Cheeseburger Nachos

Memorial Day weekend. This is Detroit's real new year Γçö the day the city decides winter is officially, permanently, non-negotiably over and acts accordingly. Every grill in the city fired up. Every block smelled like charcoal and lighter fluid and someone's uncle's secret sauce. I had the kids. I had the Weber. I had a plan.

Saturday I made burgers Γçö smash burgers on the kettle grill, which is technically wrong but works if you get the grate screaming hot and press the patties thin with a spatula and don't touch them for two minutes. Seasoned with just salt and pepper because a good burger doesn't need a r├⌐sum├⌐. American cheese because we're not complicated. Toasted buns. Ketchup and mustard for Aiden, plain for Zaria because she is five and has decided condiments are suspicious. I ate three. Aiden ate one and a half. Zaria ate the bun and most of the cheese and called it a burger and I let her because Memorial Day is not the day for nutritional battles.

Sunday we went to Mama's. The whole family. Darius brought his kids. Keisha came, which is good Γçö she's been coming more regularly since Christmas, since the silence after Marc broke and the family knitted itself back together with nothing but proximity and Mama's cooking. Dad was in the recliner but he came outside to sit in the lawn chair while Darius grilled chicken. Dad doesn't grill anymore Γçö his feet won't let him stand that long Γçö but he supervised from the chair with the authority of a man who has opinions about charcoal temperature and is not afraid to share them. "Too hot," he told Darius. "You're burning it." Darius was not burning it. Dad was right anyway. That's how fathers work.

I brought potato salad Γçö Mama's recipe with the mustard and the eggs and the sweet pickles, the one she makes for every cookout, the one that tastes like every summer of my childhood. She tasted it and said, "You put too much mustard." I did not put too much mustard. She was right anyway. That's how mothers work.

Monday the kids and I stayed home. Leftover burgers for lunch. I told Aiden about the block party coming up in Rosedale Park, how they do a cookout competition, how I was thinking about entering my ribs. He said, "You'll win, Daddy." The confidence of a seven-year-old who has only ever eaten his father's ribs. I hope he's right. I think he might be.

Those Monday leftovers got me thinking — Aiden and Zaria had already moved on from burgers by lunch, but the weekend’s energy was still buzzing through the house, and I wasn’t ready to let it go either. Cheeseburger Nachos are what happens when you take everything that made Saturday’s smash burgers right — the seasoned beef, the American cheese, the ketchup and mustard — and put them somewhere the kids can’t resist grabbing off the tray. Even Zaria, self-appointed enemy of condiments, didn’t stand a chance.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (80/20)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 bag (12 oz) sturdy tortilla chips
6 slices American cheese, torn into pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup dill pickle chips, drained and patted dry
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup white onion, finely diced
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon pickle brine
Shredded iceberg lettuce, for topping

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and set aside.
Brown the beef. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, breaking it into small crumbles, until browned and cooked through, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, and stir to coat.
Make the burger sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and pickle brine. Set aside.
Layer the nachos. Spread tortilla chips in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Scatter the seasoned beef evenly over the chips. Lay the torn American cheese slices across the top, then sprinkle on the shredded cheddar.
Bake. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the edges of the chips are golden and slightly crisp.
Top and serve. Remove from the oven and immediately top with pickle chips, cherry tomatoes, and diced white onion. Add shredded lettuce and drizzle the burger sauce over everything. Serve straight from the pan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cheeseburger Nachos — The Cookout Energy That Doesn’t Stop When the Grill Does