Chicken Nachos
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Loaded with spicy pulled rotisserie chicken and ungodly amounts of cheese, these chicken nachos are hearty and satisfying – and everyone is happy when you say, “Nachos for dinner!”
Whenever I visit my sister in New York City, we pick one night to leave the kids and husbands at home to go out for a girls’ night. We always dine at the same Mexican restaurant around the corner from her apartment, and we always skip entrees and order a bunch of appetizers instead. It feels like such an indulgence to enjoy chips, guac, and the like without having to worry about filling up before the main course.
I love to eat this way at home, too, but it’s harder when feeding a family. These chicken nachos are one of the few appetizers I can get away with serving for dinner. Loaded with pulled rotisserie chicken in a spicy chipotle-tomato sauce and ungodly amounts of cheese, they are hearty and satisfying – and everyone is happy when I say, “Nachos for dinner!” This recipe makes two large sheet pans of nachos. If you want to mix things up, the chicken mixture can also be used as a filling for quesadillas, tacos or tostadas.
What you’ll need to make chicken nachos
You’ll notice that the recipe calls for two types of cheese: a Mexican blend and pecorino Romano, a sharp, salty Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk. The pecorino might seem like an odd addition to nachos, but it’s an excellent substitute for the funky, longer-aged Mexican cheeses that can be hard to find. I know almost 8 cups of cheese seems like a lot, but good nachos require a generous topping of melted cheese. Plus, light-on-the-cheese nachos are just plain sad! For the guacamole, you can make your favorite recipe — or do as I do and prepare a quick version by mashing some diced avocado with a little lime juice and salt, to taste.
How to make chicken nachos
Begin with the chicken. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
Add the tomato sauce, chipotle peppers and sauce, sugar, cumin, oregano, and salt.
Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
Add the chicken and cilantro.
Mix and set aside.
For the nachos, arrange the tortilla chips in a single layer, overlapping slightly, on two 13 x 18-inch baking sheets. Spread the chicken evenly over the chips.
Sprinkle the cheeses evenly over the chicken.
Bake until the cheese is melted, 5 to 8 minutes.
Remove the nachos from the oven, then sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Serve immediately, passing the guacamole, sour cream, and lime wedges separately.
You may also like
- Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce
- Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas
- Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
- Beef Empanadas
- Stacked Beef Enchiladas
- Chicken Quesadillas
Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos
Loaded with spicy pulled rotisserie chicken and ungodly amounts of cheese, these chicken nachos are hearty and satisfying – and everyone is happy when you say, “Nachos for dinner!”
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, plus 1 tablespoon sauce from can
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken, from 1 rotisserie chicken
- ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro (optional)
For the Nachos
- 1 (13-oz) bag tortilla chips
- 7 cups (28 oz) shredded Mexican blend cheese
- ⅔ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
- ¼ cup finely sliced scallions, from 2 to 3 scallions
- ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro
For Serving (Optional)
- Guacamole
- Sour cream
- Limes wedges
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Do not brown; reduce the heat if necessary.
- Add the tomato sauce, chipotle peppers and sauce, sugar, cumin, oregano, and salt. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and cilantro.
For the Nachos
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set two racks in the center of the oven.
- Arrange the tortilla chips in a single layer, overlapping slightly, on two 13 x 18-inch baking sheets. Spread the chicken evenly over the chips, followed by the cheeses.
- Bake until the cheese is melted, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the nachos from the oven, then sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Serve immediately, passing the guacamole, sour cream, and lime wedges separately.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The chicken mixture can be made in advance and refrigerated up to 2 days ahead of time. Warm the chicken to room temperature in the microwave before assembling the nachos.
- Note: The nutritional information does not include the optional ingredients for serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (10 appetizer-sized servings)
- Calories: 624
- Fat: 42 g
- Saturated fat: 18 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Sodium: 677 mg
- Cholesterol: 115 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Yet again a great recipe. Thank you, Jenn, for helping me with the remainder of a lovely rotisserie chicken. I wanted a bit of spice / heat so went with this. I added a drained and rinsed can of black beans to the chicken but otherwise followed the directions. Excellent – I called them adult nachos. Have leftover chicken / black beans that I will make with eggs or a quesadilla in the next day or so. Thank you for consistently providing us with a recipe website that is so tested.
Hi Jenn,
This chicken mixture is so wonderful in tacos! My 6-year old gobbles it up.
Thank you so much for another great kid-friendly recipe!!
