Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos Recipe, and when I say loaded, I mean just that! This super easy weeknight dinner recipe or game day appetizer is definitely one you’ll be making again and again. You can never go wrong with crisp tortilla chips, shredded BBQ chicken, tomatoes, red onion, corn, black beans, jalapeño and lots of cheese. It might just become your favorite easy dinner!
Sometimes dinner recipes don’t get any better than this.
These easy chicken nachos are the quick answer when you get asked that all-important question, “what’s for dinner?” or when you just need easy dinner ideas.
Time is of the essence.
But you also want something that’s healthy that you know they’re going to eat.
Enter shredded chicken nachos!
SAVE THIS CHICKEN NACHO RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
How do I cook the chicken for these sheet pan chicken nachos?
You can cook the chicken you use in a variety of ways and use whichever is easiest for you!
Grilled chicken
- I like to grill about 6 chicken breasts once a week on my George Foreman Grill.
That way, I’ve got all the pre-cooked chicken I need for an easy lunch, dinner, or just nibbling on when I need some protein.
If I don’t plan to use it, I’ll pop it into the freezer when I do!
Rotisserie Chicken
- On your way home from work and pressed for time, quickly head to the store and pick up everything you need last minute including a rotisserie chicken.
I LOVE the versatility and ease of using a rotisserie chicken.
Not to mention the delicious flavor!
Poached Chicken
Poaching is the process of cooking the chicken by boiling it in a small amount of water or chicken broth.
It’s super easy and doesn’t require a lot of hands on attention.
Slow Cooker Chicken
If I don’t grill the chicken, then I’ll fix it up in my Crockpot or Slow Cooker.
Cooking the chicken this way is another easy way to prepare it for the week or freeze it for future recipes, too.
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How do you make chicken nachos? I’ll give you some tips!
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
I know some people use the broiler, but I like to use the oven to bake them because that warms the whole sheet and everything on it, and doesn’t just melt the cheese or heat up the top layer. - Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with a sheet of aluminum foil.
This will allow for easy clean up. - Layer, layers, layers!!
Instead of dumping the whole bag of tortilla chips onto the baking sheet, I put about ⅔ of the bag down to start. Then I’ll add about ⅔ of all the ingredients, saving the rest to layer over the top. Doing it this way, I’ve found that there’s better distribution of everything and I’m more likely to have FAR less chips with nothing on them. Because face it, there’s nothing more disappointing than reaching for a delicious looking nacho chip only to pull it and find there’s not much on it. SUCH a bummer! - Choose your favorite tortilla chips.
You don’t want to use chips that are super thin because they won’t hold up with all the deliciousness when you go to take a bite – it could all end up on your lap. - Use your favorite BBQ or hot sauce to mix with the shredded chicken.
- Add fresh corn or make it easy by thawing a cup of frozen corn.
- Drain a rinse a can of black beans to add more flavor and make the nachos heartier!
They add some great flavor, too. - You can use green onion or red. Personally, I prefer the flavor and color of the red.
- Cheese, cheese, cheese!
I love using the combination of shredded Mexican cheeses because of the flavor and it melts easily.
Feel free to use just cheddar, a Colby/Jack combination, or a Taco cheese mixture.
You can also shred the cheese yourself from a block. - Jalapeño – use as much or as little as you and the people you’re feeding it to desire.
I don’t like a lot of spice on my foods…ok, hardly any spice on my food, so I’ll generally go easy. I’ll serve about half of the diced jalapeño on the side so that others can spice it up to their heart’s content.
And one of the best thing about this Easy Loaded Nachos Recipe is that you can decrease or increase any of the listed ingredients to your liking.
Also, you can make these completely your own by omitting or adding your own favorite ingredients, too!
One of my favorite times to serve these is while we’re watching the football games.
Football and finger food go hand in hand, don’t they?
Whether it’s pepperoni bread, stuffed mushrooms, guacamole, or pretzel bites, you can bet we’ll be eating some kind of food that’s finger-lickin’ good!
I love to serve these Chicken Enchilada Bitesand if I’m not serving a crowd, I’ll make a salad with the leftover chicken or roll the meet up into some tortillas and serve it that way.
Chicken isn’t just popular when served on nachos.
It’s great in dips as well!
For the Buffalo lovers, this slow cooker Buffalo chicken dip or Buffalo chicken cheese ball are recipes they’re sure to enjoy.
You can make this chicken taco dip, too!
Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos Recipe
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups cooked shredded chicken about 2 chicken breasts
- ¾ cup your favorite BBQ sauce I often use Sweet Baby Ray's
- 13 oz favorite tortilla chips
- 2 tomatoes diced small
- 15 oz black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed
- ⅓ cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and diced small can add more to your liking
- 2 ½ cups shredded Mexican Style cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F and prepare a rimmed baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, mix the shredded chicken with the barbecue sauce. Mix to coat chicken completely.
- Place 2/3 of the tortilla chips onto the prepared sheet, spreading to the edges.
- Spread 2/3 of the BBQ chicken evenly over tortilla chips. Follow with ⅔ each of the tomatoes, black beans, corn, red onion, and jalapeño.
- Sprinkle 1 ½ cups of the shredded cheese over the entire baking sheet.
- Place the rest of the chips on top and layer with the remaining ingredients, topping it with the cheese and jalapeños.
- Bake for 7 - 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Nutrition
What a yummy and quick dinner.
Everyone loves them and there are barely any leftovers which is good because leftover nachos become soggy and quite chewy.
Blech!
I used to rate everything I baked on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Chicken Nachos recipe earned 4 rolling pins!!
This easy chicken recipe is a keeper, that’s for sure!
This post, recipe, and pictures have been updated and improved as of 1/31/21.
I changed the ingredients, added more of them, and improved the recipe.
I think the family was pleased when I served them because after one bite, I heard Mr. 365 exclaim, “this is the best chicken nachos recipe EVER!” #micdrop 😂
Comments & Reviews
Not being a huge beef eater, I absolutely love this recipe. Funny how my eyes search for the rolling pin count!
Are there directions missing? Do you put it back in the oven after adding second layer or does it just melt and on its own from the other layer?
Oh, my goodness, Hol, thank you so much for catching that!
Putting the chips into the oven should be the last step in the directions. I’ve corrected the recipe to show that.
Whoops! Very happy that you brought it to my attention.
Oh, how fabulous! I used to eat chicken nachos for dinner ALL the time when I was in college (and had faster metabolism!). Love your version~
Mmm, I love chicken nachos. My kids were just asking for them again the other day. I have them on the lunch menu for this week. 🙂
We made this for dinner last night and the boys loved it, and this morning we were asked if we could have it again for dinner tonight. It was very easy to make. We used boneless breast of chicken and poached it first. Then we put it in out Kitchen Aide Stand of mixer and with the wire whisk beater shredded the chicken and then put the hot sauce in that mixing bowl to marinate. We were having a guest for dinner so I did use a 9×13 stoneware baking dish with sides simply for presentation to go from oven to table. It was a big hit. The only thing we didn’t do was use foil and spray it with oil because my stoneware is nonstick. Our guest commented they would of sprayed the chips with cooking spray or put a little water in the pan to soften the chips. The rest of the family enjoyed the crunch. I will think about spraying the the bottom of the stoneware next time because it may soften the chips. But like I said….we enjoyed the crunch, it was a change.
I never would have thought of using my Kitchenaid stand up mixer to shred chicken….I’ve been doing it the old-fashioned way. Thank you for that comment, which has turned in to a suggestion for me!
Susan, haha I’d completely forgotten about that until you’d mentioned it! Funny how some things just slip the mind.
Hope it makes things a little easier for you!
I would like to print this recipe, how can I do that without all the pics?
Thank you
Donna, go to http://www.printfriendly.com/ and then paste the url of the recipe you want to print. You can choose to print without the images.
VERY DELICIOSO.
Can’t wait to try this version. I will probably do individual pie plates for the four of us, since one of my step-sons doesn’t like BBQ sauce. That’s what I do with our regular nachos, so everyone gets to dress up their own with their favourite toppings and decide how much or how little of each. Looks delish!
Great idea, thanks Janet! The kids will be psyched to have their own helpings, too, I’m sure!
I really want to make these, but unfortunately they don’t make Frank’s Red Hot Wings Sweet Heat BBQ Sauce anymore. What have you been using in place of it?
Thank you!
Melissa, thanks for bringing that up! I would use the Frank’s Red Hot Kickin’ BBQ Sauce instead.
So happy to find this one! I just made a crock pot full of pulled chicken…dinner tonight!!
Thanks so much, Gail! I hope you enjoyed them!
My sister and I totally enjoyed these nachos! I subbed refried beans for the black beans and instead of bbq I used my nephews salsa. They are so delish! Thanks much for the idea!😘
Marabeth, thank you so much, I’m so happy to hear that! These nachos are definitely a favorite around here, too, and SO easy to make. Every time I make them (which isn’t often haha), I think, “WHY don’t I make them more??!!
So glad you and your sister enjoyed them and I love the refried beans and that you used your nephew’s salsa, too!