Give Nachos A Gooey, Pizza-Inspired Twist With This Nostalgic Freezer-Aisle Favorite

Whether out with friends or spending the night at home, a plate of loaded nachos can make a delicious, fun snack. When you make them yourself, you can be as creative as you like with the toppings. You can go with quick and simple cheese and salsa, or something more complex with shredded chicken and beans. Usually we focus on what goes on top of nachos, but there are creative swaps that replace the chips and change the whole dynamic of the dish. With that in mind, the next time you crave nachos, consider swapping the tortilla chips for pizza rolls.

To ensure that the pizza roll nachos have the right texture, first make them according to the package directions. You can also follow this recipe to make your own pizza rolls. Ideally, you want them to be crispy so you'll have that texture contrast that makes nachos so much fun. For Totino's Pizza Rolls this should only take about 10 minutes.

Once the pizza rolls are finished cooking, pull them from the oven. You want to bring them together on the tray so they're all touching, just like nachos, and then add your toppings. This is where you'd use grated cheese, browned beef, onions, or anything you want to heat up or melt in the oven. Since the pizza rolls are already cooked, this should only take a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted. You don't want to overcook the pizza rolls. Once the cheese is melted to your liking, you can add any cold toppings like diced tomato, sour cream, or green onion.

Pizza rolls were invented by Jeno Paulucci and Beatrice Ojakangas in the 1960s as a way to expand on their company's line of frozen egg rolls. The brand was purchased by General Mills and fell under the Totino's label in 1993. Though they have been a staple of after-school snacks or late night movie marathons ever since, they lend themselves to many variations when you take a nacho-style approach. Aside from building traditional nachos, the pizza roll base allows you to lean into pizza-style flavors. Replace ground beef as a topping with pepperoni and sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese. You could swap salsa for marinara sauce and add fresh garlic, Parmesan, or a sprinkle of chili flakes.

There are plenty of creative toppings that can go on regular nachos. Likewise, pizza is famous for unique toppings that can be surprisingly delicious. That means pizza roll nachos can be twice as diverse and lend themselves to just about anything. You could go with spicy buffalo chicken for some heat, or supreme pizza-style to get a bit of everything. Think outside the box with a bacon cheeseburger variation, adding cheddar, crunchy bacon bits, and ground beef, then topping it with a little sweet marinara and diced dill pickle.

Another idea is to lean into the Asian connection with the egg roll-inspired wrapper and use flavors inspired by Korean, Japanese, or Chinese cuisine. Beef bulgogi would be a flavorful topping, or you could add some heat with gochujang. Teriyaki chicken and sesame seeds with kewpie mayo would be a sweet and savory contrast to the familiar burst of pizza flavor. If it works with pizza or nachos, it should work well on pizza roll nachos, too.