By With sweet caramelized onions and a copycat special sauce, these In-N-Out animal-style nachos will become your new dinner staple. Like your favorite cheeseburger in nacho form, this recipe comes together in just 20 minutes and is perfect for feeding a crowd.
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why not animal style fries?
Ok, a lot of thought went into this one because I love animal-style fries. But in the end, it came down to a few key points during our testing:
- Fries don't hold up well, meaning you have to use a fork to eat them when loaded with toppings.
- You have to bake the fries, which takes more time and energy. You also run the risk of burning them.
- Eating with a fork isn't ideal for serving a large family as they mingle and chit-chat. Chips, on the other hand, can be grabbed and taken on the go since they are sturdy.
In the end, tortilla chips held up well after some time sitting at the table. They could be taken on the go as you run after a toddler, and they are already ready, so no baking. So animal-style nachos won this battle, and let me tell ya - they are dang good (dare I say better than fries)!
And if you want a more traditional animal style burger, you have to try these animal style smash burger tacos! But I think nachos are my favorite...
here's what you'll need
- The beef: You can use lean ground beef or bison. This gets fried in yellow mustard - yes, mustard (it's the secret).
- Special sauce: I use our high protein special sauce recipe, but a store-bought burger sauce will work, too. Some people claim thousand island is In-N-out secret sauce so I guess you can use that but it's not quite the same (probably the closest option).
- Carmelized onions: To make these, you need a white or yellow onion, brown sugar (or coconut sugar), butter, and soy sauce.
- Toppings: To finish off the animal-style nachos, I use shredded lettuce, pickles, tomato, and shredded cheddar cheese. Try to shred your own cheese if you can for the best meltability. In-N-out uses American cheese, but I prefer cheddar here.
- Tortilla chips: Use any tortilla chips you love! Grain-free, corn, etc. Whatever you love and think will hold the most toppings.
get creative
These are the toppings to make these nachos animal-style but feel free to get creative. You can make:
- Big Mac nachos with a Big Mac sauce
- California-style with guacamole, jalapenos, and chipotle Southwest sauce
- Add a sweet twist with pineapple, chicken, and teriyaki sauce.
let's get cracking!
- Brown the beef and caramelize the onions low and slow (it'll take about 15 minutes) in the butter. After about 5 minutes, add the brown sugar and soy sauce and continue to cook until translucent and fragrant.
- Broil the nachos with tortilla chips layered with beef and cheese on top just until the cheese is melted.
- Top with lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, and a special sauce, and enjoy!
some quick tips
- Line a super large rimmed baking sheet with foil to make clean up a breeze.
- To prep this ahead of time, brown the beef, make the caramelized onions, shred the cheese, and chop the veggies up to 2 days in advance. Then, when you're ready to eat, just layer, broil, layer, and enjoy!
Recipe
Animal Style Nachos (In-N-Out copycat)
Ingredients
- 6 cups tortilla chips
Beef
- 1 lb ground beef
- 6 teaspoon yellow mustard
Caramelized Onions
- ½ diced yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
Toppings (feel free to use more or less of each topping)
- 2 cups cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded lettuce
- ⅓ cup diced pickles
- ⅓ cup diced tomatoes
- 6 tablespoon high protein special sauce (or thousand island dressing)
Before you start!
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Instructions
- Caramelize the onions by sautéing ½ diced yellow onion over low heat in 1 tablespoon butter. After a few minutes, add the ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper, ½ teaspoon brown sugar, and ½ teaspoon soy sauce, and keep cooking on low for another 10 minutes until fragrant and translucent. Once done, set aside.
- While the onions cook, brown 1 lb ground beef in 6 teaspoon yellow mustard. Turn the oven on to low broil.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and spread out the tortilla chips (feel free to use more or less than 6 cups, but about half a bag felt right for us). Top with the ground beef and 2 cups cheddar cheese. Broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven and top with caramelized onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, and high protein special sauce. Serve up family style and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Big Mac nachos with a Big Mac sauce
- California-style with guacamole, jalapenos, and chipotle sauce
- Add a sweet twist with pineapple, chicken, and teriyaki sauce.
- Line a super large rimmed baking sheet with foil to make clean up a breeze.
- To prep this ahead of time, brown the beef, make the caramelized onions, shred the cheese, and chop the veggies up to 2 days in advance. Then when you're ready to eat, just layer, broil, layer, and enjoy!
Looking for more information?
Additional substitution information can be found above in the substitution section of this post.
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate and for informational purposes only.
is there a way to find out calories?
All nutrition info is at the bottom of the recipe card 🙂 Just a reminder, it's an estimate for informational purposes only. For a more accurate count, I recommend plugging your specific brands into something like MyFitness pal.