We make Chili Cheese Nachos with the Thermomix® whenever we have guests over and need something that comes together quickly, fills everyone up and leaves no leftovers. The recipe works because the chilli base runs in the Thermomix® at the same time as the mince browns in the pan. After 35 minutes, everything is baked and ready to serve.
The most important ingredient is not the most obvious one in the list: 20 g of dark chocolate, added right at the end to the finished chilli base. The chocolate rounds out the acidity of the tinned tomatoes and deepens the spices, without making it taste sweet. That is a classic Tex-Mex trick, and it is the difference between a flat tomato sauce and a proper chilli flavour.
Chili Cheese Nachos with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 15 ✓
- 250 g Emmental cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 onions
- 20 g sunflower oil
- 30 g tomato puree
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 400 g tinned kidney beans
- 400 g beef mince
- 100 g mild pickled peppers
- 20 g dark chocolate
- 300 g tortilla chips paprika or cheese flavour
Instructions 0 / 10
-
1
Grate the cheese.
Cut the Emmental into pieces, place in the mixing bowl and chop for 8 sec / speed 6, then set aside.
-
2
Chop the onions.
Peel the garlic, peel and halve the onions, place in the mixing bowl, chop for 5 sec / speed 5 and push down with the spatula.
-
3
Sweat.
Add the oil to the mixing bowl and cook for 4 min / Varoma / speed 1.
-
4
Add the tomato puree.
Add the tomato puree to the mixing bowl and cook for a further 3 min / Varoma / speed 1.
-
5
Remaining ingredients.
Add the chopped tomatoes, spices and kidney beans to the mixing bowl and cook for 12 min / 100°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
-
6
Brown the mince.
Meanwhile, fry the beef mince in a non-stick frying pan without any fat until crispy.
-
7
Cut the peppers.
Drain the peppers, remove the stalks and cut into pieces.
-
8
Preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
-
9
Add the chocolate.
Break the chocolate into pieces, add to the mixing bowl along with the beef mince and half the peppers, and heat for 3 min / 90°C / reverse direction / speed 1.
-
10
Bake the nachos.
Spread the chilli into a baking dish, scatter over the nachos, cheese and remaining peppers, and bake on the middle shelf for 5 minutes.
Tip: If you prefer a bit more heat, simply swap the mild peppers for jalapeño chillies.
Nutrition per serving
Why the Thermomix® and pan run at the same time
We cook the chilli base entirely in the Thermomix®: chop the onions and garlic, sweat the tomato puree, then simmer the tinned tomatoes with kidney beans and spices for 12 minutes. Meanwhile, the mince browns in the pan without any fat. The Thermomix® handles the stirring, the pan delivers the caramelised flavour. Both components come together in the mixing bowl at the end.
The mince must be fried separately because the Thermomix® can cook it but cannot caramelise it. The colour and flavour from the pan are exactly why the recipe tastes like more than the sum of its parts.
Cumin and turmeric instead of a ready-made chilli blend
The spice mix is kept deliberately simple: 1 tsp hot smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 1/2 tsp salt. No ready-made chilli seasoning, because we want to control the heat ourselves. The cumin carries the typical Tex-Mex character, the turmeric adds colour, and the paprika brings mild heat without burning.
If you want more heat, swap the mild pickled peppers for jalapeños. The mild peppers add acidity and a little crunch but no heat. Jalapeños bring both and raise the temperature to a different level.
Reverse direction protects the kidney beans
The 12 minutes at 100°C must run in reverse direction at speed 1. Without reverse direction the blade would crush the kidney beans and the chilli base would turn mushy rather than chunky. Reverse direction stirs without cutting. The beans stay whole, and the tomatoes break down on their own from the heat.
The tomato puree is cooked for 3 minutes at Varoma beforehand, before the tinned tomatoes go in. This step lightly caramelises the tomato paste and removes the metallic note that raw tomato puree often has. That is the difference between a flat and a rounded tomato base.
Emmental instead of Cheddar
We use 250 g of Emmental rather than classic Cheddar because Emmental melts better and releases less fat. Cheddar often separates into oil and solids when grilled, whereas Emmental stays creamy. The cheese is grated beforehand at speed 6 for 8 seconds and set aside until the nachos go into the dish.
The 5 minutes in the oven at 200°C fan is enough to melt the cheese and lightly brown the edges of the nachos. Any longer and the chips go leathery and the cheese burns.
Which tortilla chips work best
The recipe works with plain, paprika or cheese-flavoured chips. We usually go with paprika flavour because the extra seasoning pairs well with the chilli base. Salted chips are important; unsalted ones taste flat. The 300 g is enough for 4 servings as a main course or 6 servings as a snack.
The chips go directly on top of the hot chilli, then the grated cheese and the remaining peppers. The layering matters: chilli at the bottom keeps the chips from drying out, cheese on top melts over everything and seals it all together.
Serving and leftovers
The nachos must be served straight from the oven. After 10 minutes the chips soften and lose their bite. If you have leftovers, store the chilli base and the cheese separately in the fridge and bake fresh chips the next day. The chilli base keeps for 3 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer.
Salsa dip and guacamole go very well alongside. For more Tex-Mex: try chilli con carne or chilli rice.
