Loaded BBQ Chicken Nugget Nachos

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Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

Best Recipe for BBQ Chicken Nachos

If you want to make a dinner out of nachos, this is how.

They’re loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken. I used chicken nuggets because that’s what I had on hand, but shredded chicken is more traditional. 

They’ll be a guaranteed hit with who ever is lucky enough to indulge in this melty cheese fest, and they’re ready in 30 minutes.

Some of the chips stay perfectly crisp, while others softened from the melted cheese, juicy tomatoes and corn, and the saucy nuggets.

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

The balance of crispy and crunchy, tempered with soft and chewy, is just perfect. Every bite is total comfort food, and I’ll happily skip dinner for these.

I love eating food that’s rich in color, and the pops of green, orange, and red draw me in. And the subtle texture from the avocado, corn, and tomato are welcome against the soft, gooey cheese.

Having some ‘vegetables’ at every meal is a good thing, too. That is, if you can call corn a vegetable. And avocado and tomatoes are really fruits, but who’s counting. Especially when you’re having nachos for dinner.

The flavor from the bbq sauce gently permeates the dish, and everything takes on a smoky yet slightly sweet with heat quality. Make sure you like the bbq you choose and I loved this one.

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

Ingredients in BBQ Chicken Nachos 

To make this bbq chicken nachos recipe, you’ll need: 

  • Shredded chicken or chicken nuggets
  • Bbq sauce
  • Corn tortilla chips
  • Shredded cheese
  • Diced tomato
  • Cubed avocado
  • Corn
  • Black beans (optional) 
  • Red bell pepper (optional) 
  • Jalapeño (optional) 
  • Black olives (optional) 

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

How to Make BBQ Chicken Nachos

This recipe for bbq chicken nachos couldn’t be any simpler! Follow these easy steps: 

  1. Begin by tossing the shredded chicken with bbq sauce.
  2. Add corn tortilla chips in a pie dish, cover with shredded cheese, top with tomato, avocado, corn, and then add the sauced up chicken.
  3. Sprinkle with a little more cheese and bake until the cheese is melted. So easy! 

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

Nacho Toppings to Try

I don’t think the bbq nachos need additional toppings because there are already so many great flavors, but it can’t hurt if you hoard condiments like I do and have any or all on hand! 

Try toppings you bbq chicken nachos with one or more of the following: 

  • Sour cream
  • Salsa
  • Pico de gallo
  • Guacamole 
  • Hot sauce (like Cholula) 
  • Shredded lettuce 

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

Recipe Variations for BBQ Nachos 

This is a flexible recipe, so mix and match toppings as you see fit! 

  • Chicken: Use shredded chicken, chicken nuggets, or a vegan chicken alternative. 
  • Tortilla chips: Use store-bought or homemade corn tortilla chips
  • Cheese: Any kind of shredded cheese will work, including vegan cheese. 
  • Veggies: Load up your nachos with anything you have on hand! 

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

Tips for the Best BBQ Nachos

The chicken needs a healthy soak in a bbq sauce bath for a few minutes for flavor. This keeps the chicken juicy and saucy during baking.

I used TJ’s Carolina Gold bbq sauce, which is new to me. There’s a touch of molasses, and it’s a little sweet with a slight kick. My daughter doesn’t like sauces that are too hot and this one wasn’t.

The recipe is highly adaptable and if you want to add a handful of black beans, refried beans, jalepenos, bell peppers, bean and corn salsa, or anything else you love on your nachos, go for it. Don’t like avocado? Omit.

