BBQ chicken nachos are my favorite pizza toppings turned into an easy sheet pan snack or meal! Crispy tortilla chips topped with bbq shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, onions, pickled jalapeños, and so much more!

prepared bbq chicken nachos on sheet pan

Nachos for days!

BBQ chicken nachos have to be the best way to eat tortilla chips! It’s basically all the flavors of a bbq chicken pizza, or my favorite cheesy bbq chicken but served on top of a bed of your favorite tortilla chips and loaded with mild jalapeños, sliced onions, melted queso, jalapeno, and guac or even sour cream. Or dare I say a hybrid of guac and sour cream, which undoubtedly is one of the top ten things I’ve ever eaten! I kid you not, we make a meal out of these sheet pan nachos, and nobody is mad about it.

And if you take the big game, you know, the one that comes around every February, as seriously as my husband does, these bbq chicken nachos should be a staple for football season! This and a batch of my taco chili is a must! And it’s most likely what I’ll end up putting together for our little group of 5 this year!

close up of tortilla chip with shredded bbq chicken and toppings

What do you need to make sheet pan chicken nachos?

  • Shredded Chicken: you can use a shred up a rotisserie chicken, quick poached chicken, or leftover grilled chicken for this recipe.
  • Seasonings: I’m using a dash of cayenne and some garlic powder to season the chicken.
  • BBQ Sauce: I like to use homemade bbq sauce if I have some on hand; store-bought bbq sauce would work here. This is the brand I like to use for store-bought.
  • Tortilla Chips: Use your favorite kind of tortilla chips, such as restaurant-style chips. They crisp up a bit more in the oven. My grocery store actually sells bags of freshly made tortilla chips in the deli section. If ours does, I highly recommend trying with those!
  • Cheese(s): I like to get Monterey and Cheddar cheese blocks for this recipe and grate them at home. Pre shredded cheese doesn’t melt as well, but it does work if you’re trying to put these together quickly! I usually buy the “Mexican blend” it contains both the cheeses I’ve mentioned plus queso and asadero!
  • Chopped Onions: I like to use chopped red onions for this recipe. If you want, you could hold off on the raw onions and use homemade pickled onions instead! 
  • Pickled Jalapeños: Pickled jalapeños with my bbq chicken is a must for me! I know they can be hot, but nowadays, you can find brands that mark jalapeños based on heat level. I usually choose ‘mild’ or ‘tamed.’ Great if you enjoy jalapeños for the pickled flavor and less for the heat!
  • Queso: If you happen to have my green chili queso prepared, it will make this recipe 20x better! But if you don’t, you can still use a store-bought nacho cheese or jarred queso for this recipe.
  • Chopped Cilantro: We’ll add this just on top for some color and freshness! Feel free to use parsley instead if you aren’t a fan!
ingredients in bowls of bbq chicken nachos
tortilla chips on sheet pan layered with toppings

How to make easy sheet pan bbq chicken nachos:

  1. Prep it all. Get the oven preheating while you’re putting this all together. In a bowl, combine the chicken with bbq sauce, cayenne, and garlic powder. You can use additional bbq sauce if you prefer the chicken to be super coated in it, but I find it does make the nachos a bit soggy if you use more than what I’ve listed. You could also certainly use less sauce if you’d like.
  2. Stack it up. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, so it makes for easy cleanup. Then place the tortilla chips on top of the parchment and spread them out into an even layer. Place the shredded chicken on top of the nachos in an even layer. I like to use a fork to spread it out evenly. Then, spread the shredded cheese, red onion, and pickled jalapeños on top of the chicken evenly. Bake the nachos long enough for the chicken to heat through, and the cheese melts.
  3. Bake it up. Then, remove the sheet pan from the oven and drizzle with the queso.  Place the sheet pan back in the oven just long enough for the queso to heat through. It shouldn’t take more than a minute or two. Remove the sheet pan, top with chopped cilantro. You could also top with chopped scallions, sour cream, or guacamole if you’d like; I didn’t find it needed anything but just a drizzle of sour cream!
close up of prepared nachos with melted queso and cilantro

 TIP: If the queso is homemade and it’s rock-solid, pop the queso into the microwave in 10-second increments, stirring in between, to bring it back to a liquid state. Don’t worry about it heating through yet, we’ll heat it with the other ingredients on the sheet pan!

sheet pan with prepared nachos drizzled in sour cream

Other recipes you might enjoy for the big game:

hand holding nachos with toppings on sheet pan

P.S. If you want to see a video of how I make these, click here 🙂

Yield: Serves 5-8

Loaded Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Nachos

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

BBQ chicken nachos are my favorite pizza toppings turned into an easy sheet pan snack or meal! Crispy tortilla chips topped with bbq shredded chicken, cheddar cheese, onions, pickled jalapeños, and so much more!

Loaded Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Nachos

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works great!)
  • ¾ cup bbq sauce (homemade or store-bought)
  • ⅛ - ¼ teaspoons cayenne pepper (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 (13-16-ounce) bag tortilla chips
  • 1 cup EACH: shredded Monterey Jack cheese AND cheddar cheese
  • ⅓ cup chopped red onions
  • ½ cup mild pickled jalapeños, drained
  • ⅓ cup warm queso or nacho cheese (homemade or store-bought)
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

    1. PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. To make clean up easier, line a large baking sheet (or sheet pan) with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the shredded chicken with the bbq sauce, cayenne (if using), and garlic powder. Set aside for now.
    2. ARRANGE: Arrange the tortilla chips on the prepared sheet pan. Evenly distribute the shredded bbq chicken over the chips using a fork. Follow it up with both the shredded cheeses, red onions, and pickled jalapeños. Bake the nachos for 11-13 minutes or until the cheese *just* melts.
    3. SERVE: Meanwhile, make sure the queso is at a ‘spoonable’ consistency. If it’s more solid, you can heat it in the microwave in 10-second increments (stirring in between) until it’s back to a liquid-like state, but not hot! Remove the sheet pan from the oven and drizzle with queso. cheese. Place the sheet pan back in the oven for 1-2 minutes or until the queso heats through. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve immediately topped with chopped scallions, sour cream, guacamole, or anything else you like!

Have you made this recipe?

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