How to Reheat Nachos Without Turning Soggy

Nachos are super delicious, you can add a bunch of healthy and nutritious ingredients and it’ll still blow your socks off! And while it is a super simple dish to make and eat right away, what happens when you have leftovers? Mastering reheating nachos, in this case, is also important.

Nachos acts as the perfect canvas for a variety of mix-ins. Such as beans, meat, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream, and onions. You could also throw in some olives, pasta, bell peppers, and such to make it an appetizing meal.

Unfortunately, leftovers are unavoidable especially when eating a large plate of nachos. Even more so when you happen to be eating alone!

In this article, I will talk about reheating nachos in a way that they may end up tasting just as good as the day before. How to avoid soggy nachos and keep the vegetables and beans and cheese rich in flavor and perfectly tasty.

How to Reheat Nachos?

There are different ways to go about this. You can reheat nachos based on how much time you have to spare. Or you can also decide the reheating technique based on the flavor of the nachos after.

I’ll walk you through both key details…

Oven

If you want better flavor from your toppings, cheese, beans, and nachos, pick reheating nachos in an oven. It’s the best way to reheat nachos, ever!

First, keep aside all the cold toppings and just reheat the nachos first. You want the nachos crispy which you have to do first before adding the toppings, cheese, and beans.

Reheat the nachos in the oven for about 15 minutes. You can increase the time by 5 or so minutes depending on how crispy you want it to be. A convection oven does this better than a microwave.

In the last 5-7 minutes or so, add the toppings back and plate the nachos as it was served. Cover the oven-friendly plate in foil and let the rest of the timer pass. This will reheat all the toppings. And the cheese will bubble and stick to the nachos along with the cooked beans and sour cream. It should all come together beautifully!

Skillet

For a quicker time, a skillet is your next best option. Just make sure you use a skillet that is big enough so you can spread the nachos properly. Cover the skillet with foil and add the skillet’s lid on top of the foil to seal the heat in properly.

Reheating nachos in a skillet shouldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes. Once you hear the cheese sizzling, and you will once the cheese starts to melt, turn off the heat. Speaking of which, never reheat nachos on high heat, always stick to low to medium heat. The last thing you need is the cheese and veggies to burn from the bottom.

Add some oil to the pan before adding the nachos to prevent burning.

Let the nachos sit in without opening the foil for another 1 minute. It’ll cool down slightly during this time so you can serve it hot and ready to eat!

Broiler

A broiler is another quick and handy tool to reheat nachos with. This may not be the most preferred way of reheating nachos. I’d rather do it in an oven or in a skillet. But if you’d like to try it, this is what you have to do.

Buy a boiler that is large enough to spread the nachos without crowding in the middle. If there’s too much in the middle, the center will not reheat as perfectly as the sides of the nachos. So make sure you do not fill too many nachos in the center.

Scoop out all the cold toppings such as lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream. Add the nachos to the broiler and allow it to cook for 3-5 minutes.

The thing with reheating nachos in a broiler is that you need to keep a close eye on it. So keep watching the reheating for 5 minutes. It’s very likely that you’ll have a few burnt nacho chips but it should work.

Toaster Oven

For reheating a small plate of nachos, a toaster oven will work. Remove the salsa, lettuce, sour cream from the nachos and use an oven-safe plate or dish. Preheating the oven will make the process much easier and faster. And it’ll give you more crispy results.

Make sure you cover the nachos in foil before reheating them. This should take about 15 minutes for the nachos to reheat evenly.

How NOT to Reheat Nachos?

Microwave

A microwave will only make the nachos soggy and moist. So it’s best to use a skillet if you do not have a convection or toaster oven. Microwaving will only warm up the ingredients. This might be okay for the rest of the ingredients, except the cold toppings, but with the nacho chips, it will make it soggy and wet.

More importantly, combined with melted cheese, warming up nachos will ruin their texture and flavor. But if you have no option but to reheat nachos in the microwave, you can make the toppings, meat, sauce, cheese, and beans warm first. Then add the nacho chips to avoid moistening the crispy texture. The nacho chips will get soft but they won’t turn soggy and ruin the flavor.

Final Thoughts

Layering the nachos after reheating (or before) does have an impact on the taste and texture. That is why it’s so important to use a wide skillet or oven-friendly dish to spread the nachos evenly before reheating.

This makes the process of reheating the nachos very simple. And it retains the crunchy and cheesy flavor of nachos that we all know and love!

Avoid using a bowl to layer the nachos while reheating. You can use an oven-friendly dish, plate, or a skillet-type dish to reheat the nachos in a convection or toaster oven. It’s fast, easy, and you don’t have to wait around in the kitchen to avoid overburning!