The Easy Way To Stop Beef From Falling Off Your Nachos

It's hard to think of a more perfect food than a big pile of fully loaded nachos. They bring the cheesy, the crunchy, the salty, and the spicy (if you don't hold the jalapeños), and they taste as satisfying as they look. They're versatile, too, being the ultimate alternative (or accompaniment) to popcorn during a movie, and one of the best appetizers to serve at a Super Bowl party or for a chill night with friends.

There's just one little issue: Nachos can get sloppy. We don't mind the drippy cheese so much — a cheese splatter is part of the whole experience. We're talking about the way the ground beef tends to slide off the chip during the short journey from our plates to our mouths. It doesn't happen every time, but it's frequent enough to have us wishing for a life-changing food hack to solve this admittedly minor (but definitely messy) food problem.

As it turns out, the simple solution actually involves a Latin cuisine staple already present on many a nacho plate. And with only about three extra minutes of prep time needed, we'd say the easy hack is worth it.

By mixing refried beans with ground beef before you add it to the tortilla chips, you end up with a thicker meat/bean sauce that stays right where it's supposed to.

To prepare it, cook your ground beef in a skillet for about seven to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Ground beef needs a little help in the flavor department, so stir in a packet of taco seasoning (one of the best tips for adding more flavor to ground beef) along with a 16-ounce can of refried beans, and blend it well. If you'd prefer the mixture to be less thick, add a little water to get it to the consistency you like. Allow this to cook for a couple of minutes, long enough for the beans to become tender and everything to be heated through. Then comes the fun part: layering.

Start by laying tortilla chips on a rimmed baking sheet, followed by a layer of the beef and bean mixture, a layer of cheese, and another layer of the beef and beans. You'll already have more luck keeping gravity's effects away from your toppings with the less drippy meat/bean sauce, but it never hurts to add a final layer of cheese to seal the deal and hold everything together. Bake or microwave your sturdy(ish) creation and add any veggies that call to you. Then serve and enjoy not having to wipe up ground beef spills.