These BBQ chicken nachos with shredded bbq chicken, melty cheese, ranch, and cilantro over crispy tortilla chips are a fun and easy twist on traditional nachos.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 27 minutesminutes
Total Time 42 minutesminutes
Servings 6servings
Calories 739kcal
Author Tracy
Ingredients
BBQ Shredded Chicken
1cupbarbecue sauce
¼cupapple cider vinegar
¼cupwater
1½ to 2poundsboneless skinless chicken breastsabout 4 small or 2 large*
Salt and pepper
3tablespoons(42g) buttersalted or unsalted is fine
Nachos
113 to 16-ounce bag of tortilla chips
3cups(12oz) shredded cheeseI used 1 cup each of monterey jack, sharp cheddar, and smoked gouda
1 to 2roma tomatoeschopped
½red oniondiced
1 to 2jalapeñossliced, optional
Barbecue saucefor topping
Ranch dressingfor topping
½cupchopped, loosely packed cilantrofor topping
Instructions
BBQ Shredded Chicken
Preheat oven to 425°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together barbecue sauce, apple cider vinegar, and water. Set aside.
Pat chicken breasts dry and lightly salt and pepper both sides. Heat a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat and melt butter.
Add chicken breasts to the pan and cook until lightly browned. Flip the chicken breasts and pour barbecue sauce mixture over the top.
Bring sauce to a simmer and reduce heat to medium-low, keeping the sauce at just a simmer. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Flip the chicken, re-cover, and continue to cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 165°F, usually around 3 to 6 minutes more.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, and allow it to rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Allow the sauce to continue simmering uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it thickens.
Shred chicken breasts and return shredded chicken to the pan of sauce. Stir until well-coated.
Nachos
Cover a half sheet baking tray with half of the chips followed by half each of the cheese, shredded BBQ chicken*, tomatoes, onions, and jalapeños. Layer remaining chips over the top followed by remaining chicken, tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, and finishing everything off with the last of the cheese.
Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until cheese is melted. Drizzle additional BBQ sauce and ranch dressing over the top* and then sprinkle with cilantro. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*If starting with large chicken breasts, cut each piece of meat into 2 even cutlets by placing your hand on top of the chicken breast and running a sharp knife horizontally through the center of the breast, slicing the top and bottom into two thin, even pieces.*If for any reason your BBQ chicken has cooled or been refrigerated before you assemble your nachos, reheat it before adding it to the chips. The nachos won't bake long enough to fully reheat cooled chicken. *To get perfect drizzle lines for the BBQ sauce and ranch dressing, you can transfer them to a squeeze bottle if you have one, or pour some sauce into plastic zip top bags, snip off an edge and draw your lines that way.