Ree Drummond's Lightened-Up Nachos _ The Pioneer Woman _ Food Network

Creating Lightened-Up Nachos: A Delicious and Guilt-Free Alternative

To make a lightened-up version of nachos, I began by cutting six corn tortillas into very small little wedges. I then placed them into a bowl, broke them apart, and sprayed them with olive oil cooking spray. This is the best way to get a really light coating of oil on the tortillas, as it helps prevent them from becoming greasy or soggy.

After spraying the tortilla chips with olive oil, I added some ranch dressing mix for extra flavor. The combination of the crispy tortilla chips and the savory seasoning created a delicious base for my nachos. Next, I prepared a well-oiled baking sheet by sprinkling the tortilla chips onto it in a single layer. This ensured that they would bake evenly and prevent them from sticking to the pan.

Now, here's where things get interesting. Most traditional nachos are made with fried tortilla chips, which can be high in calories and fat. However, I wanted to create a lighter alternative that was still satisfying and delicious. So, I baked my tortilla chips instead of frying them! By doing so, I reduced the calorie count significantly and created a much healthier option for those looking to indulge without feeling too guilty.

With my tortilla chips baked and seasoned, it was time to add some toppings. For this recipe, I chose canned corn as a topping. I drained it thoroughly to remove excess liquid, which helped prevent the nachos from becoming soggy or overwhelming. Next, I added black beans that had been drained and rinsed to remove excess salt and liquid. The combination of the sweet corn and creamy black beans was a match made in heaven.

But no lightened-up nacho recipe is complete without cheese! While I didn't go overboard with the amount of cheese, just enough to create a nice balance, it still added plenty of flavor to my dish. For this recipe, I used pepper jack cheese, which has a slightly spicy kick that complements the sweetness of the corn and black beans perfectly.

To finish off my lightened-up nachos, I added some jarred jalapenos for an extra burst of flavor. The heat from the jalapenos added depth to my dish without overpowering it, creating a beautifully balanced taste experience. Finally, I prepared a simple avocado salsa to serve alongside my nachos. This fresh and creamy sauce was the perfect complement to my baked tortilla chips.

To assemble my lightened-up nachos, I simply placed them on the baking sheet and popped them into the oven for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. When they came out of the oven, they looked like real nacho chips – crispy, golden, and delicious! To serve, I sprinkled some additional cheese over the top and added a dollop of avocado salsa. The result was a beautifully presented dish that was both visually appealing and packed with flavor.

