You can feel good about having these Healthy Nachos for dinner!
I recently read an article about food blog trends that should end in 2014. I chuckled my way through it, agreeing with most of the author’s points, until I got to the part about “healthifying” recipes. Now, I will certainly agree that “healthifying” isn’t a word. In fact, I’m not personally in favor of a lot of cute words in my field like foodie, blogiversary, and others. However, I can’t agree that it’s wrong to make a recipe more healthy! It’s true that moderation is key, and most of us should allow ourselves to enjoy buttery cookies or big fat burgers on occasion. The trouble is, I don’t want to save cookies and nachos for special occasions. I want to eat them somewhat regularly, and in order to do that, I need to make them less bad for me! You can’t convince me that anything is wrong with that. On that note, I bring you these Veggie Loaded Healthy Nachos. This recipe is really simple to make. Just add a couple diced vegetables to boldly-spiced taco meat, spread it over reduced-fat chips, and top with a modest amount of cheese. Dinner is served! I expected to get my husband to eat the vegetable additions without too much fuss, but he actually thought the zucchini made the nachos better! You could also add corn or rinsed and drained black beans to this. The more vitamins and fiber the merrier, so get creative!

Prep Time | 5 minutes |
Cook Time | 20 minutes |
Servings |
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- 16-20 oz. ground turkey
- 1 zucchini diced into ½” pieces
- 1 orange bell pepper diced into ½” pieces
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder substitute ¼ cup diced onion if preferred
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1 bag reduced-fat tortilla chips
- 2 c. 2% milk Mexican blend cheese
- salsa optional
- reduced-fat sour cream optional
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spray a large skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey, zucchini, bell pepper, and all spices. Stir to combine and saute, stirring frequently, until meat is cooked through and bell pepper is tender.
- Meanwhile, arrange chips in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil. (There will be enough meat to make two pans of nachos, which will feed 5-6 people a dinner-sized portion.)
- Evenly sprinkle meat mixture over chips, then sprinkle cheese over the meat. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired.
This recipe is written to make two pans of nachos, but you can reduce the amount of chips and cheese to make one pan, which will serve about three people for dinner. This will leave you with leftover meat, which makes great taco salad!
If you find yourself with leftover taco meat from this recipe, how about trying this Cheesy Mexican Dip?
looks yummy! Gonna try this soon.
Thanks, Dalene! I hope you like the recipe :)
THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT RECIPES. I HAVE ENJOYED MANY OF THEM.
I AM MAKING THE VEGGIE NACHOS TO TAKE TO MY DAUGHTERS ON
SUNDAY. ALSO YOUR CHEESY MEXICAN DIP. I AM SURE EVERY ONE WILL
BE HAPPY TO SEE ME.
I hope the recipes went over well, Wanda. I love that cheesy Mexican dip!! Thank you :)
I LOVE YOUR RECIPES. I AM TRYING TO LOSE SOME WEIGHT THAT I GAINED LAST YEAR.
MY SON DIED SUDDENLY, ALL I DID WAS COOK & EAT.
I COOKED FOR HIM ALL THE TIME. I AM GETTING BETTER BUT, NOW I HAVE TO WATCH IT.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE LIGHTER RECIPES.
I am so sorry to hear of your loss, Wanda. I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you. Take care, and good luck with your weight loss.
I read you bio. Let’s hear it for a glass of wine and now and again. Plus I am so with you about wanting dishes like nachos more often, but not wanting the guilt and the extra fat cells yammering at me. Well done makeover.
Thank you, Carol! Extra fat cells yammer at me way too much as it is ;) Thank you so much for your visit and nice comment. It’s great to connect with you!
This looks delicious! Who would have thought nachos can be healthy.
http://ahleessa4realz.blogspot.com/
#SITSBlogging
Hi, Alyssa! They might not be exactly healthy, but they are healthier than most I think! It’s nice to see you again :) Thanks for stopping by!
Man these look delicious, but I need a vegetarian friendly snack.
Hi, Clarissa. Sorry if that name was misleading! You could make these with crumbled soy instead of turkey I bet, or this layered taco dip would be easy to make with sauteed vegetables instead of chicken: https://wearychef.com/chicken-taco-dip/. Thanks so much for stopping by :)
These look so good!! I will have to try them!
Amanda // Happily Ever After
Thank you, Amanda! Nice to connect with you :)
Such a fun idea. I should make this for my kids. They love eating chips. #SITSblogging
We’re big nachos fans here too. Thanks for stopping by, Aisha!