Save This Recipe
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
These oven-baked Irish nachos are the kind of appetizer that disappears before you can even set the pan down. Thinly sliced russet potatoes stand in for tortilla chips, topped with sharp cheddar, crispy bacon, and fresh green onions — all baked on one foil-lined sheet pan in under an hour with almost no cleanup.
Why You’ll Love This
Only 4 ingredients — potatoes, cheddar, bacon, and green onions. That’s it.
One sheet pan, minimal mess — foil-lined means cleanup is basically just throwing something away.
Genuinely crispy edges — the potatoes get golden and slightly frilly, not soft or steamy.
Impossible to mess up — overbake them a little, forget to flip perfectly, it still works out.
Gone in minutes — hot, cheesy, smoky, and the kind of thing people hover around until it’s empty.
A Few Notes on the Ingredients
Russet potatoes are the move here, I think. I tried it once with Yukon Golds because I had them and they work okay, but the russets get crispier. The starch is different somehow. I’m not a food scientist, I just know what I’ve noticed.
For the cheese, please shred it yourself. I know, I know. But the pre-shredded stuff has a coating that keeps it from melting right, and you’ll end up with cheese that sits on top of things instead of melting into them. Sharp cheddar is what I use. Irish cheddar if I’m feeling fancy or if I remembered to stop at the good grocery store instead of the one next to the gas station.
The bacon — I like thick-cut. I usually cook it in a skillet while the potatoes are baking, and I try to remember to start it around the fifteen-minute mark so it’s done and drained by the time the potatoes need their toppings. I have forgotten to start the bacon on time more than once and ended up rushing and undercooking it slightly. Learn from me.
Green onions at the end. Don’t bake them — they go on after, and they matter more than they look like they should.
Ingredients
2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced thin — 1/8 inch or so, though I don’t measure
8 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded (a big handful, basically — I probably use closer to 9 ounces if I’m being honest)
6 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 green onions, sliced thin
How to Make Them
Start by getting your oven to 425°F. Line your biggest rimmed sheet pan with foil — don’t skip the foil unless you enjoy scrubbing pans.
Slice the potatoes. I use a mandoline on the thinnest setting and I always, always tell myself to use the hand guard, and I’d say I use it about half the time. Use the hand guard. The slices should be thin enough to see your hand through faintly — not paper thin, but close. Dry them off with a kitchen towel after slicing. This is the step that makes the difference between crispy and steamy.
Spread them on the pan in a single overlapping layer. Don’t pile them up — overlapping a little is fine, stacking is not. You want as much surface contact with the hot pan as possible.
Slide them into the middle rack and set a timer for twenty minutes. When it goes off, flip them. I use a spatula and I don’t worry about being perfect about it. Some will fold in half, some won’t flip cleanly. It’s fine. They’re going to get covered in cheese anyway. Put them back in for another five minutes or until the edges look golden and slightly frilly.
While all that’s happening, cook your bacon. Medium heat, don’t rush it. Drain it on a paper towel, then crumble it. Shred your cheese if you haven’t yet. Slice the green onions.
When the potatoes are done, take them out and — this is a step I came up with after the third or fourth time making these — nudge the slices together with a spatula so there are fewer gaps. You’re creating a solid base for the toppings. Then scatter the cheese over everything as evenly as you can, then the bacon over the cheese.
Back into the oven for about six minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble at the edges. My oven runs hot so sometimes five minutes is enough; just watch it.
Take it out, put the green onions on immediately, and let it sit for three minutes. Just three. I know it’s hard. But the cheese needs a moment to set slightly or the whole thing slides around when you try to serve it.
Serve straight from the pan with a spatula.
Variations
Adding a thin layer of olive oil tossed with the potato slices before baking technically makes it a five-ingredient dish, but the potatoes do get crispier. Jalapeños on top work great if that’s your thing.
I’ve done a version with corned beef crumbled on instead of bacon, or sometimes in addition to the bacon, for a more pub-style situation. That’s good if you have leftover corned beef floating around in your fridge. Which, in my house, happens approximately never, but I’ve made it work by buying it from the deli.
Monterey Jack mixed with the cheddar melts even more beautifully if you want something gooier. And if you want heat, a pinch of red pepper flakes over the top before the second bake does it.
Leftovers
These reheat fine in a 375°F oven for about eight minutes, though the cheese gets a little less stretchy and more set. I’ve eaten them cold, straight from the pan at 7 in the morning, standing in my kitchen, and I have no regrets about that.
They don’t keep well past a day. The potatoes soften overnight and the whole thing gets a little heavy. You can absolutely reheat them and they’ll still taste good, they just won’t be what they were fresh.
If you’re making them for a crowd, two pans at once works — rotate them halfway through so they brown evenly. You’ll need someone else to watch one of them because I cannot personally keep track of two things in the oven at the same time without something going wrong.
Set out sour cream on the side, or plain Greek yogurt if you’re going that direction. A little hot sauce. Cold beer if it’s that kind of gathering.