Easy Nachos Cheese Sauce & Instant Salsa

In addition to this month’s theme of HOMEMADE SAUCES-Homemade Tomato ketchup and Barbeque sauce, next comes my favourite, much-relished sauce with a bonus, instant accompaniment…😍😍.

It’s my beloved cheese sauce which pairs best with tortilla chips in duo with salsa. These three make a great combo of flavours and texture. The silky, smooth, creamy cheese sauce which couples with tangy, spicy, refreshing salsa, these two topped on the crunchy, crispy tortilla chips makes it the most demanded Chips and dip dish in parties and gatherings.

Though corn chips and its accompaniments have Mexican origin, it has gained various dimensions and deviations in Texas and other Southern Central American regions.

Traditional Nachos comprised of corn chips topped with cheese and jalapeños. Modern and fusion cooking gave these Nachos a different look such as baked, loaded Nachos with a wide range of toppings from bell peppers, meat, Red bean toppings with cheese sauce, sour cream, Salsa, or guacamole.

This cheese sauce is basically made with a roux (equal parts of flour and fat), enriched with milk and generous cheese to form the sauce. As this sauce is an upgraded version of béchamel sauce, it can be referred to as Mornay sauce, a French béchamel based sauce, or an English Cheddar sauce.

You can use cheeses like American Cheese, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, and Mozzarella. Literally, any cheese which melts to form a smooth and creamy sauce will suffice. Always prefer the cheese block to pre-shredded cheese, as these shredded ones have anti-caking additives which will hinder the smooth melting of cheese into the sauce and imparts a powdery, grainy texture to your sauce. Choose between mild cheddar and sharp cheddar of your choice. I tried both, each had its own colour, flavour, and texture, as the name indicates, mild cheddar was mild in its flavour, while sharp cheddar was sharp and intense in its cheesy flavour. While adding the cheese, either switch off the flame or maintain low flame to ensure even and smooth melting and to avoid grainy texture to your sauce.

Tricks to get the best sauce:

• The ratio of fat: flour: milk should be 1: 1: 10.
• Continuous stirring of flour in the fat is essential as it prevents scorching of the flour.
• This stirring is a must for at least 2 minutes or till the raw smell of flour goes which also prevents lumping of flour when milk is added.
• The entire process should be carried out in low medium flame.
• It’s better if you add warm milk, which ensures even dissolving of roux with no lumps.
• While the milk is added, parallel stirring is mandatory. If the flour is stirred well early, later when milk is introduced it doesn’t require vigorous stirring with a whisk. Just ladle stirring is sufficient.
• If you prefer your sauce to be spiced up, you can amplify its taste by seasoning with pepper powder, red chilli powder, and dry herbs.
• Adding garlic and sautéing in butter takes the sauce up a notch.

You can check my Béchamel/white sauce which is a flawless recipe to make your White pasta/Béchamel sauce pasta.

Now let’s get into the world of Salsa. Salsa in Spanish refers to any kind of sauces which are used as condiments, dips, filling even as a salad dressing. It’s so indispensable in Latin American cuisine such as Tacos, Burritos, Quesadilla, etc. Apart from Mexican dishes, I also used salsa as a condiment in my fusion cooking like Tacos golkappas.

It’s made of either roasted or raw tomatoes complimented with onion, garlic, roasted pepper, jalapeno (Mexican chilli), cilantro/coriander and seasoned with some spices. It can be prepared a day before and can be used in the recipes the next day. If it’s prepared raw it has a storage life of 2 – 3 days. If it’s cooked it has a storage life of at least a week. I generally prefer the cooked method as I want the garlic and onion to be sautéed to get rid of the pungent raw flavour.

This is a vegan-friendly diet as well. This tasty and delicious Salsa is made with firm and ripened tomatoes, you can either go for Roma tomatoes or Bunch tomatoes according to the availability at stores. I used bunch tomatoes in this recipe. If you are looking for an authentic Mexican Salsa, click this hyperlink, try it and relish it.

This instant salsa is made so quickly with the available ingredients at home. I skipped the roasting of tomatoes. My key ingredient in this salsa is tomato ketchup which instantly adds to the taste and texture. It can be prepared in 5 minutes so quickly that even if you have some unplanned guests at home, it’s so handy.

As regular salsa, it can be used as filling in authentic Mexican Vegetarian Tacos, or Tacos golkappas, Palak / Spinach Tacos under my Kitchen secrets or as dips for nachos, as dressing for salads.

With these 2 homemade accompaniments, I transformed tortilla chips into a simple Veg Loaded Nachos with coloured bell peppers, jalapeños and garnished with cheddar and Mozzarella cheese to melt in the oven, finally drizzled with creamy Cheese sauce…😍😍🤤🤤.

