theveganbeauty

Deconstructed Beef Totchos are Tater Tot nachos dismantled into their component parts — we’ve got saucy beef and black beans, sweet potato tots, and all your favorite nacho toppings. This meal is made on one sheet pan with less than 10 ingredients!

These Deconstructed Beef Totchos are part of our Back-To-School Lifesavers — a series of recipes that are intended to have little (or no) veggie chopping, minimal prep time, around 10 ingredients or less (not including pantry staples), and use kid-friendly ingredients. 

Deconstructed Beef Totchos

Stick with me here — I know this is a strange recipe but it has very quickly become a family favorite! It’s unique, and the textures and flavors are incredible. Especially when you consider the ridiculously quick prep time and minimal ingredients needed — thank you store-bought shortcuts!

Instead of layering everything together like traditional totchos (or nachos) we separate them to keep things from getting soggy. We like this deconstructed version much better than piling everything in a heap. Plus, it lends well to potential leftovers (although, we’ve never been so lucky!).

Deconstructed Beef Totchos Ingredients

There are five primary ingredients in this recipe, thanks to some serious store-bought shortcuts. Below is a breakdown of the ingredients.

Deconstructed Beef Totchos Ingredients, Continued

• Black beans. The black beans add flavor and texture, and they also help to stretch the beef a bit further. That makes this meal more filling and satiating without having to spend more money on additional beef.
• Fire-roasted crushed tomatoes. We love fire-roasted tomatoes (such as Cento Marzano®, Carmelina Marzano Italian®, or Muir Glen®)). This type of tomato is charred over a flame before being crushed and canned. Contact with the flame brings out the tomato’s sweetness and gives a distinct, smoky flavor.  And that means you get more flavor without any extra work!
• Finely shredded Colby-jack cheese blend. This blend combines Colby and Monterey jack cheeses and tastes amazing with the beef. Bonus — you don’t have to grate any cheese for this recipe!

Deconstructed Beef Totchos Tools Needed

• An extra-large sheet pan. To have room for all the sweet potato puffs and the pan holding the beef mixture, I recommend using a (this) 15×21 inch sheet pan for Deconstructed Beef Totchos. If you don’t have an extra-large pan, you may need to divide ingredients into two separate pans.
• This is the 8×8-inch pan we use for the saucy beef mixture. Any similar-sized oven-safe dish will work great here!

Deconstructed Beef Totchos Toppings

In keeping true to delivering back-to-school recipe lifesavers, we want to keep the toppings as simple as possible! Our two must-haves: a ripe avocado (or guacamole) and sour cream (we use lite or fat-free to keep things on the lighter side). Look below for some other topping ideas:

• A drizzle of fresh lime to add in some freshness and a touch of acidity
• Some fresh cilantro to bring in freshness and a citrusy-vibrancy
• Diced cherry tomatoes or a quick pico de gallo

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