There’s nothing better than a beefy, cheesy plate of nachos, but not all nachos are made the same. There are ways to elevate your plate that will make your taste buds very happy, and one of those ways has to do with the kind of ground beef that you use. So what cut of meat is best for ground beef in your nacho recipe? To get to the bottom of this, we asked Jorge Guzmán, a James Beard Award finalist and chef and partner at Chilango, Minnesota, and Sueno in Dayton, Ohio.
When it comes to the best cut of beef overall for ground beef, Guzmán said in an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, “This all depends on what you will be using the ground beef for — if you grind sirloin you’ll get a really lean beef and if you grind ribeye you’ll get a really fatty grind.”
He continued, “If we’re talking about nachos, I would go with an 80% meant to 20% fat ratio. So I might buy some sirloin and also beef fat and cube them up together in proper weight ratio — so 80g meat to 20g fat, and mix after grinding.”
More tips for making sure your beef nachos are tasty
You can do a few more things to ensure your beef nachos are next level. From the type of chips you use to choosing the proper cheese, a little effort goes a long way when it comes to flavor. Make sure you have a quality foundation before adding toppings to build your dream nachos. The chips count a lot more than you might think. Whether you buy them or make them yourself, go with a thicker tortilla chip. Thin chips may seem like a good idea, but they’ll break easily and get soggy fast.
When it comes to cheese, the best way to melt gooey cheese for nachos is to start with a block. Hand-shredded cheese will melt better than pre-shredded cheese because those bags of convenient cheese include additives to keep the shreds from sticking together, which will also keep the cheese from melting smoothly. The rest of the toppings depend on who is eating the nachos. You can opt for traditional, adding a combination of salsa, tomatoes, jalapeños, olives, green onions, guacamole, and sour cream, or get creative with the toppings and create your own unique plate.
