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Homemade Fried or Baked Nachos, the Original Mexican Recipe

Homemade nachos, the original Mexican recipe to make them fried or baked and the perfect topping for these chips to eat with melted cheese.
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Mexican, Tex-Mex, Texan
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Doses for 6 people
Calorie per porzione306kcal
Cost Low

Other details

  • Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 10.5 oz Fine-grain yellow corn flour (300 g)
  • 2.6 oz Fine-grain yellow corn flour for dusting (75 g)
  • 2 cups Warm water (500 ml)
  • 1 ½ pinch of Salt
  • To taste Sunflower or Peanut oil for frying
  • To taste Cumin and coriander seeds (optional)

Instructions

How to Make Nachos

  • To make nachos, pour 10.5 oz (300 g) of corn flour into a bowl, add salt, and gradually add water, stirring to absorb it gradually. Don't add all the water at once, as you may need less (it depends on how fine your corn flour is). At first, the mixture will be crumbly, but it will then solidify into a compact dough.
  • It will take about 10 minutes to obtain a dough that can be shaped by hand; the consistency will resemble plasticine, so it will no longer crumble. Using coarse-grained flour would have taken more time to obtain a dough that can be shaped. Let it rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
  • If you want to season your nachos with cumin, coriander, or other spices, this is the time to do it: pour 2.6 oz (75 g) of corn flour into a bowl, add finely chopped spices, mix together, and set aside.
  • To make perfectly triangular, thin, and crispy nachos, take a small amount of dough and place it on a sheet of parchment paper. Then place another sheet of parchment paper on top and roll the dough with a rolling pin until you get a very thin sheet. The goal is to reach just 2 millimeters in thickness.
  • Once the nacho dough is rolled out, we can remove the top layer of parchment paper and sprinkle the reserved spicy cornmeal on top. Make sure that the entire surface of the dough is covered with the spicy cornmeal. Then, use a rolling pin to press the cornmeal into the dough and to roll it out even further.
  • Using a 15 cm bowl or cookie cutter, cut the dough into a circle. Using a knife, cut the circle into 4 equal parts, then cut those parts in half, resulting in 8 equal triangles (in other words, make two intersecting X's through the center).
  • Once the nacho triangles are formed, we can sprinkle them with the remaining spicy flour on the side that has not yet been floured to prevent sticking. Repeat this process of rolling and cutting the dough until it is all used up.

Baked Nachos

  • To make baked nachos, place the cut triangles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once all the triangles are laid out on the baking sheet, add a drizzle of oil and bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes, until the nachos are nicely golden brown. The result is a crunchy, chip-like nacho that is a bit dry, but perfect when served with fresh tomato toppings.

Original Fried Nachos Recipe

  • To make the original fried nachos, prepare a large skillet with 3-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil (not too much oil is needed since the nachos only need to be toasted), heat it up, and then add the nachos to the pan, spacing them out so they do not stick together. Fry over medium heat, being careful not to overcook them: just a few seconds on each side is all that's needed to cook the nachos to perfection.
  • Drain the fried nachos on a tray lined with paper towels and serve the Mexican nachos hot or cold with your preferred sauces, such as guacamole, melted cheese, chili, hot sauce, fresh tomato sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, or barbecue sauce.

Conservation

The nachos should be consumed as soon as possible, as they will lose their characteristic crunchiness over time. It is recommended to serve them on the same day they are made, but they can be eaten the next day, although they will be less crispy.

Tips

Prepare the sauces in advance of cooking the nachos so that they can be enjoyed as soon as they are ready, whether hot or cold.

Watching calories

Nachos provide 306 calories (kcal) per 100 grams (3.5 oz).