My Favorite 1-Ingredient Nacho Upgrade Is Hiding in Your Freezer

One of my favorite things when having a friend over for an evening is serving a huge sheet pan of nachos and opening a bubbly bottle. It’s instant fuel for good conversation. I don’t use a specific recipe for nachos. I use chips and cheese, maybe make some guac if I have a ripe avocado on hand, and then raid the freezer, fridge, and pantry for toppings. 

If there is shredded chicken with taco seasoning or ground beef with my favorite homemade taco spice mix in the freezer (and there often is at least one of them—I make them in large batches and freeze them in portions), I’ll defrost the meat. If I don’t, I’ll search my pantry for a can of black beans. I reach into the back of the fridge and hope the jar of pickled onions stuffed back there is still good and raid the crisper for half a tomato that needs to be used.  

A couple of weeks ago, I felt a little short on toppings, so I did a quick search online for “what can you put on nachos” (sometimes I like to let the internet think for me), and charred corn popped up on a few lists. 

I had a bag of frozen corn in the freezer and thought, “Why not give it a try?”

How to Make Charred Corn for Nachos

Note: I used a cast iron skillet for this method. A different skillet, such as a stainless steel or nonstick one, might produce different results. Here is how I charred the corn:

• Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil (butter or vegetable oil will also work).
• Pour 12-ounce bag frozen corn into the skillet and let sit without stirring for about 5 minutes (keep an eye on the corn during that time since medium-high varies by stove).
• Let corn cook until kernels have a nice dark brown char, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes. (If corn starts to burn, remove the pan from the heat source immediately.)
• Spread charred corn out on a wide, shallow tray or dish to cool (to prevent corn on the bottom from getting mushy).

When it was time to put the nachos in the oven, I sprinkled the corn on as one of the toppings to be baked along with the chips and cheese.

Charring the corn caramelizes some of the sugars in the corn, so I ended up with extra sweet, slightly smoky corn to add on top of my nachos. It was an inexpensive, tasty addition that I’ll use frequently on nacho night.