Nachos aren’t the kind of appetizer that can get boring — crunchy chips with every topping imaginable, from creamy cheese and savory meat to spicy peppers and tomatoes that explode with freshness in your mouth. Not exactly the kind of thing you’re likely to turn your nose up at. But that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with brand new flavors and ingredients that will renew your love for this simple, yet not simple at all, dish. Mexican cuisine may have invented nachos, but other cuisines have readily adopted the formula to create things like the must-have flavor bomb that is Irish nachos and zesty, surprisingly delicious nachos with an Italian-ish twist. And now it’s time to add one more cuisine to the international flavors of nachos.
Greek food, a Mediterranean cuisine prized for its myriad health benefits and mouthwatering flavors, gives a unique take on Mexican nachos that will keep you from losing interest in the classic appetizer — although we doubt that would ever happen to begin with! Even though these nachos are not really a thing in Greek cuisine, hacking nachos to make them Greek is super easy. Switch out the tortilla chips for pita chips, top with some chopped feta cheese, tomatoes, Greek olives, red onions, and cucumbers, and opa! The salty tanginess of the feta and the olives will pair beautifully with the freshness of the chopped vegetables, giving you complementary flavors that soar when you gather a bit of everything on each chip.
With Greek cuisine, an impressive array of ingredients is at your fingertips
Greek cuisine is wonderfully diverse, and you have endless ways to customize your nachos. As with the Mexican version, which can have everything from ground beef or shredded chicken to carne asada meat on top, you can go with any Greek meat to add a protein-packed savory component to the dish. Chunks of gyros-seasoned lamb to grilled pork marinated in olive oil, lemon, and oregano, you can choose your protein to complement the flavor profile of your cheese and veggies. You can even go bold with some shredded roast goat, which will give you an incredibly tender meat that is low in fat and cholesterol.
To get the creamy component that Mexican-style nachos have with cheese sauce (although this creamy sauce is not actually a Mexican invention, but rather an American creation that was first introduced at a football game in Texas in 1976), there is a delicious Greek hack. Tzatziki, not to be confused with tahini, is a smooth and full-of-flavor addition that will give you the creaminess that a good plate of nachos requires. You can drizzle it over your Greek-style nachos to help each of the other ingredients come together in a cohesive masterpiece. If you aren’t a fan of the herbs and garlic in tzatziki, you can always go with hummus, although you will technically be converting your Greek-style nachos into a Greek-Middle Eastern hybrid. But as with all dishes you take pride in cooking and take pleasure in eating, you are free to reserve the right to customize it as you wish!