So, what do you think? Are lightened-up nachos a game-changer for those looking to indulge without feeling too guilty? With their crispy tortilla chips, creamy cheese, and fresh toppings, they certainly have the potential to become a healthier alternative to traditional nachos. And who knows? You might just find yourself hooked on these deliciously lighter snacks!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni am going to make a lightened up version of nachos so i've got six corn tortillas and i just cut them into very small little wedges and i'm gonna put them into a bowl kind of break them apart and then just spray them with olive oil cooking spray this is the best way to kind of get a really light coating of oil on the tortillas so after the oil i'm going to season the tortillas it's ranch dressing mix ranch seasoning wow so then i have a well-oiled baking sheet and i'll sprinkle the chips on the sheet and spread them out into a single layer and these are going to be baked because normal nachos are made with tortilla chips which are unapologetically fried and that's why they're so darn amazing but that doesn't mean that these won't be amazing too they're just they'll just be kind of a different kind of amazing okay so let's go put these in the oven alex so i've got the oven on 425 degrees and i'm going to put these in for 10 minutes and i'm gonna stir them halfway just to make sure they're getting evenly crisped all right alex look look at the chips wow they look like real chips they do and they taste like real chips covered in ranch seasoning that is so i let the chips cool slightly and i'm going to top them and turn them into nachos so i've got some canned corn i drained it really well so it wouldn't be very liquidy these are basically just loaded nachos you want to make this for like a football watching party or just like a wednesday night whatever is more appropriate that's more my speed black beans and i drained them and rinsed them and made sure to drain off most of the liquid and now these nachos do have cheese because you basically can't make nachos without cheese but not very much for me this is like a drop in the bucket of the amount of cheese i usually use for nachos but it's pepper jack which means it's a little bit more flavorful than a lot of cheeses and it's really creamy and if you don't just completely cover everything with cheese you can celebrate the ingredients that are underneath so i've also got some jarred jalapenos and then these go back into the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt so let's get them in there yum okay that's not gonna take long so let's go over here and you've gotta have some kind of salsa to serve with nachos so i'm gonna make just a really simple avocado salsa so i've got finely chopped tomatoes and finely chopped red onion yum and then lots of lime juice it reminds me pico de gallo is something that i've got to start making more and more i used to make it all the time it used to be a condiment in our house you used to make go a lot all the time and it just kind of fell off my radar poor lad i'm sure he wakes up some nights thinking where did the pico de gallo go a little bit of cumin a little bit of salt and pepper and then what is something that all pico de gallo or salsa has to have cilantro cilantro and a lot whenever i started kind of making salsa and pico de gallo it took me a long time to realize you basically have to add as much cilantro as you have tomatoes and other ingredients okay so in goes the cilantro and then this is avocado salsa so i'm gonna add some chopped avocado it's just barely ripe so it's not mushy and like fall apart guacamole avocado okay so that's the salsa i'll bet the cheese has melted on the nachos so where the magic happens it sure enough is alex let's look oh hi yummy i mean gosh so you can serve these nachos just right on the sheet pan which is what i'm gonna do but you can also serve it with the salsa on the side but i'm not gonna do that i'm gonna sprinkle the salsa all over the nachos by no means am i saying you could eat a whole pan of these and consider it light but these are definitely lighter than the normal nachos we see around these parts let me tell you true mine would have probably like four times the cheese i don't know exactly you are your mother's daughter okay lightened up nachos guys what do you think it's so good so good i am going to make these for the next big game on tv i'm going to make these next week i'm going to eat these now and i am not ashamed grab youi am going to make a lightened up version of nachos so i've got six corn tortillas and i just cut them into very small little wedges and i'm gonna put them into a bowl kind of break them apart and then just spray them with olive oil cooking spray this is the best way to kind of get a really light coating of oil on the tortillas so after the oil i'm going to season the tortillas it's ranch dressing mix ranch seasoning wow so then i have a well-oiled baking sheet and i'll sprinkle the chips on the sheet and spread them out into a single layer and these are going to be baked because normal nachos are made with tortilla chips which are unapologetically fried and that's why they're so darn amazing but that doesn't mean that these won't be amazing too they're just they'll just be kind of a different kind of amazing okay so let's go put these in the oven alex so i've got the oven on 425 degrees and i'm going to put these in for 10 minutes and i'm gonna stir them halfway just to make sure they're getting evenly crisped all right alex look look at the chips wow they look like real chips they do and they taste like real chips covered in ranch seasoning that is so i let the chips cool slightly and i'm going to top them and turn them into nachos so i've got some canned corn i drained it really well so it wouldn't be very liquidy these are basically just loaded nachos you want to make this for like a football watching party or just like a wednesday night whatever is more appropriate that's more my speed black beans and i drained them and rinsed them and made sure to drain off most of the liquid and now these nachos do have cheese because you basically can't make nachos without cheese but not very much for me this is like a drop in the bucket of the amount of cheese i usually use for nachos but it's pepper jack which means it's a little bit more flavorful than a lot of cheeses and it's really creamy and if you don't just completely cover everything with cheese you can celebrate the ingredients that are underneath so i've also got some jarred jalapenos and then these go back into the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt so let's get them in there yum okay that's not gonna take long so let's go over here and you've gotta have some kind of salsa to serve with nachos so i'm gonna make just a really simple avocado salsa so i've got finely chopped tomatoes and finely chopped red onion yum and then lots of lime juice it reminds me pico de gallo is something that i've got to start making more and more i used to make it all the time it used to be a condiment in our house you used to make go a lot all the time and it just kind of fell off my radar poor lad i'm sure he wakes up some nights thinking where did the pico de gallo go a little bit of cumin a little bit of salt and pepper and then what is something that all pico de gallo or salsa has to have cilantro cilantro and a lot whenever i started kind of making salsa and pico de gallo it took me a long time to realize you basically have to add as much cilantro as you have tomatoes and other ingredients okay so in goes the cilantro and then this is avocado salsa so i'm gonna add some chopped avocado it's just barely ripe so it's not mushy and like fall apart guacamole avocado okay so that's the salsa i'll bet the cheese has melted on the nachos so where the magic happens it sure enough is alex let's look oh hi yummy i mean gosh so you can serve these nachos just right on the sheet pan which is what i'm gonna do but you can also serve it with the salsa on the side but i'm not gonna do that i'm gonna sprinkle the salsa all over the nachos by no means am i saying you could eat a whole pan of these and consider it light but these are definitely lighter than the normal nachos we see around these parts let me tell you true mine would have probably like four times the cheese i don't know exactly you are your mother's daughter okay lightened up nachos guys what do you think it's so good so good i am going to make these for the next big game on tv i'm going to make these next week i'm going to eat these now and i am not ashamed grab you\n"