Can I substitute Parm reggiano for the Pecorino romano?
Yes, you can – just keep in mind that pecorino romano has a saltier, sharper flavor than parmigiano reggiano.
Made these tonight and they were great! A bit on the spicy side…but the guac and sour cream helped tame the 🔥. We split the recipe for our family of 4 and it was perfect!
Could you please please please do chicken and dumplings???
I will add it to my list of recipes to potentially develop! 🙂
I second this! 😋
Love your recipes.
They alway turn out perfect and delicious.
I wanted to try this for my husband, but my expectations were low since I’m not a huge chicken nacho fan. It was just the two of us, so I cut the recipe in half – that was easy to do with the given measurements and worked like a charm. Even with a half recipe, it made a pan’s worth and we were already discussing what we’d do with the leftovers. Well, the entire pan is almost gone… It was so good!! Once again, you have created another magical and easy recipe that will go into our regular rotation. Thank you, Jenn!!
The whole family LOVED these! I was cooking for some people who don’t like spicy things, so instead I followed Jen’s suggestion to sub the tomato sauce for a 14 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes and add a teaspoon of smoke paprika! It still had a really delicious flavor (though I am looking forward to making it with the chipotle peppers sometime!) Because I also have folks who are picky about texture, I puréed the sauce in a food processor after it cooked for 10 minutes, before I mixed it with the chicken. Wonderful!
Such a great recipe and easy to make. Love the use of the rotisserie chicken! It was a hit in my house!
These were easy and super delicious – going on the dinner rotation for sure!!
Such a simple recipe but so delicious. Thank you very much!
If my family doesn’t like spicy but I’d like to try this what do you recommend?
Hi Allison, Unfortunately, there’s not a perfect non-spicy substitute for chipotles in adobo. You might try about 3 tablespoons of a not-sweet barbecue sauce. Please LMK how the nachos turn out if you try it!
Awesome! Loved this recipe. Super easy and delicious.
“Winner, winner, chicken din … nachos!” The outcome from this recipe is delicious!
As usual with Jenn’s recipes I trusted it without testing it. Had to make an app with very short notice. I had everything except the canned adobe. So as Jenn suggested I substituted that with smoked paprika and Wow! These nachos are so good…the smoky flavor and addition of the Pecorino Romano cheese added something different and amazing. It took regular nachos and kicked it up several notches. Thank you for another reliable delicious recipe! xoxo
Hi Jenn,
Do you think I could use regular Romano cheese instead of the Pecorino – it was all I could find at the store. I have Asiago and Parmesan also.
Sure, Colleen, that should work. Hope you enjoy!
these were fantastic, I make nachos all the time, I tried this and it was a game changer, they were fantastic
These are so ridiculously simple compared to the complicated chicken nachos I used to make! The complicated version — with marinated, then sauteed chicken that is then simmered in a sauce — is indeed very tasty… BUT so is this recipe and it’s ten times easier using the store-bought rotisserie chicken!
Thank you ten times over for this recipe, Jenn! We love chicken nachos, and this recipe really nips the craving without so much effort.
Pro tip for anyone else reading (maybe Jenn mentioned it in the recipe write-up, I can’t remember!) — I don’t know if I’ve *ever* used a whole can of chipotles in Adobo sauce, and I hate to waste, so whatever remains from a can I put in my mini food processor and blitz til it’s smooth. Then I put it in a tiny tupperware and it lives on the door of the freezer for a few months. When I want chipotle flavor, I use a teaspoon to scrape as much of the frozen paste as I want, instead of using the powdered spice. Also fab to simply mix in to sour cream with a little lime for a wicked chip dip.
Love that tip! Very important to find ways not to waste food. Thanks!
I do the same thing with leftover chipotle in adobo, but no need to freeze it. I keep it in the fridge door in a glass jar. It also keeps for a few months this way!
Thank you for that tip!!!!! Great idea (I hate wasting food also).
Thank you again Tina
Lisa
These were great! I paired these with the Stacked Beef Enchiladas from Once Upon a Chef.
BEST CHICKEN NACHOSI EVER MADE!!! As a kid we used to beg to go to the local Mexican place to get this yummy appetizer, and this brought me back to 1975!!
Incredible and makes a ton! You don’t need a lot of these to get full! Love anything I can use rotessiere chicken with after a long day at the office.
Thank you for a delicious way to use up leftover chicken and make a delicious meal. Your recipes (and your cookbook) continue to inspire us to get into the kitchen and make something yummy!!!