Solar Oven Baked Nachos in the GoSun Fusion

Solar oven baked nachos are about as easy as outdoor snacks get. There is almost no preparation involved, the ingredient list is short, and you don't have to heat up the kitchen to make them.

Serve these nachos as an afternoon snack, a simple appetizer, or a side dish with tacos, fajitas, burgers, grilled chicken, or another outdoor meal. You can keep them basic with just cheese or turn them into loaded nachos with meat, peppers, olives, and other toppings.

For this simple version, I use tortilla chips with equal amounts of sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. The cheddar adds plenty of flavor, while the Monterey Jack melts smoothly and helps hold everything together.

Nachos are also a fun recipe to make with kids. They can arrange the chips, sprinkle on the cheese, and choose their own toppings. There really is not much they can do wrong, although an adult should still handle the hot cooking tray when the nachos are finished.

Solar Oven Baked Nacho Ingredients

You only need three ingredients for the basic recipe:

Tortilla chips: Use approximately 10 ounces of your favorite sturdy tortilla chips. Thicker chips tend to hold the cheese and toppings better than very thin chips.

Sharp cheddar cheese: Sharp cheddar gives the nachos a stronger cheese flavor. I recommend buying a block and shredding it yourself (it works better than using pre-shredded, which I explain below).

Monterey Jack cheese: Monterey Jack has a mild flavor and melts especially well. Combining it with cheddar gives you a nice balance of flavor and meltability.

Don't use pre-shredded if you can help it. Freshly shredded block cheese generally melts more smoothly than pre-shredded bagged cheese. Bagged shredded cheese is commonly coated with starch or cellulose to keep the pieces from sticking together. It will still work, but the coating can sometimes make the melted cheese slightly drier or less smooth.

Making Nachos in the GoSun Fusion

The GoSun Fusion works well for making a small tray of baked nachos. Due to the size of the cooking tube, his is not the best method for feeding a large party unless you plan to make several batches.

For a family snack or a side with dinner, however, the smaller capacity can actually be part of the fun. Kids can build their own section of nachos or help arrange the chips and toppings inside the cooking tray.

This is also an easy way to introduce someone to solar cooking. They can see how sunlight is captured and used to heat the food, and the recipe is simple enough that they do not have to wait through a complicated preparation process.

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Optional Nacho Toppings

The basic cheese nachos are good on their own, but they are also easy to customize. Some toppings can be added before the nachos go into the solar oven, while others are better added after baking.

Toppings that can usually be added before cooking include:

• Sliced black olives
• Diced green chile
• Sliced or diced jalapeños
• Diced onions
• Drained black beans
• Corn
• Shredded chicken
• Carnitas
• Seasoned ground beef
• Cooked chorizo
• Pulled pork
• Hot sauce

Any meat added to the nachos should be fully cooked before it goes into the solar oven. The nachos only need enough cooking time to heat the toppings and melt the cheese, so you should not rely on this recipe to safely cook raw chicken, beef, pork, or sausage.

Shred or chop the meat into small pieces before adding it. Smaller pieces heat more evenly and are less likely to pull all the cheese off a chip when you take a bite.

Do not overload the chips with wet ingredients. Too much salsa, green chile liquid, meat juice, or other moisture can make the chips soggy. Drain wet toppings before adding them and save most sauces for serving.

You can add hot sauce before or after baking. Adding it before cooking spreads the flavor through the melted cheese, while adding it afterward makes it easier for everyone to control the heat level.

Fresh toppings such as diced tomatoes, green onions, avocado, and cilantro are generally best added after the nachos come out of the oven.

Dips and Toppings for Serving

Nachos are even better when you serve them with a few cold dips and toppings on the side. This also lets each person customize their portion.

Sour cream: The cool, creamy flavor helps balance spicy jalapeños, green chile, or hot sauce.

Salsa: Use your favorite red or green salsa. Serving it on the side helps keep the tortilla chips from becoming soggy.

Guacamole: Homemade or store-bought guacamole adds a creamy texture and works especially well with loaded nachos.

Pico de gallo: Fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lime add brightness without covering up the flavor of the melted cheese.

Hot sauce: Put out one mild sauce and one hotter option so everyone can choose their preferred level of heat.

You can serve the dips in individual bowls or arrange them around a platter of finished nachos. For kids, it can be fun to give everyone a small plate of nachos and let them add their own toppings.

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How to Make Solar Oven Baked Nachos

Should You Use Velveeta on Nachos?

Whether Velveeta belongs on nachos is mostly a question of personal taste.

The biggest advantage of Velveeta is that it melts very smoothly. It produces a creamy, sauce-like cheese that stays soft longer than ordinary shredded cheese. It is also less likely to become oily or separate as it heats.

Velveeta can be a good option when you want nachos that resemble the cheese-covered chips served at a concession stand, movie theater, or sporting event.

The downside is that Velveeta has a different flavor and texture than natural cheddar or Monterey Jack. Some people love its creamy consistency, while others prefer the sharper flavor and slightly stretchy texture of real shredded cheese.

Velveeta is also more processed than block cheese and generally contains more sodium. That may or may not matter to you, depending on what kind of nachos you are trying to make.

You can also combine Velveeta with cheddar or Monterey Jack. This gives you some of the smoothness of processed cheese while retaining more of the flavor of natural cheese.

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