These BBQ Chicken Nachos are a great addition to any party — especially Game Day! Crunchy tortilla chips are topped with perfectly seasoned chicken coated in honey bbq sauce, crumbled bacon, cheddar, smoked gouda cheese, and red onions!
Originally posted on 01/21/2019, but Post/Recipe/Photos have been updated on 01/29/2020
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Heyooooo! It’s been a year since I originally posted this recipe, and looking back, I realized just how hideous the photos were. Now that the biggest football game of the year is literally right around the corner, I’ve decided it was time to remake these nachos and take some better looking photos.
But WAIT! While I was preparing the ingredients, I immediately thought about my favourite chicken wings ever and one of the most popular recipes on the site: Honey BBQ Chicken Wings. Now last year I made these nachos before I made those mouth watering wings, so I had no idea that I could make them a zillion times BETTER!
Oh, but now I know, so I did!
New & Improved BBQ Chicken Nachos
I’m seriously obsessed with my honey bbq chicken recipe. From the seasoning to the sauce, it’s truly one of the tastiest things to ever bless my taste buds! So when you combine that legendary chicken recipe with crunchy tortilla chips, crispy bacon, red onions and 2 different cheeses, it’s no doubt you’ll end up with a pan of extremely awesome and flavourful nachos!
What’s in These Nachos?
Pretty much every nacho recipe can be easily customized to anyone’s liking, so you you can remove or add any ingredients you’d like.
Here’s what I used in my version:
- Shredded Chicken
- Homemade Honey BBQ Sauce
- Red Onions
- Crumbled Bacon
- Smoked Gouda Cheese
- Cheddar Cheese
- Tortilla Chips
- Parsley, for garnishing
You can add chopped green bell peppers, tomatoes, jalapeños, cilantro and tons more!
How to Make BBQ Chicken Nachos
Step 1: Season and Bake the Chicken
For the original recipe, I just seasoned some chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cooked it in a skillet before shredding.
This time I wanted the chicken to taste just like my bbq wings, so I made a seasoning blend with salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika and hot chilli powder and seasoned both sides of the chicken generously.
Then, instead of cooking in a skillet, I baked the chicken at a high temperature for 20 minutes. The smell of these spices while the chicken is baking is intoxicating!
Step 2: Prepare the Honey BBQ Sauce
While the chicken is in the oven, prepare the honey bbq sauce. You can just use a bottle of honey bbq sauce or regular bbq sauce if you want, but my homemade recipe is completely fool proof!
I didn’t make the sauce completely from scratch. Instead, I used a bottle of my favourite bbq sauce and combined it with some honey, ketchup and melted butter in a saucepan and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. By the time the chicken is done, the sauce should be done too.
Step 3: Shred the Chicken
Place the chicken breasts in a bowl and use 2 large forks to tear them apart. Pour in some of the honey bbq sauce and reserve the rest for drizzling on top! The bbq chicken half is done, now let’s move on to the nachos!
Step 4: Assemble the Nachos!
Last time I made these nachos, I made the mistake of using my tiny little skillet, so I was only able to fit about half a bag of chips before it started to overflow. Since I used the usual sheet pan this time around, I was able to use 2 bags!
Start with a layer of tortilla chips, then sprinkle on some of the cheeses. Use the forks to place half of the bbq chicken onto the tortilla chips and sprinkle on half of the crumbled bacon. I ran out of bacon strips, so I had to use a pack of crumbled bacon, but try to use real crispy bacon if you can.
Add another layer of cheeses, along with the rest of the tortilla chips, cheese, bacon, chicken and red onions. You can drizzle on the remaining bbq sauce now or do it after baking.
Pop the nachos into the oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and re-heat the chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro, dig in immediately and prepare to fall in love! This is a crazy delicious crowd-pleasing dish that you won’t want to share!
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BBQ Chicken Nachos
These BBQ Chicken Nachos are a great addition to any party — especially Game Day! Crunchy tortilla chips are topped with perfectly seasoned chicken coated in honey bbq sauce, crumbled bacon, cheddar, smoked gouda cheese, and red onions!
Ingredients
- 2 skinless, boneless Chicken breasts
Seasoning Blend:
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp hot chilli powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Honey BBQ Sauce:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (I recommend Sweet Baby Ray’s)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 Tbsp ketchup
Nachos:
- 1-2 large bags Tortilla chips
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups shredded smoked Gouda Cheese
- 8 slices crispy bacon, crumbled
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- Fresh Parsley or Cilantro Leaves, chopped for garnish
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- In a small bowl, combine the salt, black pepper, hot chilli powder, smoked paprika and garlic powder.
- Place chicken breasts onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle the seasoning blend onto both sides of the chicken breasts, rubbing it in.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. While chicken is baking, prepare the Honey BBQ Sauce.
For the Honey BBQ Sauce:
- Add the unsalted butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until melted.
- Once butter has melted, add the BBQ sauce, honey and ketchup. Stir to combine, then allow to come to a simmer.
- As soon as the sauce begins to simmer, decrease the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes.
Shred the Chicken:
- Once chicken has finished baking. Remove from oven and lower temperature to 350°F.
- Place both chicken breasts into a bowl and use 2 large forks to tear them into pieces.
- Pour in some of the Honey BBQ Sauce, reserve the rest for drizzling. Toss to coat the shredded chicken in the sauce. Set aside.
Assembling the Nachos:
- Layer 1 bag or 1/2 a bag (see notes) of tortilla chips onto baking sheet.
- Sprinkle on 1/3 of both cheeses, half of the bbq chicken, more cheese, half of the crumbled bacon and half of the diced red onions.
- Add another layer of tortilla chips, remaining cheese, crumbled bacon, chicken, and red onions.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Drizzle with remaining honey bbq sauce and garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro leaves. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
- Tortilla Chips: if your baking sheet is smaller, you may only need 1 bag of tortilla chips. If you have a bigger pan, you will need at least 2 since we’re layering.
- BBQ Sauce: you can use a store bought bottle of Honey BBQ Sauce or any other flavour of your favourite brand. This is the brand I used and highly recommended.
- Cheeses: Smoked Gouda goes perfectly with BBQ, but it can be a bit pricey, so feel free to substitute for mozzarella.
BON APPÉTIT!
Love, Dedra
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