Healthy beef nachos with fresh avocado salsa
Serves: 4-6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Mike really loves nachos (he’s always requesting them for dinner), so I wanted to create a recipe with a healthy twist that was still utterly delicious. After all, real Mexican food isn’t meant to be greasy. Here I’ve used lovely spices, fresh herbs and quality ingredients – and here’s the kicker – instead of corn chips I’ve baked some wraps. They go super light and crispy, and I reckon ten times better than a greasy old chip!
Ingredients
500-600g beef mince
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large red onion, sliced
5 cloves NZ garlic, crushed
2 tsp mild smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp chilli powder (or 1 chopped red chilli)
400g can chopped tomatoes in juice
400g can red kidney beans, drained
2 cups beef stock
1 cup roasted and marinated red capsicum, sliced
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp brown sugar or maple syrup
4-5 x white or wholemeal wraps
Salsa
1 large ripe avocado, diced
1 large cucumber, deseeded, diced
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
Squeeze of lime juice
To serve
Sour cream
Fresh coriander
Grated cheese (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to 180c conventional bake.
Heat a little oil (rice bran or grape seed) in a large frying pan over a high heat. When very hot, fry the mince batches so it’s nicely brown, drain off the oil and set the mince aside in a bowl.
Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, for about 8 minutes until soft. Add the mince back to the pan along with the paprika, cumin, coriander, chilli, tomatoes, beans, stock, tomato paste, capsicum and sugar. Simmer until reduced to a nice thick sauce (around 30 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Brush the wraps lightly with oil, sprinkle with a little salt and place on oven trays. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until just turning golden, turning over once. Break them into big chips. (They might not feel 100% crispy at first but they firm up out of the oven).
To make the salsa, combine the ingredients in a bowl just before serving and season with salt and pepper. Don’t be afraid to mush the avocado up a bit.
To serve, have everything on the table and let people help themselves. I use the chips as a spoon, but you can be as classy as you like.
Chelsea’s tips
- If you like coriander, you can do what I do and finely chop up the stalks and add them to the sauce while simmering. The leaves you can use for serving and for the salsa.
- I really like this dish with a tin of drained corn kernels added to the mince.
- Feel free to add some chopped spinach or grated courgette to the sauce to get some greens in there.
Your recipes are just perfect. I’ve tried the chicken Thai green curry recipe and it’s thumbs up from us
Hi Chelsea.
This recipe looks amazing.
Could I make this like wraps/burritos
Have the mince mixture and avocado salsa inside the burritos/wraps?
Hello, I have your Scrumptious book and want to ask a Ques about the Smoky Steak Wraps w/ avo smash but couldn’t find the recipe online. The recipe looks amazing but I’d like to do it with Chicken Breasts instead of Sirloin Steak for cost reasons. Would this work? Using the same smoky chipotle style marinade but on chicken breast pieces instead of steaks. Look fwd to hearing from u…
sure!
Hey Chelsea I know this recipe was added a long time ago but I’m just doing it now and I’m the method it doesn’t say when to add the 2tsp of ground coriander?? I just added with the other spices??
Totally loving ur recipes
Sorry, yes with the others!
thanks for the new recipe! it looks delicious
Hi Chelsea – we’re going to make a bulk batch of this for our school gala! I’m going to omit the chilli as there will be mainly kids eating this….. will a good vege version be just substituting the beef with corn?
Hi Chelsea, do you have any ideas for a substitute salsa for when avocados are out of season (slash when they are $5 a pop!!) – my husband and I love this recipe but it’s just not the same without the salsa!
I love this recipe so typical of Mexico, the probe once in a Mexican restaurant and this delicious.
Hi Chelsea,
I love your recipes and they’re always my first choice when I’m thinking up dinners. This nacho one is one of our favorites. thank you!
This is one of my favourite recipes. All my family love it and I love knowing its healthy and nourishing xx. Thanks for sharing.
