These quick sheet pan nachos are perfect for entertaining and make a great snack on game day! Easy to customize with your favorite toppings and a variety of cheeses. Baked in the oven; ready in 30 minutes.
If you haven't put barbecue sauce on your nachos yet, we're gonna need you to join us on this bandwagon ASAP.
We'll bake these nachos on a sheet pan after building them up one thin layer at a time, which maximizes the toppings-to-chip-ratio (<-- science) so that every bite is equally loaded.
The most time consuming part of this recipe is the prep work: It'll take a few minutes to cut up and organize all of the nacho toppings. Once the initial prep is done, you can assemble and bake these loaded nachos in under 20 minutes (huzzah!)
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Ingredients
For a full ingredients list with exact quantities, scroll to the recipe card below.
Before you jump in, we want to share a few quick notes:
- Shredded cheese is the MVP here! We used a blend of three cheeses: Cheddar and Pepper Jack pack a ton of flavor; Mozzarella brings some fun, stretchy cheese pull action. Feel free to adjust the exact amount of each cheese (white cheddar, fontina, or monterey jack cheese also work in place of some or all of the cheeses here).
- Cooked chicken is a key shortcut that lets these nachos come together quickly. We diced up part of a rotisserie chicken in these photos; you can also use slow cooker shredded chicken or dice up some leftover baked or grilled chicken.
- Toppings! Mashed avocado (or guacamole), sour cream or Greek yogurt, sliced scallions (green onions), and cilantro are our go-tos here, but you can add whatever you like!
Substitutions and Variations
This is a very forgiving recipe: feel free to eyeball things as you measure or swap some ingredients to make these nachos your own! Some of our favorite riffs:
- Swap the chicken for pulled pork or carnitas, shredded beef, or your favorite taco meat (like spicy ground beef or ground turkey). Crispy bacon is also good here!
- Add black beans or refried beans for extra protein and texture.
- Add extra toppings, like pickled jalapeños, black olives, bell pepper, sliced red onion or shallot, tomatoes or pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, or grilled corn. A drizzle of ranch dressing, salsa, or lime juice adds extra flavor. You can also get a lil' funky and add things like pickles or pineapple here for a fun twist!
- Use buffalo sauce instead of BBQ sauce.
- Use your favorite queso dip in place of some or all of the cheese!
Step by Step Instructions
Mix the Chicken and Barbecue Sauce
To keep things easy, start with cooked chicken (we used diced rotisserie chicken in these photos, but we also like meal prepped slow cooker shredded chicken here). Pour your BBQ sauce over the chicken (Image 1, above), and mix it together until the meat is evenly coated (2).
You can skip this step if you're short on time! In our testing, we preferred mixing the chicken with a bit of sauce before assembling everything because it distributes the barbecue flavor a bit more evenly across the nachos. It's not a dealbreaker, though!
Assemble the Nachos
Line a sheet pan with a bit of parchment or a nonstick baking mat, then spread a few handfuls of tortilla chips across a sheet pan IN A SINGLE LAYER (Image 3, above).
Sprinkle a handful of each cheese over top, using just enough to lightly coat each chip (4). You can mix all three cheeses together to make this easy, or use small handfuls of each cheese one at a time if you'd like more control over the exact placement (we sometimes use a different type of cheese on each nacho layer to mix things up!)
Pro Tip: Working in multiple thin layers is the key to restaurant quality nachos! This lets every chip come into contact with the cheese and other toppings to ensure even distribution.
Scatter a few spoonfuls of the barbecue chicken mixture over the nachos (Image 5), then add another single layer of chips (6).
Add another handful of cheese and a few more spoonfuls of chicken to this layer (7), and repeat this process until you've used all the chips and chicken. We recommend finishing the nachos with one final handful of cheese for good measure (8).
Pro Tip: Depending on the size of your sheet pan, you'll probably have 2 to 3 layers of nachos.
Bake
When all of the chips, cheese, and chicken have been layered up, top the nachos with sliced jalapeño (9) and bake! They only need a few minutes in the oven: Keep an eye on them and bake just until the cheese is melted - the edges may begin to crisp and brown a little - and the chicken is warmed through (10).
Adjusting Jalapeño Spice: Because these nachos cook so quickly, the jalapeños won't look all that different after baking. But that few minutes in the oven will still tame their heat a little! If you don't want to bite into a full jalapeño slice, try scattering a smaller amount of diced jalapeño (or diced roasted jalapeño) across the nachos instead, or omit it entirely.
Add Toppings
Once baked, it's time to add toppings! We added a few handfuls of fresh chopped cilantro and sliced green onions (11), followed by a few scoops of Greek yogurt (you could also use sour cream) and mashed avocado. Finish things off with an extra drizzle of barbecue sauce (12), then serve and enjoy!
