My family’s favorite chicken nachos recipe made with saucy shredded chicken, beans, melty cheese, and all the best toppings.
We make nachos on a sheet pan so they’re quick to assemble, bake fast, and cleanup is easy. These chicken nachos are perfect for entertaining, game day, or a fun dinner (something my family has done many times in the past).
To make these truly delicious, we use the same shredded chicken as in our popular green chicken enchiladas, which is simmered in a flavorful green enchilada sauce. Then, you’ll layer it with tortilla chips, beans, cheese (of course), and bake. They are seriously delicious! For more, see our classic nachos made with ground meat.
Key Ingredients
- Chicken: I usually start with leftover roasted chicken or a store-bought rotisserie chicken. You can also use our slow cooker shredded chicken recipe, poached chicken recipe, or even Instant Pot salsa verde chicken (it’s perfect for these nachos).
- Salsa Verde: Use your favorite store-bought salsa verde or green enchilada sauce, or make your own using our roasted salsa verde recipe. For a red chile-based sauce, substitute red enchilada sauce.
- Tortilla Chips: Grab your favorite store-bought tortilla chips or make them from scratch. Here’s how I make homemade tortilla chips.
- Beans: Pinto or black beans both work great. Try our black beans recipe, refried beans recipe, or use a can of beans (just drain and rinse first).
- Cheese: For the best nachos, use plenty of melty cheese. I love Oaxaca, cheddar, or Monterey Jack. For extra flavor, sprinkle queso fresco over the hot nachos before serving.
- Favorite Toppings: Once the nachos come out of the oven, pile on your favorites. Our must-haves are sour cream, pickled red onions, guacamole, sliced olives, pickled jalapeños, and fresh cilantro. Then, serve the nachos with fresh lime wedges for squeezing over the top.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Chicken Nacos
Tip 1: Making extra flavorful chicken. To add lots of flavor, toss cooked shredded chicken into a skillet with enchilada sauce and warm through. Since the chicken is already cooked, this doesn’t take very long.
Tip 2: Make sheet-pan nachos. I love making these chicken nachos on a large baking sheet so I can spread everything out. When they’re ready to serve, I keep them on the sheet pan, which means these are crowd-friendly, and cleanup is easy!
Tip 3: Bake for 20 minutes. Since the chicken is already cooked, your nachos only need 15 to 20 minutes in the oven to crisp up and melt the cheese. Once the cheese is all melty and the edges of your tortilla chips are turning brown, you can remove them from the oven and top with your favorite nacho toppings. Then, dig in!
Dishes to Serve with Nachos
Nachos are perfect on their own, but a few simple sides can make them feel like a full meal. We love serving them with a fresh salad, like our black bean and corn salad or avocado salad, a bowl of Mexican rice, or a side of refried beans.
If you’re feeding a crowd, set out extra toppings like homemade guacamole, pico de gallo, restaurant-style salsa, cheesy bean dip, homemade queso, and lime wedges so everyone can build their plate just the way they like it.
Shredded Chicken Nachos
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Store-bought rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken makes these chicken nachos easy. Instead of red salsa, we go for salsa verde made from chili peppers, tomatillos, onion, and garlic. It’s zesty and works beautifully with chicken. In addition to the chicken, we pile our nachos high with sharp, flavorful cheddar cheese, spicy pickled jalapeños, green onions, and plenty of extras, including thinly sliced radishes and crumbled fresh cheese. Serve this family-style, straight from the sheet pan.
You Will Need
4 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 ½ cups salsa verde, plus more for serving, try roasted tomatillo salsa verde
1 large bag of tortilla chips or use homemade tortilla chips
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
3 green onions, trimmed and finely chopped
8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, coarsely grated, about 2 cups
4 ounces crumbled queso fresco, feta cheese, or goat cheese
Optional toppings: sliced radishes, sliced black olives, cilantro, pickled red onions, sliced pickled jalapeños, candied jalapeños, sour cream, guacamole, avocado, sliced chili peppers
Directions
1Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or use parchment paper.
2Add salsa verde to a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the chicken and cook for 5 minutes until warmed through.
3Arrange a single layer of tortilla chips on the bottom of the lined pan, and then begin building the nachos. Scatter one-third of the chicken, black beans, pickled jalapeños, chopped green onion, and grated cheddar cheese over the chips. Repeat with additional layers of chips and toppings until they are all gone. (We usually end up with three layers of chips).
4Bake the nachos until the cheese has completely melted and everything is hot, 15 to 20 minutes.
5Serve nachos family style, right on the baking sheet, with as many additional toppings scattered on top as you like.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Spice level: When buying salsa verde, we recommend choosing a mild or medium spice level. If you’re making your own, adjust the chili peppers to your preference. If your salsa is too spicy, you can always cool things down by stirring a little sour cream into the salsa and chicken mixture.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
Just a question, when my family comes to visit, my daughter is allergic to chicken, so I have to avoid making chicken dishes. I think this recipe would be great substituting pork for the chicken. I may try making a small batch to see. What do you think?
What about trying Turkey, Duck (a bit expensive but a good substitute) if your daughter doesn’t have a poultry allergy. You could also use seafood, white fish, shrimp and the alike. But pork does sound like a yummy substitute.
Shredded pork would be delicious. If you are up for it, I highly recommend carnitas or for a quick and easy option the pork from these pork tacos.
These nachos are great. Even my skeptical husband liked them and said they need to be made again. Thanks!
These salsa verde nachos definitely put any nachos that I have ever made before to shame… they look incredible! I have to try the recipe!
This recipe sounds really good. Thank you.