Nachos in their simplest form are a pile of tortilla chips, with some cheese on it, microwaved until the cheese melts. It’s kind of a sad soggy mess that people make when they aren’t feeling up to making anything better and every time I see it I think about making some decent nachos but, you know, I’m not feeling up to making anything better either.

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Tonight, though, I made my own tortilla chips. They’re pretty simple but kind of messy; cut corn tortillas into sixths and fry them in vegetable oil** (deep enough that they float) until they’re just slightly darkened (this takes about a minute), and sprinkle some salt** on them. This makes a vastly superior chip to anything you’ll get out of a bag, even if some of them are a little soggy in the middle. I made a lot of chips so I put the extra ones in a paper bag for later.

So this is how my parents taught me how to make nachos. I don’t know where they got it from, and maybe it’s kind of obsessive, but I like it. I spread the chips out in a single layer and top each chip individually, so the edges are exposed, so they stay crisp. The downside is you don’t get that stretchy cheese effect like with overlapping chips, but I’m more into the crunch.

Toppings can vary but I usually use a dollop of refried beans, some pickled jalapeños, salsa, and shredded cheese. Sometimes I grate a little Parmesan or Asiago on top afterward to make them extra crunchy. This time I just used a little pickled jalapeños*, pico de gallo, hot sauce, and shredded Mexican cheese blend, and went a little light on everything so I wouldn’t overpower the fresh chips too much.

I baked them for 5 minutes at 425°F and served them with sour cream.

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*these have been in the back of my fridge for like a year and a half and I don’t know whose they were but there were only like 3 left

**store-bought