5 Ways to Make Deliciously Cheesy Nacho Cups

Nanette Wong · Feb 21, 2013

Now that you’ve got your movie knowledge down and are ready for random games of trivia, it’s time to start thinking about delicious bites for Oscar day. Small, tasty and perfect for a wide variety of appetites, these bite-sized nacho cups are also super easy to make. What’s even better? They’re all loaded with cheese. How can you say no?

While we made 5 flavors– Black Bean and Avocado, Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese, Caprese, Greek, and Cheesy Salsa, the best part about this is that you can pick and choose what you want to make. Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, make ’em all!

For all the recipes (which makes 6 servings), you’ll follow the same method to make the tortilla cups.

First, using a large round cookie cutter, cut out 6 circles from your tortillas. Then, lightly brush one side of the tortilla with olive oil. Use a muffin tin and line each tin with the tortillas, oiled side facing up. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. Then, you have adorable nacho cups!

1. Black Bean and Avocado: We’ll start with a classic, inspired by the traditional nacho combo. Hard to beat beans and cheese.

Ingredients:
– 6 blue corn tortillas

– ¼ avocado, chopped

– ½ cup black beans

– ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar

In a bowl, mix together the cheese and black beans. Put the black bean and cheese mixture into the tortilla cups and bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Top with fresh avocado cubes.

So easy!

2. Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese: Tapping into fall and winter flavors with this one – nothing goes better with butternut squash than a bit of sage and goat cheese. Add a little sugar for some extra sweetness if you like.

Ingredients:

– 6 wheat tortillas

– 2 cups cut butternut squash

– 1 oz goat cheese

– 1 tb chopped fresh sage

– 1 tb olive oil

– salt to taste

Toss the butternut squash with chopped sage and olive oil. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes, or until the butternut squash is browned. Remove the squash from the oven and, if the butternut squash needs salt, add salt. Put the butternut squash in the tortilla cups and pop back in the oven at 375 degrees F for 5 minutes. Finally, garnish the cups with goat cheese.

The goat cheese pairs beautifully with the butternut squash.

3. Caprese Cups: A caprese salad in nacho form? Why yes! (See also: Caprese Corn Muffin Sandwiches)

Ingredients:

– 6 spinach tortillas (if you use the large wrap sizes, you’ll need less)

– 1 tomato

– 3-4 basil leaves

– 2 large fresh mozzarella balls

Chop up your tomato into small cubes and rip the basil into small shreds. Tear apart the mozzarella into small pieces. Then, assemble the caprese bites into the baked spinach cups by first adding tomato, basil, then top with mozzarella.

These are just as tasty as regular nachos, without the food coma afterwards!

4. Greek Salad Bites: Go greek or go home!? Take the flavors of a classic greek salad and make them bite-sized with this fun little cup.

Ingredients:

– 6 white flour tortillas

– ¼ cup chopped red onion

– ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

– ¼ cup chopped fresh marinated olives

Chop up your red onion and marinated olives into small pieces. In the tortilla cup, add the olives, red onions, and then top with feta cheese.

Simple yet so delicious.

5. Melted Havarti + Salsa: Do you love melted cheese? Like, really love it? Then you need to get into havarti, one of the best cheese around for getting its melt on.

Ingredients:

– 6 yellow corn tortillas

– 1 stalk green onion, chopped

– 2 oz shredded havarti cheese

– ½ cup fresh salsa (we used fire roasted tomato)

In each tortilla cups, line the bottom with all the cheese except save a little bit to garnish with. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. During this time, chop your green onion if you haven’t already. After it’s done baking, add salsa, green onions, and a little bit more havarti cheese to top off each cup.