FAQs
We typically make some slow cooker shredded chicken or grilled chicken each week as part of our meal prep routines, so it's easy (and fast!) to just mix a bit of barbecue sauce into that plain chicken for these nachos. If you're cooking chicken specifically for this chicken BBQ nacho recipe, though - or if you'll use extra BBQ chicken in other recipes during the week - you can cook the chicken right in the barbecue sauce (à la our slow cooker bbq chicken sandwiches!)
Use whatever BBQ sauce you typically enjoy for this baked nachos recipe! We like Stubb's Original BBQ Sauce, any of the Sweet Baby Ray's sauces, or a good Honey BBQ Sauce.
You can prep most of the components for these barbecue chicken nachos in advance! Cook the chicken (grill, bake, or use our crock pot meal prep chicken recipe) or dice up a rotisserie chicken from the store ahead of time. Shred any cheeses in advance. Slice jalapeño and green onion a day or two ahead of time. Store any prepped components in airtight containers in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the nachos. We do not recommend fully assembling the nachos ahead of time (the chips can get soggy and it's hard to store!) but you can definitely prep the individual components in advance so assembly is quick.
It's up to you! If you're a regular reader, you know that we typically recommend buying cheese in block form and shredding it yourself. Store bought shredded cheese is often coated with preservatives that prevent it from melting smoothly, which can be particularly annoying when you're trying to make a sauce for something like mac and cheese. While we still prefer to shred our own cheese whenever possible, you CAN get away with store-bought shredded cheese on these barbecue nachos. Because it's melting onto the chips (as opposed to into a sauce), we found there wasn't much change in taste or texture between pre-shredded cheese and the cheese we shredded at home. The biggest difference: If you use store-bought shredded cheese, you won't have quite as dramatic of a cheese pull!
If you're serving these nachos as a meal, we love pairing them with something light and crisp (like a lemon arugula salad or some parmesan roasted broccoli). If you're serving these nachos with other snacks for the big game (yay football!), lean into the snacky finger food vibes and make something like our twice baked potatoes with greek yogurt, crock pot buffalo chicken sliders, or smoked gouda tater tots.
More Game Day Recipes
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PrintEasy BBQ Chicken Nachos
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 as an appetizer 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Mexican-American
Description
These sheet pan nachos are perfect for game day! Easy to customize with your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
For the Nachos:
- 2 cups cooked, diced chicken (use a rotisserie chicken or some meal prepped shredded chicken!)
- ½ cup BBQ sauce, plus extra for drizzling
- 10 ounces sturdy tortilla chips
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 small jalapeño, thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
Optional Toppings:
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 green onions, sliced
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 avocado, lightly mashed (you can also use guacamole)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375° Fahrenheit.
- In a small bowl, toss cooked chicken and BBQ sauce together. Set aside.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread about half of the tortilla chips out in a single layer. Lightly scatter a small handful of each cheese over the top of the chips, then scatter a few spoonfuls of the barbecue chicken mixture over top. Add another layer of chips and repeat, topping with cheese and chicken, until you've used up all the chips. We recommend ending with one final handful of cheese on top!
- Scatter jalapeño slices across the top of the nachos. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, then transfer the sheet pan to the oven. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until cheese is melted and chicken is warmed through.
- Top nachos with fresh chopped cilantro and sliced green onions. Scatter spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and mashed avocado across the top of the nachos, then add an extra drizzle of barbecue sauce. Serve immediately.
Notes
A few nacho layering tips. If you're using a large sheet pan, you'll likely only need 2 layers of chips. If you're using a smaller sheet pan, you may want to do 3 layers in order to ensure the chips are always in a single layer. Working in multiple thin layers helps ensure the cheese and toppings are evenly distributed among the chips! This isn't an exact science: Just do your best to distribute everything evenly! You can mix the cheeses together before layering the nachos if you like, or you can rotate through the cheeses as you go (use one type of cheese on each layer of chips, or use a small handful of each cheese across each layer).
Additions and Substitutions. Swap the chicken for pulled pork or shredded beef. Add black beans or refried beans for extra protein. Add extra toppings (tomatoes, onion or shallot, bell pepper, grilled corn) or sauces (ranch dressing, lime juice, salsa) if you like. Swap the BBQ sauce for buffalo sauce.
This is a loose recipe, and it's very forgiving - feel free to eyeball the ingredient amounts here and make adjustments as needed!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅙ of the nachos
- Calories: 747
- Sugar: 16.6 g
- Sodium: 1105.2 mg
- Fat: 26.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 53.9 g
- Protein: 44.8 g
- Cholesterol: 115.2 mg
Rhonda
Nachos are a favorite weekend meal for us. I loved using the leftover shredded chicken for these. I would not have thought of adding BBQ sauce to our nachos but it was a welcome change!
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're so happy you took the chance with an unexpected flavor combination!