5 Tips To Avoid Soggy Nachos At Your Super Bowl Party
It's the big day, the Sunday you've been waiting for. You're ready to give it to your A game. Perhaps you've had some good practice sessions. You put all the players in the proper places. You've warmed up and know exactly how to play this. But then you fumble. Against the odds, you have served your guests soggy nachos.
At the risk of overusing the football metaphor, there are a few interceptions you can add to your playbook to truly make your nachos score at your Super Bowl party. It's just a matter of choosing the right ingredients, using them in proper order, knowing when to broil and when to bake, and not letting them sit for too long. Here are five tips to follow to avoid any false starts.
Select thick and sturdy tortilla chips
When eating tortilla chips with salsa or guacamole, people usually prefer a thin chip that snaps easily. For nachos, you want something that can stand up to heavy and wet toppings. Look for thick, sturdy chips that are also fairly flat. Avoid the rounded or curved chips that are best for dipping. For the sturdiest chips, you can even try making your own by cutting tortillas into wedges, then deep frying them or toasting them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Another option is to look for restaurant-style chips. These are often thicker than snacking tortilla chips. Two brands worth considering are Santitas, which have a thick, grainy texture, and On the Border, which Chowhound placed at 7th of 14 tortilla chip brands, ranked from worst to best, as the sturdiest chip in our taste test.
Use cheese as a barrier between wet and dry ingredients
Of course, cheese is one of the essential elements that make nachos a game day snack worth serving. Besides being delicious, it can also serve as a protective barrier between the crunchy tortilla chips and ingredients with more moisture. Sprinkle shredded or crumbled cheese onto the chips lightly; one of the ways to make fool-proof nachos for game day is to avoid going too heavy on the cheese. Then, bake or broil them just enough to melt the cheese without burning the chips or allowing them to absorb too much moisture. If you're using any other ingredients that need to be heated, you can add them after the cheese has melted and put the tray back in the oven, again making sure the chips don't burn.
You also want to make sure you use the right types of cheese. Choose fresh, hard cheeses that don't have a lot of moisture, like cheddar and jack cheeses, which are considered, hands down, the best cheeses for nachos. Also, be sure to shred them yourself. Pre-shredded cheeses often have stabilizers that prevent them from melting quickly, so you'd need to keep the chips in the oven longer, giving them more time to absorb liquids and to burn. If you love your nachos smothered in a rich, creamy nacho cheese sauce, serve it on the side so it doesn't weigh down the chips or make them soggy.
Drain any ingredients with excess moisture
One thing that makes nachos easy to prepare for a Super Bowl party is that many of the ingredients, such as olives, jalapeños, and beans, are sold prepared and packaged in jars and cans. However, that means they also come with excess liquids. Make sure you drain all of those ingredients well before adding them to the nachos to prevent wet chips. The same goes for freshly chopped ingredients like tomatoes.
That also includes any ground beef that you've prepared to sprinkle onto the chips. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and place it on a plate lined with paper towels that can capture any of the excess moisture and oil. Another trick to keep beef from sliding off the nachos is to stir in refried beans while browning the meat. The meat will stick to the beans, which will stick to the chips.
Serve cold and wet ingredients on the side
Nachos wouldn't be nachos without the essential Mexican condiments, including guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. But those ingredients are all wet, cold, and heavy. Not only will they cool down the warm ingredients beneath them, they will also weigh down the chips and add moisture. Serve them on the side so they don't sit on the chips for too long. You could also do the same thing for olives, jalapeños, and similar toppings, so people can pile them on to their cheesy chips to their liking.
Create a build-your-own-nachos bar
While you're serving the cold and wet ingredients on the side, why not serve all of the ingredients — save for the cheese and the chips — on the side as well? Set up a build-your-own-nachos bar with a tray of warm chips covered in melted cheese and serve all of the other ingredients you think your game day guests will want in bowls. Your guests will appreciate being able to pick and choose their own ingredients, and you won't have to worry that the chips will lose their crispness. Plus, the hot ingredients will stay hot and the cold ingredients will stay cold. That would be the best way to score a touchdown with your Super Bowl nacho spread.