These loaded pierogi nachos are a little work - with homemade taco meat and nacho sauce - but TOTALLY worth it. A super indulgent party appetizer!

A while back, my cousin posted a screen shot of a local-to-her restaurant menu on her Facebook.

I couldn’t help but zero in the line item of PEROGY NACHOS on that menu. WHAAAAAT?

We’re both a fan of perogies - a Polish dumpling - but generally just serve them pan fried with some sauteed onions, a sprinkling of crisp bacon, a dollop of sour cream, and some sliced green onion.

There was no description or anything, so it spawned a big discussion. What would these nacho perogies entail, exactly?

We thought back to another “Weird” nachos recipe we’d designed - Irish Nachos.

The equivalent of that AMAZING dish would be perogies topped with sauerkraut, bacon, sour cream, and cheese - so basically just loaded perogies.

We wanted to really go with the “nachos” on this one. After a little bit of brainstorming, we had a plan.

... We also had an untouched bag of perogies in the freezer, so we were almost good to go. This recipe went from idea to fruition in NO time, and has since become a favourite party food to serve.

The best part? The nacho meat and cheese sauce can both be made ahead and reheated as the perogies are frying.

This is a great way to ensure super quick and easy prep, if you’re making this for a game day party!

Ingredients

This recipe has a bit of a laundry list of ingredients, but they’re mostly really simple ingredients that will be easy to find in any grocery store.

A few notes for you:

Frozen Perogies

I use frozen - well, thawed - perogies for this recipe, for a few reasons: cost, convenience, and ... theme?

To me, deep fried frozen perogies are arena food - several of the rinks I skated at as a kid sold them at the canteen.

That association, for me, really contributes to the junky nacho goodness, if that makes any sense.

That said, feel free to use Homemade Pierogi if you prefer.

If you need gluten-free, my Gluten-Free Perogies fry up nicely.

You can even make these on Keto Perogies, but I wouldn’t recommend deep frying them - pan fry or air fry, as they wouldn’t hold up to a deep frying.

In terms of flavour, I like a plain cheddar and potato perogy for this - the natural flavor of the cheese filling makes a PERFECT base for nachos, IMHO.

Finally, if you’re not into deep frying, check out my post on How to Cook Perogies in an Air Fryer, for a healthier - and less messy - alternative!

Ground Meat

We tend to use either Pulled Chicken or homemade taco meat, to make our nacho perogies.

You can use whatever ground meat you like in this recipe - ground beef, ground chicken, ground turkey, or veggie grounds - but I recommend going with something lean-ish.

As pictured, we made this batch with Beyond Meat.

Spices

I haven’t used store bought taco seasoning in years - way too salty, and it just doesn’t taste as good as homemade does.

So, I use a bunch of spices in this recipe, making my own taco seasoning right on the cooking meat:

Hatch Chile Powder
Smoked Paprika
Garlic Powder
Crushed Chilies
Dried Oregano
Ground Cumin
Onion Powder
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Don’t have all of that on hand, and prefer to use a commercial taco seasoning? No problem - just season your beef to taste, with your choice of premade seasoning.

Shredded Cheese

I made my macho cheese sauce with a nice sharp cheddar cheese - robust flavour works really holds up well to the jalapenos that get cooked into it.

That said, you can use a medium cheddar, mild cheddar, Monterrey Jack, and/or Pepper Jack. It’s all good.

Milk - or Beer

You can use milk or beer as the base for the nacho cheese sauce - or even chicken broth.

If using beer, we recommend using a light tasting beer that’s not really hop-forward - like a lager or amber ale.

Molson Canadian and Labatt Blue are our go-to beers for cooking with. Cheap, easy to find, neutral tasting.

Nacho Toppings

We did the recipe card up for how we assembled the nachos THIS time, but really ... top them however you like.

In this case, we used:

Red Bell Pepper
Fresh Cilantro
Green Onions
Sliced Black Olives
Avocado
Jalapeno
Sour Cream
Salsa
Lime Wedges

Just have fun with it!

Oil for Frying

As with all deep frying, I recommend using a relatively neutral tasting oil with a high smoke point - vegetable oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, etc.

If you’re air frying these, use whatever spray oil you tend to use when air frying.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

1-2 Jalapeno Peppers (for the sauce)
Garlic Cloves
Corn Starch
Olive Oil

... but I don’t have anything to add, for these last few ingredients!

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How to Make Loaded Perogy Nachos

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Nacho Meat:

Measure olive oil into a large skillet.

Add ground meat and spices to the pan, breaking up and mixing everything together.

Cook over medium heat until meat is cooked through.

Keep warm while preparing nachos, or cover and chill until ready to use. Reheat before using it on the nachos.

4 part image showing the spices measured into a bowl, and the taco meat being cooked up.

This batch was made with "Beyond Meat", but you can use ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey!

Jalapeno Nacho Cheese Sauce:

In a large bowl, sprinkle corn starch over the shredded cheese, gently mix to combine. Set aside.

Seed and finely chop your jalapeno peppers (I use a mini food processor), add to a medium saucepan along with the garlic and olive oil or butter.

Saute over medium heat until pepper is tender.

Add milk to the pot, heat just to a simmer.

Add a large handful of cheese to the simmering milk, stir until melted. Continue adding rest of cheese – a handful at a time – stirring until it’s melted each time.

Stop when sauce reaches desired thickness, season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Keep warm while preparing the nachos, or cool to room temperature and chill until ready to use. Reheat in the microwave before using.

Loaded Pierogi Nachos:

I recommend preparing your meat, cheese sauce, and toppings before getting started with the perogies.

Preheat your oil 350 F . You can use a deep fryer, or a heavy pan. If not using a deep fryer, use a deep, heavy pot, filled to at least 3" deep.

Carefully transfer thawed perogies to the heated oil. Fry a few at a time - turning frequently for even cooking- until golden brown.

As the perogies are cooked, use a (metal!) slotted spoon to transfer them from the oil, to a sheet pan lined with paper towels. Blot excess oil, then arrange perogies on a large serving dish.

Top cooked pierogi with taco meat, cheese sauce, and toppings. Serve hot!

Leftover Loaded Pierogi Nachos

Once assembled, these are definitely best served fresh.

You CAN transfer leftover perogy nachos to an airtight container (after cooling to room temperature, anyway) and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days ... but the texture won’t be as good.

If you anticipate having leftovers, I recommend only assembling the amount of perogies you plan to eat at that serving.

The remaining fried perogies can be reheated - an air fryer is best for this - and assembled later, if needed!

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A plate of loaded perogy nachos - deep fried pierogi topped with jalapeno cheese sauce, nacho meat, and other toppings.

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