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For Cheese sauce

Heat a skillet or pan with ¼ cup butter.

Once melted, add 2 tsp garlic and sauté for 2 minutes in medium flame till it turns golden brown.

Then add wheat flour

And sauté continuously in low medium flame till the raw smell goes off. Do not burn it, this step is very crucial to achieve the right texture and aroma of roux.

After 2 – 3 minutes of continuous sautéing, add 2 ½ cups of warm milk.

And keep stirring for another 5 – 6 minutes till it thickens.

After 6 minutes, the sauce would have thickened, now keep low flame and season with salt, chilli powder, mixed dry herbs (basil, oregano, and parsley) and black pepper powder, and finely chopped pickled jalapeños, mix it and switch off the flame.

Keep stirring and finally add Cheddar cheese.

Stir it well till it melts in the sauce in the residual heat. (Note, after adding the spices, the flame has been switched off). If the cheese doesn’t melt, you can switch on the flame and maintain low till all the cheese melts in.

Once cooled down, transfer it into an airtight container and add warm milk on top to avoid forming layers. Store it in the refrigerator for 5 – 7 days.

For Instant Salsa:

Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil, add 1 tsp finely chopped garlic, sauté well in medium flame for 2 minutes till it turns golden brown.

Then add finely chopped onion with a little salt, sauté for a minute or two.

Then add green and red pickled Jalapeños, sauté well. If you don’t have red, then add 2 tsp of green jalapeños.

Later add a cup of finely chopped tomatoes.

Then red chilli powder and cumin powder.

Add salt and sugar.

Then add chopped coriander/cilantro, mix well.

And close it for 2 minutes.

After 2 minutes, open the lid, tomatoes would have turned mushy, now add ¾th cup of tomato ketchup, mix well, let it boil for a minute, then add ¼ cup water, stir it.

Finally, add chopped pineapple and give a final stir and let it simmer for a minute till it comes to a salsa consistency (water should have evaporated and reached saucy consistency).

Transfer to a bowl, your instant Mexican salsa is ready to be as a dip for Nachos, dressing for Loaded Nachos, or topped in the Tacos.

For Loaded Nachos:

Take an oven-proof casserole or tray, layer the Corn, Tortilla chips.

Then add required coloured capsicums.

Add jalapeños.

Add salsa.

Again start layering another batch of the same ingredients from chips to salsa. Finally, add the last layering. Once done, garnish with Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese generously.

Pop them in the preheated oven, bake till the cheese melts.

Once they are taken out from the oven, drizzle with cheese sauce as per your requirement.

A delectable appetizer is ready to serve. Best to go with small gatherings, movie watching, or for a nail-biting match. You can also have it as a platter of chips and dip served with Creamy Cheese sauce, Tangy Salsa, and Spicy jalapeños.

Recipe card

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Cuisine: International, Mexican

Category: Accompaniments

Serves: 4-5

Author: Manimala

Ingredients:

For Cheese sauce:

Butter – ¼ cup or 4 tbsp

Wheat flour – ¼ cup or 4 tbsp

Milk – 2 ½ cup

Garlic – 2 tsp

Black pepper powder – ½ tsp

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp

Mixed dry herbs – 1 tsp

Chopped Pickled Jalapeños – 1 tbsp (optional)

Salt – to taste

Cheddar cheese (mild/sharp) – 2 cups

For Instant Salsa:

Onion finely chopped – 1 cup

Tomato finely chopped – 1 cup

Pineapple chopped – 1 tbsp

Tomato Ketchup – ¾ cup

Pickled Jalapeno red – 1 tsp

Pickled Jalapeno green – 1 tsp

Garlic chopped – 1 tsp

Coriander/Cilantro – ¼ cup

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

Cumin powder – ¼ tsp

Sugar – ¼ tsp

Salt – to taste

Oil – 1 tbsp

For Loaded Nachos:

Tortilla/corn chips – 2-3 cups

Chopped Orange Capsicum – 2 tbsp

Chopped Red Capsicum – 2 tbsp

Pickled Jalapeno green – 2-3 tbsp

Instant Salsa – 1-2 tbsp

Shredded Cheddar Cheese – 1 tbsp

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – 1 tbsp

Cheese sauce – To drizzle

Instructions:

