Nachos for a Crowd

The key to these crowd-friendly nachos is using aluminum foil to make spacers for separating the oven racks so that maximum cheese meltage is attained. The other thing: fresh oregano. I can’t stress that enough.

If you can eat 80 nachofied tortilla chips, then “crowd” may mean more like…one.

This recipe first appeared in Season 10 of Good Eats.

Loaded nachos for a crowd with cheese, jalapeños, and guacamole

ACTIVE TIME: 20

TOTAL TIME: 30

Yield: to 10 servings

Software

80 corn tortilla chips, approximately 8 ounces
3 to 4 fresh jalapenos, thinly sliced and seeded
1 small red onion, diced
6 ounces cheddar cheese, finely grated
6 ounces Oaxaca or part-skim mozzarella cheese, finely grated
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano
2 cups fresh salsa
2 cups sour cream
2 cups guacamole

Procedure

Set one of the oven racks on the lowest shelf and heat oven to 350ºF.
Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Make 8 (2-inch) balls out of aluminum foil. Coat 3 wire racks with nonstick spray and place one of the aluminum balls in each of the corners of 2 of the racks.
Lay one-third of the chips on one of the racks. Top each chip with a jalapeno slice and sprinkle the chips with one-third of the red onion and one-third of both of the cheeses. Repeat with the remaining chips and the other 2 racks.
Stack the racks on top of one another and set in the parchment-lined half-sheet pan. Bake in the oven on the bottom rack until the cheese begins to bubble, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle with the oregano. Serve immediately with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.