Cheeseburger Nachos

Cheeseburger Nachos – nachos kicked up with waffle fries and mashed up with all the cheeseburger fixings you love.

Can we go ahead and make nachos a food group? This is a legit question from my 11-year-old. By legit, I mean, I fully support this. It’s veggie filled and dairy laden. Why not?

All kidding aside, this is a game day winner for my boys and me. They are all about this, well, minus the lettuce for the toddler—green isn’t his favorite food color.

But since we are on the subject of lettuce, here’s the key to keeping the texture of it (1) sprinkle it on at the end (2) make sure to use the crunchiest part. That means peel away the first few layers that tend to be the softest and will wilt as it sits on a hot bed of gooey cheese and ground beef.

Now that we have that all worked out, let’s talk about the remaining components. The waffle fries are store bought, but have at it if you want to make them from scratch. The ground beef is seasoned, but you can skip that if you are short on time—albeit the overall flavor will be a little flatter. The burger sauce is a copy cat recipe of In and Out’s (minus the sweet relish add-in). The sauce is totally optional, but I think it really pulls everything together.

Yield: Serves 4

Cheeseburger Nachos

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Ingredients

• 1 lb. waffle fries
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon chili pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 10 oz. cheddar cheese
• Toppings
• 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/4 cup pickles
• Optional topping
• 1/2 cup burger sauce

Instructions

1. Spread waffle fries onto a baking sheet. Bake according to instructions on the back of the bag.
2. In the meantime, prepare the meat. In a small bowl whisk together garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, black pepper, chili pepper and paprika; set aside. Heat skillet over medium heat and add in ground beef. Sprinkle mixed seasoning on top and fold into the ground beef. Stir and cook beef until no longer pink and cooked through, about 2- 4 minutes.
3. Remove fries from oven. Lower oven to 375 degrees. Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese, while sprinkling the remainder on top of the fries. Then layer with the beef and the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese on top. Return pan to the oven and bake until cheese melts, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and top with lettuce, tomato and pickles. Drizzle with burger sauce (recipe follows). Serve immediately.

There you have it — cheeseburger nachos in less time than it takes to read the stats and place your friendly football wagers for the weekend.