Chicken Nachos

Name: Chicken Nachos
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 8 oz chips (tortilla, thick and sturdy); 12 oz chicken (thighs, cooked and shredded); 2 cup cheese (monterey jack, grated from a block); 1 cup beans (black, rinsed and drained); ⅓ cup jalapenos (pickled, sliced); 1 tsp cumin (ground); 1 tsp chili powder; ½ tsp salt; 3 unit scallion (sliced, to finish); ⅓ cup cilantro (chopped, to finish)

Sandwiches & Handhelds · Latin American & Caribbean · American

10 ingredients · 35 minutes · 4 servings

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822kcal49.3g protein39.7g fat67.7g carbs~$2.28/ serving*

Contains dairy · sometimes contains gluten — check the label

Restrictions

ContainsdairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Sometimes contains — check the labelgluten (chili (powder), chips tortilla, guacamole)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.

Diets

No porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

8 oz	chips (tortilla, thick and sturdy)
12 oz	chicken (thighs, cooked and shredded)
2 cup	cheese (monterey jack, grated from a block)
1 cup	beans (black, rinsed and drained)
⅓ cup	jalapenos (pickled, sliced)
1 tsp	cumin (ground)
1 tsp	chili powder
½ tsp	salt
3 unit	scallion (sliced, to finish)
⅓ cup	cilantro (chopped, to finish)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

½ cup	cream (sour, after baking)
¾ cup	guacamole (after baking)
¾ cup	salsa (after baking)
⅓ cup	cheese (cotija, crumbled)
1 unit	lime (wedges)

Steps

Season5 min
shredded chicken tossed with the spices while still warm
chicken + cumin + chili powder + salt. Season it separately and before it meets anything else — spices scattered over an assembled tray end up on the top chips only, and the chicken underneath tastes of nothing
Grate4 min
from a block, coarse holes
- cheese
- cheese
cheese grated. From a block rather than a bag: pre-grated cheese is coated with starch or cellulose to stop it caking, and that coating is exactly what stops it flowing smoothly when melted
Fold6 min
two shallow layers on a large tray — chips, toppings, cheese, then repeat
- beans
half the chips spread in a single overlapping layer, then half the chicken + beans + jalapeños + cheese, then the rest of the chips and the rest on top. Layering rather than piling is the whole technique: cheese poured over a heap coats only the surface, and everything beneath stays bare. Keep the total depth to two shallow layers — a third means a steamed middle
Bake12 min
200°C, middle rack, uncovered, until the cheese is fully melted and bubbling
until the cheese has melted through both layers and is bubbling at the edges. Oven rather than broiler — a broiler browns the top in ninety seconds while the lower layer is still cold, and there is no way to correct it without burning what is already done
Season3 min
wet toppings AFTER baking, scattered not poured
+ scallion + cilantro (+ sour cream, + guacamole, + salsa, + cotija, + lime) added once the tray is out. Every wet topping goes on now: baked in, their water soaks the chips beneath into paste, and cold dairy splits in the oven. Serve immediately — nachos have a serving window of a few minutes and there is no way to hold them