Tequila Lime Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos Recipe

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Tequila Lime Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos are a fun and delicious appetizer that can feed a crowd. The slow cooker makes this chicken so tender and juicy!

This chicken nachos recipe is perfect for a Cinco de Mayo party. These sheet pan nachos are so easy to make. Let the chicken cook in the crock pot while you get your party decorations up, and then assemble the nachos right before you are ready to serve.

The cilantro and lime combination is an incredibly refreshing taste, which is why these nachos pair perfectly with a light beer. Add a lime wedge to your beer and you have a match made in heaven. 

Sheet Pan Nachos Ingredients

To make this loaded nachos recipe, you will need the following ingredients (it’s a long list, so go to the recipe below for exact measurements):

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts: I like to cook up extra chicken to use later for chicken tacos.
• Dark tequila: also known as Reposada tequila
• Lime: or pre-bottled lime juice
• Jalapeno
• Red onion: you can use fresh red onion or pickled red onions
• Garlic
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Chili powder, ground cumin, salt, black pepper: to season the chicken
• Blue corn and/or yellow corn tortilla chips
• Black beans
• Shredded Mexican style blend cheese
• Roma tomato
• Avocado: make sure the avocado is ripe
• Cotija cheese: this crumbly Mexican cheese can be found in the dairy aisle or by the specialty cheeses
• Cilantro
• Sour cream

Special Tools Needed

For this recipe, you will need a slow cooker. I recommend the Crock-Pot 8-Quart Manual Slow Cooker. The options are super simple and it gets the job done.

How to Make Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

This recipe has two parts: making the chicken and then making the nachos:

1. Make the chicken in the slow cooker. Combine all of the ingredients, reserving one lime for later, in a 5- or 6-quart crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
2. Shred the chicken. Remove the chicken, shred with two forks then stir back into the sauce. The chicken will soak up most of the sauce. Squeeze the remaining lime over the chicken and stir to combine.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Assemble the nachos. Place a layer of blue and yellow tortilla chips on the pan. Layer the chicken, beans, shredded cheese, red onion, and tomato.
5. Bake the nachos. Bake until heated through and cheese has melted, about 5-6 minutes.
6. Garnish. Top with sour cream, cilantro, avocado and crumbled Cotija cheese to your liking.

Recipe Tips

• I mixed lime juice with the sour cream to make it thinner, and put it in a squeeze bottle so I could distribute it evenly on the nachos.
• You can make tacos with the chicken instead of nachos, or maybe stuff the chicken in a poblano pepper.
• These hearty nachos can be an appetizer for a big crowd or a meal in itself for a smaller group.

Can I Freeze Chicken?

Have leftover chicken? It freezes great. Just put the extra shredded chicken into a freezer bag. Try it in a taco.

Tequila Lime Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos

Author: Emily Pecoraro

Tequila Lime Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos are a fun and delicious appetizer that can feed a crowd. The slow cooker makes this chicken so tender and juicy!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 8 hours hrs

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 8 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Course Appetizers

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 645 kcal

Equipment

• Crock-Pot 6-Quart Slow Cooker

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the chicken:

• ▢ 4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ▢ 1/2 cup dark tequila
• ▢ 1 lime zested
• ▢ 4 limes juiced and divided
• ▢ 1 jalapeno seeds removed, finely chopped
• ▢ 1 cup red onion chopped
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• ▢ 2 tsp ground cumin
• ▢ 2 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 tsp black pepper

For the nachos:

• ▢ 1 bag blue corn tortilla chips
• ▢ 1 bag yellow corn tortilla chips
• ▢ 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican style blend cheese
• ▢ 1 Roma tomato diced
• ▢ 1/4 cup diced red onion
• ▢ 1 avocado
• ▢ 1/2 cup Cotija cheese crumbled
• ▢ 1/2 bunch cilantro
• ▢ 1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions

 

For the chicken:

• Combine all of the ingredients, reserving one lime for later, in a 5- or 6-quart crock pot.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
• Remove the chicken, shred with two forks then stir back into the sauce. (The chicken will soak up most of the sauce.)
• Squeeze the remaining lime over the chicken and stir to combine.

Assemble the nachos:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place a layer of blue and yellow tortilla chips on the pan.
• Layer the chicken, beans, shredded cheese, red onion, and tomato.
• Bake until heated through and cheese has melted, about 5-6 minutes.
• Top with sour cream, cilantro, avocado and crumbled Cotija cheese to your liking.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 645kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 43gFat: 29gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 121mgSodium: 1064mgPotassium: 965mgFiber: 8gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 555IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 231mgIron: 3mg

The nutrition information is calculated using online nutrition calculators and may not be accurate. It is provided as a general guide only.

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