How to reheat nachos (2024)

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By Author Renee Groskreutz

Posted on Last updated: April 12, 2024

Categories FAQ, How To Reheat

Nachos are your all-time favorite appetizer or snack for just about anything.

You can whip a platter of nachos on game days, movie nights, birthdays, or any other parties or hangouts.
The best thing about making nachos is how versatile they are!

You can simply pour some cheese sauce over tortilla chips for a quick crunchy snack, or If you want to impress your friends, you go all out with toppings like savory meat (such as chicken, pork, or beef), fresh vegetables (such as lettuce, tomatoes, etc), beans, and even some salsa sauce or source cream for that extra special kick or tanginess.

Table of Contents

What are nachos?

Basically, nachos are a bed of tortilla chips drizzled with cheese sauce. Most people love topping or layering different ingredients over the tortilla chips so that they can create the perfect plate.

Maybe they want something that’s the right balance of crunchy, creamy, tangy, cheesy, and meaty?

Check!

Add some heat or citrus? Sure, why not? The toppings could be savory meat, assorted vegetables, olives, salsa sauce or source cream, or just about any other ingredients.

It is the cheese sauce

And of course, there is the cheese sauce — nachos would not be nachos without it.

The cheese sauce in this Mexican dish is the “defining” ingredient in nachos. It’s basically made of cheese, milk, and butter. You can buy it in your local grocery or supermarket.

Then again, nothing beats a homemade cheese sauce such as this quick-to-makenacho cheese sauce recipe. When you make your own nacho cheese sauce at home, you can tweak it any way that you like.

Crunchy nachos

It is the crunchiness of the chips that people love about nachos, among other things.

Nachos should be hot for the chips to have that crunchiness. The “heat” from the nachos, though, turns everything into a “gross, dripping puddle” and “makes the chips soggy”.

So, don’t smother the nachos with dollops of salsa, sour cream, or guacamole. Avoid thesefive mistakesto get that perfect nachos.

Reheating nachos

Reheating leftover nachos can be a problem as the chips can turn soggy. You can reheat them in your microwave for a few minutes, but you might get disappointed – the chips will likely lose their crispness and texture, and will create a big soggy mess.

There’s nothing more frustrating than tucking into a plate of clumped nachos that has become mushy.
“How then should I reheat the nachos with all the toppings?” you might wonder.

The best way is to reheat the nachos in anoven. Another way is through the use of askillet.

Tips in storing your nachos

Here are some tips to remember when storing your leftover nachos:

Put the nachos in an airtight plastic bag, making sure that there is no air in the plastic bag.
Store the nachos in your refrigerator.
Before you reheat the nachos, make sure that you remove the cold toppings (such as sour cream, salsa, lettuce, etc.) from the nachos.

Reheating nachos in an oven

You can pop your leftover nachos in a toaster or convection oven to keep them crunchy and the cheese just right. Here are the steps that you should follow to reheat your nachos in the oven:

Preheat your oven to 225°F.
Take out the nachos from the refrigerator.
Spread the nachos on abaking sheetoroven-safe dishand cover withaluminum foil.
Reheat the nachos in an oven with the fan set to low. Depending on how crunchy you want your nachos, the reheat time can be from 5 to 20 minutes.
Check the nachos from time to time since nachos can burn quickly.
Using a pot holder, take out the nachos from the oven.
Let them sit on the kitchen counter to cool down before serving.
To speed up the process, you can preheat the oven up to 300°F and reheat the nachos for 5 to 10 minutes.

Reheating nachos in a skillet

When you want a quick meal and you have leftover nachos in the refrigerator, you can use a skillet to reheat them.

Here are the steps in reheating nachos in a skillet:

Spread the nachos evenly in a big enough skillet.
Cover the skillet withaluminum foil.
On medium heat, reheat the nachos for five minutes. Make sure that you check the nachos from time to time to keep them from burning.
Remove the nachos and let them cool down before serving.

Not in the microwave

Hunger strikes and you have leftover nachos. You just want to pop the leftovers in the microwave to hasten things up. It is not a good idea — you’re in for a big disappointment.

Reheating the nachos in the microwave turns the chips soggy.

You can add more cheese to the nachos to turn them into a casserole instead. Just make sure that as soon as the cheese melts, remove the nachos from the microwave.

More Tips on How to Reheat Foods

Leftovers are the BEST! However, the worst thing that can happen to food is if it gets ruined in the reheating process. That is why we are trying to provide the best tips on how to reheat varieties of our favorite leftovers.

Check these out!

How To Reheat Fried Chicken Without Drying It Out
How To Reheat Tamales

Conclusion

Reheating nachos can be quite a breeze. When done correctly, you will get to enjoy the same delicious crunchiness as freshly-made nachos.

In a nutshell, here are the things that you should know about nachos and some tips/steps in reheating them.

Do not forget the cheese sauce — it is the “defining” ingredient in nachos. Nachos would not be nachos without it.
Go easy on the sour cream or salsa as these sauces turns everything into “gross, dripping puddle” and “makes the chips soggy”.
Put the leftover nachos in an airtight plastic bag and store in the refrigerator.
Remove the cold toppings from the nachos before reheating them.
The best way to do it is to reheat them in the oven for 5 to 20 minutes. The reheat duration depends on how crispy or crunchy you want your nachos.
You can also use a skillet to reheat the nachos for five minutes. Make sure that you cover the skillet withaluminum foilto lock in the heat. Also make sure that you check the nachos from the time to keep them from getting burnt.
It is not a good idea to reheat the nachos in a microwave. This will create a “soggy mess”.
If you cannot avoid reheating the nachos in a microwave, you can add more cheese to turn the nachos into a casserole instead.