For Cheese sauce

1. Heat a skillet or pan with ¼ cup butter, once melted, add 2 tsp garlic and sauté for 2 minutes in medium flame till it turns golden brown.
2. Then add wheat flour and sauté continuously in low medium flame till the raw smell goes off. Do not burn it, this step is very crucial to achieve the right texture and aroma of roux.
3. After 2 – 3 minutes of continuous sautéing, add 2 ½ cups of warm milk and keep stirring for another 5 – 6 minutes till it thickens.
4. After 6 minutes, the sauce would have thickened, now keep low flame and season with salt, chilli powder, mixed dry herbs (basil, oregano, and parsley) and black pepper powder, and finely chopped pickled jalapeños, mix it and switch off the flame.
5. Keep stirring and finally add Cheddar cheese. Stir it well till it melts in the sauce in the residual heat. (Note, after adding the spices, the flame has been switched off). If the cheese doesn’t melt, you can switch on the flame and maintain low till all the cheese melts in.
6. Once cooled down, transfer it into an airtight container and add warm milk on top to avoid forming layers. Store it in the refrigerator for 5 – 7 days.

For Instant Salsa:

1. Heat a pan with 1 tbsp oil, add 1 tsp finely chopped garlic, sauté well in medium flame for 2 minutes till it turns golden brown.
2. Then add finely chopped onion with a little salt, sauté for a minute or two. Then add green and red pickled Jalapeños, sauté well. If you don’t have red, then add 2 tsp of green jalapeños.
3. Later add a cup of finely chopped tomatoes, then red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt, and sugar.
4. Then add chopped coriander/cilantro, mix well and close it for 2 minutes.
5. After 2 minutes, open the lid, tomatoes would have turned mushy, now add ¾th cup of tomato ketchup, mix well, let it boil for a minute, then add ¼ cup water, stir it.
6. Finally, add chopped pineapple and give a final stir and let it simmer for a minute till it comes to a salsa consistency (water should have evaporated and reached saucy consistency).
7. Transfer to a bowl, your instant Mexican salsa is ready to be as a dip for Nachos, dressing for Loaded Nachos, or topped in the tacos.

For Loaded Nachos:

1. Take an oven-proof casserole or tray, layer the Corn, Tortilla chips, then add required coloured capsicums, jalapeños, salsa.
2. Again start layering another batch of the same ingredients from chips to salsa.
3. Finally, add the last layering. Once done, garnish with Cheddar and Mozzarella cheese generously.
4. Pop them in the preheated oven, bake till the cheese melts.
5. Once they are taken out from the oven, drizzle with cheese sauce as per your requirement.
6. A delectable appetizer is ready to serve. Best to go with small gatherings, movie watching, or for a nail-biting match.
7. You can also have it as a platter of chips and dip served with Creamy Cheese sauce, Tangy Salsa, and Spicy jalapeños.

Notes:

• Traditionally Roux has all-purpose flour but I replaced it with wheat flour as a healthy version. Believe me, it tastes the same as all-purpose flour.
• I used salted butter you can use unsalted as well. Adjust the salt accordingly.
• Warm the milk before adding it to the roux which aids the mixing to be uniform with no lumps.
• This roux acts as the base as well for the béchamel sauce and White sauce pasta, which is non-spicy, kids most favourite pasta
• I added ¼ tsp dry oregano, ¼ tsp dry parsley, ¼ tsp dry basil, all put together a tsp of mixed herbs. You can stick to one type of herb as well but add one tsp of it.
• Cook the entire process of sauce in medium and low flame to achieve the best results.
• This sauce apart from being a dip is also used as topping or dressing over salads, baked veggies, and chicken, steamed veggies, soft pretzels, on tacos, which makes it handy.
• It has a store life for 5 – 7 days in the refrigerator. Do not use a wet spoon or ladle as moisture is a major threat.
• Generally, the sauce thickens on storage. Reheat it by just adding milk and stir it well on low to medium flame till it reaches your desired consistency. Adjust the salt after adding milk.
• This is not a traditional version of salsa, as the recipe name says it’s an instant version. I have shared the authentic Mexican Salsa, check it if you are looking for it.
• I used canned pineapples 🍍because they impart sweetness as they are soaked in sugar syrup. Try with fresh pineapple also, but it may impart bitterness with time.
• My kids liked the sweetness and tanginess of the tomato ketchup, and they didn’t find much difference between the regular and this instant version. It was an absolute hit.
• As regular salsa, it can be used as filling in authentic Mexican Vegetarian Tacos, or Tacos golkappas, Palak / Spinach Tacos under my Kitchen secrets category, or as dressing for salads.
• Loaded Nachos are also known as oven-baked nachos, sheet pan nachos, tray baked nachos.
• I made a simple and veggie version of Loaded Nachos. You can create your own toppings and fillings with meat such as sausages, pepperoni, or ground beef.
• Make sure you consume the baked Nachos immediately as they’ll turn soggy over time. Also, drizzle cheese sauce or any such liquid toppings at the time of serving.