DIY Nacho Bar

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Updated on 04/27/21

Decorations

Begin your nacho bar table with some cute decorations. Seek out some cactus decorations, papel picado banners, and a few candles. Many can be found at party stores, your local hobby store, or online.

Clean cut, butcher or kraft paper makes a great base, and easy cleanup, for the nacho bar, but you can also use a simple or festive tablecloth. Just remember to fold under the edges of the butcher paper so nobody accidentally gets a paper cut. Ouch!

We recommend picking a color theme and sticking with it. You can go the festive route with bright pinks, oranges, and yellows, or a more subtle and neutral palette of light greens, browns, and pale pink (think about a cactus and its flower).

Signage

Make sure to have some signs for labeling what is in each dish. Especially, if you are hosting both meat-eaters and vegetarians, or those who are gluten free or dairy free. This will make things much easier when people start eating.

Try using a little easel—like the one pictured—or, if you have some leftover frames laying around, print up a sign and frame it.

Ideas for labeling your nacho bar:

Nacho chips
Spicy queso dip
Mild queso dip
Mushroom taco "meat"
Taco meat
Pulled pork
Shredded chicken
Beans
Lettuce
Sour cream
Dairy-free cheese
Shredded cheddar
Mild salsa
Hot salsa

Chips, Chips, More Chips!

nacho bar chips — The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Next, we need to think about food. There's a bunch of different ways you can go about creating your nacho bar, however, we believe it all starts with the chips.

Try offering up different kinds of tortilla chips, like blue or red corn chips, scoop chips, round chips, or regular tortilla chips. It's always fun to give your guests a few options.

If you have time and you're feeling adventurous, trying baking your own tortilla chips. If you're watching your calories you can still enjoy the fun by making low-calorie tortilla chips.

Queso Dip

nacho bar queso — The Spruce / Leah Maroney

The next item to focus on is the queso dip, as it is a must for any nacho bar (we cheese-lovers may be biased). Since you won't be able to melt shredded cheese on everyone's plate of nachos, we recommend using hot queso dip to act as the base for all of the other toppings. Luckily, it's super easy to make and can be kept warm on the table in a small crock pot or fondue pot. The recipe below only uses two ingredients.

Chile Con Queso

2 pounds Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 can of Rotel tomatoes and chiles

Combine the cheese and Rotel in the fondue or slow cooker (or a bowl in the microwave) and heat on low until completely melted and combined.

Other Queso Dips

Variety of Proteins

nacho bar meat — The Spruce / Leah Maroney

It's important to offer a variety of proteins, both meat-based and vegetarian, in order to please all of your guests. These are the recipes you will need to make ahead of time. Then, on the day of the party, place them in small crock pots, chaffing dishes, or fondue pots to keep them hot. You can also use canned and preseasoned beans to save time.

Protein Options

Several Salsas

nacho bar salsa — The Spruce / Leah Maroney

Add a few salsas to the table as well. You can make a homemade restaurant-style salsa, some pico de gallo, or use the store-bought bottle variety. Having a variety of salsas—ranging between mild and spicy—will be a surefire delight for your guests who may or may not like a lot of heat to their food.