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos — Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 

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5 from 1 vote

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos

By Averie Sunshine
Loaded with avocado chunks, juicy tomatoes and corn, and bbq sauce-smothered chicken! Perfect for parties, tailgating, game days, and more! 
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Additional Time: 2 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6
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Ingredients  

  • 8 ounces shredded chicken or chicken nuggets, thawed and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 cup bbq sauce
  • 4 to 5 cups corn tortilla chips, or enough to cover pie dish base with some overlapping
  • 6 ounces shredded cheese, divided
  • 1 medium ripe tomato, diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled, de-seeded, and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • ½ cup corn, fresh, frozen, or canned
  • ½ cup black beans, jalepenos, black olives, and/or diced bell peppers, all optional

Garnishes (Optional)

  • Cilantro
  • Sour cream
  • Salsa
  • Guac
  • Pico de gallo

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly spray a 9-inch round pie dish with cooking spray; set aside.
  • Thaw and then dice the chicken nuggets into 1/2-inch pieces.
  • Place nuggets in a medium bowl, cover with about 1 cup bbq sauce, and toss gently to evenly coat. Use enough bbq sauce so the nuggets are really juicy and well-coated. Set bowl aside while assembling the nachos; nuggets will soak up some of the bbq sauce.
  • Add corn chips to prepared pie dish, arranging chips so the base of pie dish is completely covered. Chips need to overlap in places so there aren’t gaps. I made a double-layer of chips.
  • Evenly sprinkle about 4 ounces cheese over chips.
  • Evenly sprinkle the tomato, avocado, corn, and any optional toppings.
  • Evenly sprinkle with the chicken nuggets. My nuggets were very moist and drippy, and I drizzled on of the residual bbq sauce from the marinating bowl.
  • Evenly sprinkle with the remaining cheese, about 2 ounces.
  • Bake for about 18 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly, melted, and nachos are done. Baking times may vary widely based on brand and type of cheese used, juiciness of nuggets, moisture level in tomato, avo, corn, if optional ingredients were used, climate and oven variance, etc. Watch your nachos, not the clock.
  • Optionally, garnish and serve nachos with cilantro, sour cream, salsa, guac, pico de gallo. Nachos are best fresh and warm.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 1117kcal, Carbohydrates: 167g, Protein: 17g, Fat: 47g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 36g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 1480mg, Fiber: 17g, Sugar: 34g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

More Easy Nacho Recipes: 

Loaded Shredded Chicken Nachos — Juicy chicken soaked in enchilada sauce with black beans, corn, peppers, cilantro, and more!! Cheesy, gooey perfection and READY in 5 minutes!

Loaded Nachos with Beef — EASY, ready in 15 minutes, and LOADED with taco-seasoned ground beef, black beans, corn, cilantro, and lots of CHEESE!! Great for parties, game days, after school snacks, or a cheat night dinner!!

Loaded Guacamole Nachos — The big pile of creamy, fresh, homemade guacamole makes the nachos truly irresistible! 

Beef Tater Tot-Chos – Crispy tater tots topped with taco-seasoned ground beef and melted cheese is a DELICIOUS and fun twist on nachos!! EASY, ready in no time, and perfect for PARTIES!!

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Please note: I have only made the recipe as written, and cannot give advice or predict what will happen if you change something. If you have a question regarding changing, altering, or making substitutions to the recipe, please check out the FAQ page for more info.

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Comments

  1. Could I turn it into more of a dip if I took out the layer of chips on the bottom or would this not work well in a dip style? They look delicious! 

    1. You could play around with it and see how it goes. I’ve only made it this way so can’t really speak to how variations would work.

  2. Made these last night! My super picky husband had 3 platefuls! Needless to say, I will def. be making them again. I grilled chicken w BBQ seasoning. Then added BBQ sauce. I also added black beans and doubled the recipe too. Thanks so much :)

    1. Thanks for trying this, Jen, and so glad you liked it as did the picky husband! That’s wonderful! Black beans and doubling the recipe even, love to hear that!

  3. Oh my god! I am drooling over here, look at those photos! This looks amazing, I am dying to get a taste :)

  4. Haha I am juicing right now, and it’s a bit torturous looking at your photos. I really want some nachos now :)!!

    1. You’re juicing? Like, a juice cleanse/fast? You go, Brandon! That is awesome & it’s sooooo hard to be a juicing food blogger. Been there, a few times. HANG IN THERE!!!!