My family’s favorite chicken nachos with shredded chicken, beans, lots of melted cheese, and all the toppings.We cook them in a large pan, which means they’re easy and there’s less cleanup for you.
These chicken nachos are so delicious they are inspired by ours green chicken enchiladaswhich are shredded chicken cooked in a salsa verde sauce (store-bought or Homemade Tomatillo Salsa) We use the same salsa verde chicken for these epic loaded nachos.
To make things easier, I’m making pan nachos, which means you’ll make your own tortilla chips on a large baking sheet and top with cheese, beans and chicken, then bake in the oven until hot and melted.From there you can pile on all the fixings like cilantro, pickled onionsour cream guacamolepickled jalapeños and more.
Main ingredients:
- Chicken meat. I usually start with leftovers fried chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken for these nachos.You can also use our shredded chicken recipe or this boiled chicken recipe. I have this too Instant Pot salsa verde chickenwhich would be perfect.
- Green sauce. Store-bought salsa verde (or use green enchilada sauce) or make your own.Here’s ours ground salsa verde recipe for you to look at.
- Tortilla chips. Buy your favorite store bought chips or make your own here’s how I make them homemade tortilla chips.
- Beans. Use pinto or black beans.I have this black bean recipethis refried beans recipe or you can just open a can of beans.
- Cheese. For the best nachos, use melted cheese, and lots of it. I like Oaxaca cheese (it melts so well), cheddar, and Monterey Jack. Throwing in some crumbled fresh cheese like queso fresco is also amazing.
- Favorite fillings: Once the nachos come out of the oven, you can pile on whatever you like.Some of my family’s must-haves are sour cream, pickled red onion, guacamolesliced olives, pickled jalapeños and cilantro. A squeeze of fresh lime juice is also nice.
How to make chicken nachos
I love these nachos. To make the salsa verde chicken, put the shredded chicken in the pan with your salsa or green enchilada sauce. From there, you can build the nachos, making the nachos easy to clean :
Since the chicken is already cooked, the nachos only need 15-20 minutes in the oven to crisp up. Once the cheese is completely melted and the edges of your tortilla chips are crisp and brown, you can remove them from the oven and be done with whatever. Do you like it? Then dig in.
Our favorite chicken nachos
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TOTALLY
Store-bought chicken or leftover fried chicken make these chicken nachos easy.Instead of red salsa, we go for green or green sauce – made with chilies, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. It’s delicious and works great with chicken. In addition to chicken, we top our nachos with sharp, flavorful cheddar cheese, spicy pickled jalapeños, and lots of toppings like thin sliced radishes and crumbled fresh cheese.Serve this family-style, right next to the sheet pan.
8 servings
You will need it
4 cups cooked and shredded chicken
Try 1 ½ cups salsa verde, plus more for serving ground tomato salsa verde
1 large bag of tortilla chips or to use homemade tortilla chipslightly salted
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
3 green onions, sliced and diced
8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)
4 ounces crumbled queso fresco, feta cheese, or goat cheese
Optional extras: sliced radish, sliced black olives, cilantro, pickled red onionsliced pickled jalapeños, candied jalapeñosour cream guacamoleavocado, sliced chili pepper
Directions:
1:Heat the oven until 350°F (177°C) Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or use parchment paper.
2:Add salsa verde to a large skillet over medium heat, stir in chicken, and cook 5 minutes until heated through.
3:Arrange a layer of tortilla chips on the bottom of a sheet pan, then begin making the nachos. Scatter one-third of the chicken, black beans, pickled jalapeños, chopped green onions and grated cheddar cheese over the chips. Repeat with additional layers of chips and toppings until they are all gone. (We usually end up with three layers of chips.)
4:Bake nachos until cheese is completely melted and everything is heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.
5:00Serve nachos family-style, directly on the baking sheet, with as many additional toppings as desired scattered on top.
Advice from Adam and Joan
- Seasoning level. When buying salsa verde, we recommend choosing a mild or medium spice level. If you’re making your own, adjust the chili to your liking. If your salsa is too spicy, you can always tone things down by mixing in some sour cream. and into the chicken mixture.
- The nutrition facts below are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
Serving size
1/8 of the recipe
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Calories
538
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Total fat
26 g
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Saturated fats
9 g
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Cholesterol
96 mg
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Sodium
754 mg
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Carbohydrate
46 g
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Dietary fiber
8 g
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Total sugars
3 g
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Proteins
30 g
