These Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos are an easy and delicious snack recipe! They are so simple to put together and bake up quickly in the oven. This will be your new favorite way to repurpose chicken leftovers!
Chicken Nachos
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I really feel like nachos are the perfect snack food. Crispy, salty chips with melty cheese and all sorts of excellent toppings. I mean, what’s not to love?! When I make my insanely-amazing-and-stupid-easy taco meat, I often have leftovers because it makes a pretty good amount. Now taco leftovers are never a bad thing but I’m also not above looking for new and interesting ways to repurpose these leftovers. And this chicken nachos recipe is just what we all need!
And being that there’s always some sort of big game on, it only seems right to share my new favorite way of using chicken leftovers so that you can hoard a giant pan to yourself in the corner of the couch while only coming up for air to watch parts of the game (or the commercials if you’re me!).
I strongly encourage you to get creative with your toppings- make whatever kind of loaded nachos feel right to you. I went with what I had hanging out in my fridge and pantry. In fact, I even opened a can of sliced black olives and totally forgot to throw them on top of the nachos before getting my photos because I was so excited to get those photos done and dig in!
Helpful tips for how to make nachos
- You can easily make as much or as little as you want and they cook up pretty quickly. This recipe was designed to give you the ingredients without having to measure it all out. Make them just for you or make them for a crowd- but don’t plan on having leftovers because these will go quick 🙂
- That said, feel free to get creative with the toppings and add and take away to your taste.
- If the chicken is cold, you may want to warm it slightly- it doesn’t have to be piping hot, but this will make sure that it is piping hot when the nachos are ready.
- This recipe is designed to use leftover taco chicken. If you don’t have leftover pulled pork, you can totally make some with the recipe I linked above but feel free to use whatever leftover chicken you have on hand. As long as it doesn’t have outrageously strong flavors already (so maybe don’t add leftover chicken parm!) it’ll work.
- As always, line your pan for easy clean up!
Frequently asked questions about making baked nachos
- Do I have to use shredded cheese? No! If you’d rather have traditional nacho cheese, grab the premade stuff or some velveeta and do your thing!
- Can you make chicken nachos ahead? These are probably best made just before serving. That said, this recipe is designed to use up leftover chicken, so there’s that.
Make it a meal!
A few great recipes to round out and complete this meal would be:
- Mexican Lasagna Roll-ups
- Mexican Bean Salad
- Ground Beef Oven Baked Tacos
- Cajun Black Bean and Corn Salad
Helpful tools:
These Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos are an easy and delicious snack recipe! They are so simple to put together and bake up quickly in the oven. This will be your new favorite way to repurpose chicken leftovers!
- Tortilla chips
- Chicken taco meat or shredded chicken (this is my favorite recipe)
- Cheddar cheese, shredded
- Tomatoes, diced
- Black beans, rinsed and drained
- Jalapeno peppers, sliced
- Avocado, peeled and sliced
- Sour cream
- Salsa
- Black olives, sliced
- Scallions, diced
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with foil, a baking mat or parchment for easy clean up.
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Spread the tortilla chips on the pan in a single layer.
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Top generously with cheese, chicken and black beans. If the chicken is cold, you may want to warm it slightly- it doesn't have to be piping hot, but this will make sure that it is piping hot when the nachos are ready.
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Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is well melted.
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Top this will all the cold ingredients and serve immediately.
If you tried this recipe please comment and rate it 🙂 I love hearing your feedback and answering your questions! And if you make this please tag me on Instagram with @thelifejolie so I can share it <3
Other great Mexican inspired appetizer recipes are:
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10 Comments
Platter Talk
January 31, 2017 at 9:11 am Thank you! Just in time for game day and I'm making it!!! Platter Talk recently posted...New England CuisineJessy
February 1, 2017 at 8:51 am Enjoy!Liz @ I Heart Vegetables
January 31, 2017 at 9:40 am I've been loving sheet pan dinners lately! They're just so easy and clean up is so fast! These nachos look great! Liz @ I Heart Vegetables recently posted...One Pan Ratatouille RecipeJessy
February 1, 2017 at 8:50 am Yes! There's nothing like throwing some stuff on a pan and letting the oven do the rest!Julia @ HappyFoods Tube
January 31, 2017 at 10:31 am I like dishes where you can improvise and add your favorite ingredients without ruining the taste. This is definitely one of those dishes and makes me wanna run to the shop to get the nachos! :)Jessy
February 1, 2017 at 8:49 am Me too, Julia- sometimes it's fun to mix it up!Veena Azmanov
January 31, 2017 at 10:38 am Oh this is like my kinda dish sitting in front of the TV... I love nachos..and this looks so tempting. Can't wait to try. Veena Azmanov recently posted...Thai Prawn Noodle Soup with Coconut Milk in 10 MinutesJessy
February 1, 2017 at 8:49 am Thanks Veena- I'm glad I'm not the only one that immediately imagines eating this in front of the TV :)Michelle @ Vitamin Sunshine
February 1, 2017 at 9:24 pm Yum, chicken nachos! These remind me of the nachos my mom used to make when I was a kid-- maybe like twice a year, but we all looked forward to it! Except she used processed Velveeta-- thank goodness we know better these days :)Jessy
February 1, 2017 at 10:53 pm Your mom totally knew what was up :) I'm with you on the Velveeta (while I try to be an equal opportunity cheese lover, I can't do the heavily processed ones!). Although, I have many food-centric friends who live for it!