Baked Vegan Nachos
This baked vegan nachos recipe is loaded with your favorite toppings, such as vegan taco meat, vegan cheese, jalapeños, and more. Use air fryer tortilla chips to make this a healthy recipe to enjoy any day of the week!
I’ve taken my vegetarian cheese nachos game up a notch (pardon the pun) with these vegan baked nachos. They’re so easy to make and I love the comfort food nature of this dish. You can serve them as an appetizer, for game day, or even for dinner!
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Veggie crumbles — Use your favorite veggie crumbles, including plant-based meat products.
- Taco seasoning
- Tortilla chips
- Black beans — You can use a mixture of black beans and pinto beans.
- Corn
- Vegan cheddar shreds — We use either Daiya or Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar shreds.
- Red cabbage
- Cherry tomatoes
- Red onion
- Jalapeno
- Vegan sour cream
- Avocado
How to Make Vegan Nachos in the Oven
- Make the plant-based taco meat by combining veggie crumbles with the taco seasoning.
- Arrange tortilla chips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Top with veggie crumbles, black beans, corn, and shredded vegan cheese.
- Bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Prepare the toppings by chopping cabbage, cherry tomatoes, onions, and jalapeño (being careful not to touch the seeds with bare hands).
- Mash the avocado and stir in the sour cream.
- When the nachos are done, remove them from the oven. Add toppings, including the avocado sauce.
- Use a spatula to transfer individual servings on a plate.
How to Make Vegan Cheese Melt
It used to be that vegan cheese didn’t melt very well. Today’s vegan cheeses are different. I love using either Daiya or Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar shreds. Vegan shreds hold their shape better than dairy cheese so it may not look as if it’s melted, but it has.
Here’s some great tips from Daiya on cooking with their vegan cheese.
Also, I’ve found placing a sheet of foil over the nachos creates steam which helps the cheese melt, too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Tortilla Chips Vegan?
Most unflavored store-bought tortilla chips are vegan. However, flavored tortilla chips oftentimes have dairy, and restaurant chips can sometimes be fried in lard. I recommend checking labels or calling to ask the restaurant about their chips.
What Meatless Nacho Toppings Are Best on Vegan Nachos?
The best toppings for vegan nachos are flavored veggie crumbles, fat-free refried beans, corn, sliced jalapeños, chopped tomatoes, vegan cheese, and more. You can also add corn salsa because of its delicious flavors and textures.
What Goes Well with Nachos?
Serve nachos with margaritas, black bean dip, a Mexican-themed soup, sliced avocados, Spanish rice, and more. For beverages, serve nachos with Hibiscus Margaritas or for an alcohol-free version, try this Hibiscus Fruit Punch recipe instead.
Can Nachos Be Healthy?
You can make vegan baked nachos that are healthy and delicious. Of course, you can use baked or air fried tortilla chips to avoid deep-fried chips. Then add on the plant-based toppings to make nachos a healthy part of your diet.
How to Make Cheese Sauce for Nachos
If you can’t find vegan cheese in your area, you can use a dairy-free nacho cheese sauce rather than shreds. I highly recommend my vegan queso dip for your nachos con queso. You can also use my smooth vegan cheese sauce or this sweet potato nacho cheese sauce, too.
More Vegan Mexican Dishes
If you love this baked vegan nachos, you will love these Vegan Mexican Dishes too:
Vegan Nachos
Ingredients
- 2 cups veggie crumbles
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 12 ounces tortilla chips
- 1 15-ounce can black beans , drained
- 1 cup corn , frozen
- 1 cup vegan cheddar shreds
- ½ cup vegan jalapeño havarti cheese
- ½ cup red cabbage
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon diced red onion
- 1 jalapeno , thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons vegan sour cream
- ½ avocado
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the veggie crumbles with the taco seasoning. If the crumbles are frozen, heat in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and then stir to combine the seasonings. Add more if you prefer more flavor.
- Arrange tortilla chips in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Top with veggie crumbles mixture, black beans, corn, and shredded vegan cheeses.
- Place pan in the oven and bake for 5 to 7 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- As the nachos are baking, chop the cabbage into thin strips, chop the cherry tomatoes into quarters, dice the onion, and thinly slice the jalapeño (being careful not to touch the seeds with bare hands).
- In a small bowl, mash the avocado and add the sour cream. Stir together.
- When the nachos are done, remove them from the oven and serve them immediately. Top with tomato, red cabbage, onion, jalapeno, and drizzle with creamy avocado mixture.
- Optional: Add chopped cilantro.
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The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I love everything about this recipe! Pass the nachos! 🙂
What a beautiful pile of color! I love nachos and these look top notch. So delicious!
I appreciate the cheesy pun or two you slipped in there- looks like a delicious dish!
We love nachos! It is such an easy dish to prepare. I have never thought of adding red cabbage to my nachos before, I may have to give that a try!
These look so vibrant! Love that you incorporate so fresh toppings after baking. And who can go wrong with an avocado cream! YUM!
Thank you, Kathy. And a big ol’ YAS to avocado cream!
OMG I love baked Nachos. This is such a great recipe 🙂
Thank you so much Jasmin! I think we are soul sisters or something! ❤️
Nachos are something I will never get tired of. They make a great lazy dinner some nights. These are some pretty stunning nachos! I’m gonna bet they didn’t last too long. 😉
Oh dear, that looks just so tempting! Haveńt had Nacos for a while. I think I need to change that.
Thanks for sharing Claudia
Thank you Claudia! Tempting is the word I would use to describe nachos. I also love adding a little slaw to my nachos…because slaw is made from cabbage…and that’s so healthy! Also, I make my slaw with a little bit of “sweet” so the sweet and salty nachos is like perfection! I hope you love these too!
Oh these are sooo pretty and bright! Love that you used cabbage as a topping. And legitimized nachos as a dinner, because YES.
Your nachos are sooo pretty and colorful. I haven’t had nachos in a while, I think i know what I’m having for dinner. 😉