Grilled Chicken Nachos are a delicious and fun way to use your grill, even in the chillier months. Piled high with cheese and favorite toppings, the grilled smokey flavor will really surprise you! Choose from 2 flavors: BBQ Chicken Nachos or Mexican Nachos.
Grilled Chicken Nachos
BBQ Chicken Nachos or Mexican Nachos? Luckily you don’t have to choose, because today we’re making BOTH flavors of these grilled chicken nachos!
These Grilled Nachos are fun for the whole family to make together. There’s something so cozy about grilling hot food outside in the chilly fall air, the smoky smell permeating the backyard. The grill gives the chips an extra crispy texture and the cheese bubbles and melts beautifully on top.
We’re making two delicious flavors of these nachos: BBQ Chicken Nachos and Mexican Nachos! Choose your favorite, make both, or come up with your own flavor combo.
The key to perfect nachos is doing a double layer of chips, cheese and toppings. They’ll turn out crispy and cheesy every time!
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Grilled Nachos Toppings
Once you have your base of chips, cheese and shredded cooked chicken, the sky’s the limit when it comes to toppings for these grilled chicken nachos. My family loves traditional Mexican toppings, and I’m a fan of barbecue flavors. So here are some ideas for a couple of our favorite flavors.
BBQ Chicken Nachos
- Shredded queso
- BBQ sauce
- Cilantro
- Caramelized onions
Mexican Nachos
- Mexican blend cheese
- Black beans
- Cherry tomatoes
- Caramelized onions
- Taco seasoning
How to Make Grilled Chicken Nachos on an Outdoor Grill
Making Chicken Nachos on the grill is super easy and only takes about ten minutes. They make the most delicious game day appetizers or a quick and fun weekend lunch. Some quick tips for perfect Grilled Chicken Nachos:
- Avoid putting the nachos over a direct flame.
- Place hot coals on the far side of the grill. This will help not to burn the chips.
- Grill about ten minutes, turning the tray once to get both sides nice and toasty.
- When you remove the tray from the grill, use a spatula to cut and serve up as much as you like.
Can I Make Grilled Nachos Inside?
Yes! If you don’t have an outdoor grill or just want to make them inside, you can use the broiler in your oven or on a stove top grill. They’ll taste delicious this way too!
When should I serve these grilled chicken nachos?
This recipe is perfect for so many occasions! Nachos are one of my favorite Superbowl Appetizers, and they’re a must for Cinco de Mayo. Serve these on any game day, at a summer BBQ, on Taco Night, or any time you need a fun dinner.
Easy Nacho Recipes
The brilliant thing about nachos are how versatile they are! You can dress up chips and cheese a million different ways. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Easy Foil Packet Nachos
- Nachos Supreme
- Street Corn Nachos
- Skillet Steak Fajita Nachos
- Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos
- Buffalo Chicken Nachos
This grilled nachos recipe is so much fun! Gather your loved ones and use your imagination to make the world’s best nachos. Choose from BBQ Chicken Nachos, Mexican Nachos, or come up with your own flavor combo. Happy grilling! Be sure to try these Homemade Beef Mexican Pizzas too.
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Grilled Chicken Nachos (BBQ Chicken Nachos and Mexican Nachos)
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Ingredients
- 24 ounce bag of tortilla chips
- salt and pepper to taste
- sour cream for serving
- salsa for serving
- guacamole for serving
FOR MEXICAN CHICKEN NACHOS
- 1 cup cooked chicken shredded we used rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup mexican blend cheese
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup plum or cherry tomatoes diced
- 1/2 onion diced and carmelized
- 1 tablespoon chicken taco seasoning
FOR BBQ CHICKEN NACHOS:
- 1 cup cooked chicken shredded
- 1 cup shredded queso cheese
- 1/2 cup bbq sauce we used blues hog
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro minced
- 1/2 onion diced and carmelized
Instructions
- heat up ingredients in separate pans on the stove, mixing together the chicken with the spices, salsa, and tomatoes for mexican side, and cilantro, chicken, and bbq sauce for bbq side. add salt and pepper to each variation, to taste
- in separate pans, heat up the black beans, and caramelize the onion
- preheat the grill for indirect grilling over medium-high heat
- spray grill pan with cooking spray
- place a single layer of tortilla chips on the bottom of a grill tray. sprinkle with cheese, and then a layer of the chicken and other toppings, topping with more cheese.
- create another layer of chips, cheese, and toppings. top with more cheese :)
- place grill tray on the grill over indirect heat. cover for 5 minutes, then turn and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
- remove from the grill and use a spatula to cut and serve. serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
Yum! These nachos look so good!!! Thanks for including my Buffalo Chicken Nachos!
Let me know what you think once you’ve tried them!!
Nachos are a weakness of mine! These look so yummy!
Same. I could eat alllll the nachos!
Loved these! Nachos are our favorite!!
AGREE!
I think I could eat these nachos every night :) So good!
I like the way you think lol
If my kids could eat nachos every day they would and they absolutely loved these! Thanks!
I’d also eat nachos every day if I could…haha Glad I’m not the only one. ;) So happy they loved these!
Love this! It is a perfect weeknight dinner and great during the summer. We love to eat it outside on our deck.
These are the perfect summer food! Thanks for stopping by Julie.
Found your recipe via Pinterest… as I scrolled through I was surprised to see one of my favorite professors, Dr. Gall! Small world! Love the recipes – tell your dad a student from his Fall ’08 Truman Week class says hello! :)
Aw I will! He’s actually coming into town to stay with us tonight so I’ll be sure to read him the comment! That’s a small world indeed. We just missed each other at Truman, i graduated Fall ’06!