Guy Fieri’s signature Trash Can nachos boast a medley of flavorful ingredients, including house-smoked pork, various cheeses, beans, and bourbon brown sugar barbecue sauce.

However, when making the dish, Fieri often swaps regular bacon with Italian pancetta, which adds rich flavors to the dish while retaining a comparable level of desirable saltiness.

Unlike bacon, most pancetta is cured with salt, so it doesn't contribute any extra smoky flavors that might overpower other nacho ingredients. In fact, pancetta complements them.

Pancetta also often gains additional flavor and depth from the herbs, spices, or other aromatics used during its preparation, so it lends a richer complexity to the nachos.

Fieri prefers cubes of pancetta for his nachos, as the diced fatty meat contributes a superb, chewy texture and offers a silky succulence when combined with ingredients like beans.

Cubed pancetta also becomes delightfully crispy when sauteed — unlike the denser chew sometimes associated with bacon — but retains a soft juiciness that’s ideal for nachos.