Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos for Two
One of the things I love to make when we have leftover roasted or rotisserie chicken is Nachos. They are easy to make, and very easily adapted to your individual tastes.
They also make for a very quick week night supper, or if you are feeling particularly indulgent, something to munch on whilst watching a game or a film on the telly at the weekend! Teenagers also love them, so they are great for teen get-togethers and parties.
Not that any of us are doing a lot of partying at the moment with the virus, but one can always live in hope!
Nachos was not something I had ever made until my sister introduced me to them back in the 1990's. We did eat a lot of Tex Mex food in my home. Enchiladas and Tacos were a real favourite.
But I had just not heard of or tried Nachos. We went en masse to visit my sister with my mother one weekend when my sister was living in London, Ontario and I was living in Meaford, Ontario. When I think back on it now, that was really a lot of Nachos to make in order to feed all of us!
But that is one of the great things about nachos! You can amp them up or down according to how many people you have at the table! There would have been 14 of us including my mother.
Another good thing is that they are really quick and easy to make! Cheesy, crisp tortilla chips, layered with flavourful chicken, black beans and a variety of toppings!
You just can't go wrong! They are real people pleasers!
Actually, I will usually make ours separately. I will use Tortilla chips for mine and frozen french fries for his. Everybody's a happy camper!!!
I used leftover chicken for mine this time, from our roast dinner the other day. You can also use shredded rotisserie chicken, which works perfectly well.
I like to toss the chicken together with some seasonings to give it extra flavour. I use mild chili powder that I bring over here from North America. I find the British Chili powder far too spicy and hot.
Funny story. I had not lived here very long and Todd's Aunt Doris was up from Devon visiting us. She was the age then that Todd is now. I wanted to make my special chili potatoes for us as a side dish for our supper.
I added a full tablespoon of what I though was regular chili powder. One biteful and our heads almost blew off! Kapow! I had never tasted anything so hot in my life. Totally inedible.
The chili powder here in the UK is completely unadulterated by anything else. It is pure ground dried red chilis and it is hot, hot, hot! In North America what we buy as chili powder has been mixed with other things such as ground oregano, cumin, coriander, garlic, salt and cloves!
I was totally surprised at the heat of the chili powder here! A mistake I never made ever again! If you are worried about your chicken being too dry, you can also add a quantity of prepared tomato salsa.
You don't need a lot, just a couple of dollops will do it. You don't want it to be soggy so that it makes your chips soggy. Unless you particularly like soggy chips! We I don't!
I like to use lots of different toppings when it comes to my nachos. Sliced olives (both black and green), diced bell peppers (red, yellow and green), chopped green chilies and chopped red onions. I also used some black beans.
Feel free to adapt those toppings to whatever your family loves and enjoys. You can add pickled jalapenos, or roasted green chilies. Some people even like sliced raw green chilies. I am afraid I can't stand the additional heat!
If you don't like chicken, or have a vegetarian in the house, you can use shredded jack fruit in much the same way. It has a texture very similar to that of meat.
If you don't want to use chicken, you can use browned ground beef, or even browned ground turkey. Just add the spices as I have suggested as per the recipe and amounts. For two people I would never go larger than 2 cups, and to be honest 2 cups is very generous.
These are double layered. You get a first layer of chips and chicken and cheese and then a second layer of the same, finally topping them with your preferred toppings.
I served these hot with our favourite cold tomato salsa and some sour cream. I also splashed some green Tabasco over the top of mine.
Green Tabasco doesn't have quite as much heat as the red Tabsco sauce has. I quite like it actually. Its really good on eggs of any kind.
Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos make for a lush and deliciously perfect mid-week supper! Quick and easy to make an economical, they always go down a real treat!
Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos for Two
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (45g) of well drained black beans
- 1/4 cup (45g) of sliced olives (I use a mix of green and black)
- 1/2 small jalapeno pepper, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1/2 small red onion, trimmed and finely chopped
- 4 TBS finely chopped coloured bell peppers (use a mix)
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Monterery Jack cheese
- 2 cups chopped or shredded leftover roast, or rotisserie chicken
- 2 tsp mild chili powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 bag of restaurant style tortilla chips (8 ounces or 225g)
- Tomato salsa
- Dairy sour cream
- guacamole
- Chopped green onions and tomatoes
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. Spray lightly with some low fat cooking spray.
- Prepare your chicken by either cubing or shredding. Toss in together in a bowl along with the chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder. (You can also add some tomato salsa if you wish.)
- Build your nachos by layering the ingredients on the baking sheet as follows: Half of the tortilla chips (spread out in an even layer), 1/2 of the chicken, 1/2 of the cheese, the black beans, the remaining tortilla chips, the remaining chicken, the remaining cheese, then the olives, jalapeno, peppers and chopped onions.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and everything is heated through. The edges should just be starting to brown.
- Divide between two plates and serve hot with your desired garnishes.
