We call this recipe for vegan nachos ‘Quarantine Nachos’ because we started making them during the Covid-19 lockdowns. It turns out that it is the best gluten-free, vegan nachos recipe that we have ever made! And if you don’t have vegan queso or vegan sour cream on hand, you can make them too! (See below for how to make them.) No salsa in the house? No problem! Just use some canned diced tomatoes, spiced up however you want! Quarantine Nachos are truly “whatever we have on-hand” nachos, so that you can have gluten-free, vegan nachos whenever you want and – and this is important for Quarantine Nachos – without leaving the house!

Before we get to the ingredients and instructions, here is how to make some of the ingredients if you don’t have them ready-made on hand. However, and here’s the best part, if you don’t have a particular ingredient, and you don’t have the items on hand to make that ingredient, you can just skip it! Every single one of the ingredients (i.e the sour cream, the queso, the salsa, etc.) is optional – you can still make yummy nachos without one of them (or even two of them), the flavor profile just won’t be as complex. The only ingredient you can’t omit is the corn chips, for what we hope are obvious reasons. :~)

Sour cream

You’ll be stunned at how easy it is to make your own vegan sour cream! All you need is raw (i.e. unroasted) cashews, vinegar, and salt! In fact, this vegan sour cream is so easy (and so tasty), and so free of other ingredients and preservatives, that you may never buy commercial vegan sour cream again!

Make your own vegan sour cream

Queso

This vegan queso is our copycat recipe for the Good Foods brand plant-based queso that is very popular right now.

Make your own vegan queso

Salsa

To make easy homemade salsa, grab a can of either diced or whole tomatoes (if whole you will want to chop them up), and drain them, reserving the juice. To the tomatoes add whatever you like in your salsa – finely chopped onion, garlic, peppers, salt, pepper, cilantro, whatever you have on hand! If your salsa isn’t moist or liquid enough for your liking, thin it with some of the reserved juice (but not too much or your chips will get soggy!)

Bitchin’ Sauce

Ok, this is not a standard ingredient for nachos, but we have started spooning some our homemade copycat Bitchin’ Sauce on our nachos, and it is seriously amazing!

Guacamole / Avocado

Did you know that you can freeze avocados whole, in their skin? That makes them perfect quarantine food because you can wash them in their skins, even using soap (of course be sure to rinse it off), dry them, and stick them in the freezer in a freeze bag or container, and just take one out when you need it! Thaw it on the counter, or in a cup of lukewarm water. Now, when you cut it open, it will be very mushy, but that’s how you want it! And it will still be perfectly green! Mash it up to use on your Quarantine Nachos, or turn it into guacamole to either top your nachos or to serve on the side!

Ok, here we go!

Quarantine Nachos: Gluten-Free Vegan Nachos Recipe You Can Easily Make at Home!