Chicken Nachos are the perfect appetizer, lunch, or even dinner when you’re craving something salty, full of tasty Mexican ingredients. Tortilla chips are covered in queso, then layered with chicken, pico de Gallo, more cheese, and any of your favorite toppings. Bake these easy sheet pan nachos in the oven in a flash, and be prepared to share because these are delicious!
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What’s in Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos
All you need for this easy chicken nachos recipe is a sheet pan, chicken, tortilla chips, cheese, and a few other simple ingredients. They’re really versatile, so grab your favorite toppings, bake quickly in the oven, and enjoy.
- Tortilla Chips: Assembling nachos starts with tortilla chips. Use your favorite kind–I recommend using a thicker chip that will hold up under all the toppings.
- Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken tenders cut into small strips. But you can use boneless chicken breast or thighs, cut into strips or cubes. You can also use rotisserie or shredded chicken for convenience!
- Queso: I always use my favorite white queso, but you can use any kind you like. Don’t add too much, or the chips will get soggy.
- Shredded Cheese: Use a Mexican blend or any type of cheese you have on hand. Pepper jack would be another good option. Freshly-shredded cheese melts best!
- Pico de Gallo: Sprinkle fresh pico de gallo on top for more flavor and texture. This mix of diced tomatoes and onion is perfect!
- Taco Seasoning: This blend seasons the chicken before adding it on top of the nachos.
- Onion: A little bit of chopped onion adds more texture and flavor.
Flavor Tip: Cook the chicken with tequila and lime juice (1 tablespoon each) to add a bright and zesty flavor!
Chicken Nacho Toppings and Variations
You can add other toppings on the chicken nachos before baking. Try black beans, fire-roasted corn, jalapeno slices, refried beans, or anything you like.
After they come out of the oven, add cold toppings, like blender salsa, the best guacamole, sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), avocado slices, mexican street corn salsa, or more shredded cheese.
Change the type of queso: try this poblano queso, or go with classic nacho cheese sauce.
You can also finish them off with a bite more queso, lime juice, cilantro, or taco sauce.
Instead of using taco seasoning for the chicken, try blackened seasoning or fajita seasoning.
Or try these grilled BBQ chicken nachos for another twist on this easy appetizer!
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In a 350F oven, it should only take 10-15 minutes to bake nachos. You’re just warming everything up and melting the cheese, so it won’t take very long. Rotate the sheet pan halfway through to make sure they heat evenly.
I use a mix of queso and shredded cheese for these nachos. A Mexican blend shredded cheese is great, but you can use any type you like, including Colby jack, pepper jack, or cheddar. I recommend shredding your own cheese for best quality.
How to Store and Reheat
Chicken nachos are best served fresh out of the oven! Because the chips are covered with queso, chicken, and other toppings, they will get soft or soggy when refrigerated and reheated.
However, you can store leftover nachos in an airtight container or wrapped in foil, and keep in the refrigerator up to 2 days. For best results, store extra ingredients separately, and assemble and bake fresh nachos.
Serving Suggestions
These sheet pan chicken nachos are the best appetizer for Cinco de Mayo, and it’s a great football food since they make enough for plenty of people. Serve them along with your favorite margaritas or cocktails.
They also pair well with any Mexican snacks or meals, including chicken taquitos, chicken tacos, a Crunchwrap Supreme, or esquites.
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos
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Ingredients
- 32(ish) Tortilla Chips click for recipe OR use store bought
- 6 boneless skinless chicken tenders cut into small strips
- 1 ounce taco seasoning click for recipe
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tequila
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup White Queso click for recipe
- 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 cup pico de gallo click for recipe
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro optional
- Optional additional toppings: black beans, mexi-corn, jalapenos, refried beans, olives, or anything you love!
- Garnish ideas: sour cream, avocado, guacamole, salsa, the list goes on and on!
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F
- In a large skillet, heat your oil over medium/high heat1 tablespoon olive oil
- Add the chicken into the skillet and toss in the tequila, taco seasoning, and lime juice, Stir to combine. Cook the chicken until fully cooked; about 4-5 minutes. Set aside.6 boneless skinless chicken tenders, 1 ounce taco seasoning, 1 tablespoon tequila, 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Lay the chips on a large sheet pan/cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Lay them pretty much in a single layer, only slightly overlapping.32(ish) Tortilla Chips
- Arrange the chicken and onion over the chips.1/2 cup chopped onion
- Drizzle the chips and chicken with the white queso. (A little goes a long way. You don't want everything to get soggy.)1/4 cup White Queso
- Sprinkle everything with the shredded cheese2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
- Top with the pico and cilantro. (Add extra toppings here if using.)1 cup pico de gallo, 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro, Optional additional toppings: black beans, mexi-corn, jalapenos, refried beans, olives, or anything you love!
- Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes, rotating halfway through. You want the cheese fully melted and the chips starting to turn brown on the edges.
- Remove from the oven and top with all your favorites: sour cream, guac, salsa, the works!Garnish ideas: sour cream, avocado, guacamole, salsa, the list goes on and on!
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
THESE ARE BOMB ! YUMMM
YAY! Love to hear that :)
hi!
can you please tell me what is pico De gallo? how to prepare it.
thanks
Great chicken nachos recipe, I love them so delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
So really great. I love it so much. Thank you for sharing the post
It look like beautiful. I will try make it in my free time.
So I had some leftover chicken burrito mix (crockpot, chicken breast, black beans, corn & salsa), left over Spanish rice & leftover refried beans. I was looking for something to cook using all my leftovers without making burritos again & found this recipe. So I used some leftover tortilla chips & improvised. I used sharp cheddar (all I had on hand). My family loved it! My picky teen daughter said I need to make this again. Thank you!
I can never really get my oven chips to turn out. they are always disappointing, but the rest of the recipe looks like good fun!
So…. what does the tequila bring to the party? We don’t drink much and with a teen in the house, we don’t keep hard liquor. If I need to go buy an airline sized one I will, but just wondering if it makes an amazing difference?
Love your recipes, especially the sheet pan dinners.
These are delicious! Great combination of flavors and I used the homemade tequila lime chips. I didn’t have pico so I used some chunky salsa, didn’t have time to make the Queso Blanco so used some jarred queso. You have to use the fresh cilantro, yum!