My family’s favorite chicken wings with shredded chicken, beans, lots of melted cheese, and all the toppings! We make them on a large sheet pan, which means they’re easy and there’s less cleanup for you!
These chicken nachos are so delicious! They’re inspired by our raw chicken enchilada, with grilled chicken cooked in a salsa verde sauce (made with store-bought or homemade tomatillo salsa). We use the same salsa verde chicken in these loaded nachos.
To make things super easy, I make sheet pan nachos, which means you pile tortilla chips on a large baking sheet and top with cheese, beans, and chicken, then bake in the oven until hot and melty! From there, you get to pile on all the fixings like cilantro, pickled onions, sour cream, guacamole, pickled jalapeños, and more!
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: I usually start with leftover fried chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken for these nachos. You can also use our ground chicken recipe or this ground chicken recipe. I also have this Instant Pot chicken salsa verde, which would be great!
- Salsa Verde: Buy salsa verde at the store (or use green enchilada sauce) or make your own. Here is our fried salsa verde recipe for you to check out.
- Tortilla Chips: Buy your favorite chips from the store or make your own. Here’s how I make tortilla chips.
- Beans: Use pinto or black beans. I have this recipe for black beans, this recipe for refried beans or you can just open a can of beans!
- Cheese: For the best nachos, use more melted cheese. I love Oaxaca cheese (it melts well), cheddar, and Monterey Jack. Throwing in some fresh crumbled cheese like queso fresco before serving is also amazing.
- Favorite Toppings: When the nachos come out of the oven, you can add whatever you like. Another must-have in my family is sour cream, pickled red onions, guacamole, sliced olives, pickled jalapenos, and cilantro. A squeeze of fresh lime juice is great, too!
How to Make Chicken Nachos
I absolutely love these nachos! To make salsa verde chicken, toss shredded chicken in a skillet with your salsa or green enchilada sauce and heat through. From there, you can make nachos. I do this on a large baking sheet, making the nachos friendly and easy to clean.
Since the chicken is already cooked, the nachos only need 15 to 20 minutes in the oven to pop. Once the cheese has melted and the edges of your tortilla chips are turning brown and brown, you can take them out of the oven and finish with whatever you like. Then, enter!
Our Favorite Chicken Nachos
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PREP
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COOK
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TOTAL
Store-bought rotisserie chicken or leftover rotisserie chicken make these chickens easy. Instead of red salsa, we choose green – or salsa verde – made with peppers, tomatillos, onions, and garlic. It’s ezesty and works well with chicken. In addition to chicken, we top our nachos with sharp, flavorful cheddar cheese, spicy pickled jalapenos, spring onions, and extras like thinly sliced radishes and crumbled fresh cheese. Serve this family style, right on a sheet pan.
8 Services
You will need it
4 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 ½ cups salsa verde, and for another serving, try roasted tomatillo salsa verde
1 large bag of tortilla chips or use homemade, low-salt tortilla chips
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
3 green onions, sliced and finely chopped
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about two cups)
4 ounces crumbled queso fresco, feta cheese, or goat cheese
Optional ingredients: sliced radishes, chopped black olives, cilantro, pickled red onion, chopped jalapenos, chopped jalapenos, sour cream, guacamole, avocado, sliced chili.
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large, lined baking sheet with aluminum foil or use parchment paper.
2Add the salsa verde to a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chicken and cook for 5 minutes until heated through.
3Arrange a single layer of tortilla chips on the bottom of the lined pan, and begin forming the nachos. Spread 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 all are gone. (We usually keep three layers of chips).
4Bake the nachos until the cheese is completely melted and everything is hot, 15 to 20 minutes.
5Serve nachos family style, right on the baking sheet, with extra toppings spread on top as desired.
Tips from Adam and Joanne
- Spice level: When buying salsa verde, we recommend choosing a mild or medium spice level. If you’re making your own, adjust the chili pepper to your liking. If your salsa is too spicy, you can always cool things down by mixing a little sour cream into the salsa and chicken.
- The nutrition facts given below are estimates.
Food Per Serving
Serving Size
1/8 of the recipe
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Calories
538
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Perfect Oils
it’s 26g
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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
it’s 46g
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Dietary fiber
8g
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Total Sugar
3g
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Proteins
30g