I made this recipe with chicken mince and stock and lentils instead of beans. This is what I love about chelsea recipes you can substitute things for what you have in the fridge/freezer/pantry and it is delicious. Like others my 6 y old and 18mth old ate every last morsel, and wanted more,
Hi Chelsea, this was the first recipe of yours I tried, and we loved it so much I went straight out and bought all 3 of your cookbooks, plus some for pressies :) I still make it every couple of weeks and feel really virtuous just cooking it :) We haven’t yet met a Chelsea Winter recipe that we don’t love; your Beef, Guinness and Cheese pie is also now a staple. Thank you and well done, your books are the only ones I use now.
Hi Chelsea, we are just trying this recipe tonight, however I am highly allergic to chillie and my son is allergic to Cumin, sometimes we can get a way with paprika and capsicums in small quantities, would you still recommend using the brown sugar even without the chillies and Cumin?
thanks
Yes, it will still be nice :)
This is our go to nachos recipe – awesome!
Yum yum yum. It’s a winner and I’m (and hubby) a grinner!
Great recipe and to make it even healthier, we substitute the beef mince for turkey mince which has a great texture and flavour with a fraction of the fat content. Thanks
Wow, these where the best nachos ever! Not sure if I can still say I was healthy as I ate waaaay too much, couldn’t stop. Thanks for saving us from soggy tasteless wraps.
Hi Chelsea, what a delicious recipe for a healthy take on Nacho’s. I made this tonight and my 4 and 7 year old fussy eaters asked for seconds! I blended the tomatoes and the beans in the food processor before adding them to the mince and no one even knew they were gulping up beans! Thank you very much for sharing this recipe it will become a family favourite in our house for sure.
Hi Chelsea
My partner and I just had your nachos for dinner. They were SO TASTY and super easy to make. Love the healthy twist. Thanks very much!
Im making this tonight. Are you meant to wait till all liquidity in mince absorbed?
Yes, you do.
Awesome
Hi, when I was making this and doing the taste test I said out loud ‘thanks Chelsea you are amazing’!! Every recipe I have made of yours turns out to be a taste sensation. This nacho recipe is sooo delicious! The wraps are amazing, so crisp and tasty and a great idea! The salsa was stunning, so fresh and tasty with the lime juice. Thanks so much, keep up the great work!
Thank you Chelsea Winter – all through this meal I thought Chelsea is a “Winner” so close but not too far away. I love Nachos but not with Corn Chips – too fatty and haven’t given it to my family in quite a few years due to same – tonight I said through every bite ” this is to die for ” – thank you. Also made your white chocolate cheesecake for our daughter’s graduation dinner and got close to 100 hits on FB!! To think I hadn’t even considered purchasing your cookbook prior to hearing you introduce your journey last Sunday at Eden Park – well done!! Made your chicken wrapped in bacon last night to be told – “Mum this is great” ! Amazing and “do” able recipes – can’t wait to make every one of them and have printed off the more likely ones from your website that suit my family – so pleased you won Masterchef and dreamed your dreams – all the best to a great cooking future. Cheers Sandy
Hi Chelsea:)
Perfect timing with this recipe as I was just saying to my partner last weekend how I had a craving for making Nachos, so really can’t wait to give this recipe a go:) Thanks so much for sharing have made a few of your dishes now and each has turned out amazing!
Could you just clarify for me about the red capsicum. I have roasted capsicums many times before so that’s not a problem but what do you mean by marinated?
Hi Sarah, thanks for that lovely feedback! If you want to roast your own capsicums then that’s awesome – I just said marinated (the ones you get in jars at the supermarket) to make it easier for people. But roast away!
Chelsea your recipe says roasted and marinated capsicum
I’ve been making this recipe for almost 5 years and still love it, thank you so much!
Hi Chelsea, I love your recipes and thanks so much for sharing all these free ones.
In the Nacho recipe it has Coriander. I really really do not like it and can taste it a mile off. Is there an alternative or would it make much difference leaving it out? So many reipes today have this as an ingredient.
Kind regards Denise
Hi Denise, you can leave it out – no problem at all!