

Nachos

After making the pico de gallo, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.
In a large sauté pan over medium heat add vegetable oil and beef and cook the beef until brown. About 5 minutes.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 pound ground beef
Now add your ground beef seasoning.
1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Mix well for one minute then remove from the heat.
Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup).
Layer the tortilla chips on to the sheet pan.
14 ounces tortilla chips
Sprinkle a thin layer of cheese over the tortilla chips.
Add the ground beef evenly over top.
Add the remaining cheese over the ground beef
2 cups assorted mixed Mexican cheese shredded
Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the nachos just start to brown on the edges of the pan.
Remove from the oven.
Top with the jalapeños, scallions and ¼ of the pico de gallo.
½ cup scallions, ½ cup pickled jalapeños
Serve immediately with the remaining pico de gallo and sour cream on the side.
sour cream

Nutrition

Nutrition Values are estimates only.

See full nutrition disclaimer here