Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Nachos at Home

I remember the first time I tried barbecue chicken pizza. At first I couldn’t fathom chicken on a pizza let alone barbecue sauce instead of familiar marinara. What I didn’t know, is that it was a sweet barbecue sauce (my go-to!) and that bacon is involved. Because as we all know, bacon makes everything 10 times more savory. It’s a no-brainer.

So these nachos happened by accident a few weeks ago – A regular here it when that happens! I was making everyone at the table BBQ chicken sliders and at the last minute I worried there wouldn’t be enough because the rolls were so dinky. So I decided to throw what I didn’t use in the sliders on to corn tortilla chips. I kind of figured it would be savory, but I was truly surprised how much I liked them. More like loved them.. A LOT.

I mean it does have all the flavor combos Worth keeping: sweet, savory and bacon sooo…

I’m sure I’m not the first blogger in the history of blogs to come up with this and I don’t care!

However, I do use my from-scratch sweet barbecue sauce and drizzle of it over top of the nacho so it will caramelize in the oven. The caramelized sauce truly makes these nachos. Promise.

To Make these Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Nachos Gather:

• corn tortilla chips
• shredded cooked chicken
• sweet barbecue sauce
• cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
• red onion
• bacon
• cilantro

To Make The Chicken:

Preheat your oven to 400℉ (or 200℃).

Preheat your oven to 400° and place the chicken onto a rimmed metal baking sheet. Drizzle with enough oil to coat (about 2 tablespoons) and season both sides with lemon pepper seasoning or salt and pepper is fine too. Arrange the chicken on the pan and slide onto the middle rack of your [preheated] oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until fully cooked and no longer pink. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest for a few minutes.

Next, reduce the heat of your oven to 325℉ (or 160℃).

Once the chicken has rested, use a couple of forks to shred the chicken.

Pour in the sweet barbecue sauce and toss the chicken to coat. You want the chicken to be saucy but not overly saucy, you certainly don’t want it dry – I simply eyeball it, but if I had to guess it’s around 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup.

To Make The Nachos:

Arrange corn tortilla chips in a single layer onto a rimmed metal baking sheet.

Sprinkle a little of the cheese over top of the chips before scattering the saucy barbecue chicken.

Top with more cheese, sprinkle with finely dice red onions and bacon before drizzling more sauce over the top. Slide the pan onto the middle rack of your preheated oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sauce has caramelized.

Sprinkle this glorious mess with finely chopped cilantro and serve immediately.

The sweetness of the sauce is cut by the sharp red onion and the crispy bacon. And the cheesy-ness is unreal! Pat likes his sheet pan BBQ chicken nachos with extra barbecue sauce on the side. I like mine with an ice cold beer.

I sincerely wish you could reach through your screen and sample these sheet pan BBQ chicken nachos right now. So dang good, I’m thinking of making them for lunch with my leftovers

And I’m not even mad about it.

Enjoy! And if you give this Sheet Pan Bbq Chicken Nachos a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!