The best things in life are meant to be shared. Please remind me of that this upcoming football Sunday when I am HOARDING these Loaded Buffalo Chicken Nachos to myself.
Don’t be surprised if you find me whispering “my precious” over them and viciously swatting away the hands of friends and family members who are eager to try a bite.
Seriously, I will tackle you linebacker-style if you try to grab a nacho in all of its buffalo chicken glory without asking nicely first. Be warned.
So, it’s football season and I’m all amped up because my team is doing well for a change, and I’m going all-in with the appetizers this year. And everyone knows that the number one way to do appetizers on game day is to load up on the buffalo sauce.
Note my other buffalo chicken recipes.
What makes these Loaded Buffalo Chicken Nachos so special?
Well, first of all, there’s buffalo chicken, obviously.
Then, it’s smothered in a ranch queso and sprinkled with blue cheese crumbles (or not, if you’re not into that sort of thing).
Next, some chopped green onion and pickled jalapenos are thrown on top before a quick trip to the oven.
Lastly, you let the skillet cool just enough to dive in face-first without hurting yourself, because you might not be prim and proper when there’s nachos in the immediate vicinity but at least you’ve got enough self-restraint to avoid facial burns. Hopefully.
But don’t let them wait too too long, because nobody likes soggy nachos (I’m tearing up at the thought of it) and you don’t want to sacrifice one drop of queso or buffalo sauce.
I don’t think I need to elaborate any more. You and I both know that you need these, STAT. Let me hurry up and get you that recipe so you can put the ingredients on your shopping list for this Sunday.
Loaded Buffalo Chicken Nachos
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 bag tortilla chips
For the buffalo chicken:
- 2 chicken breasts, shredded (you can use rotisserie chicken, prepare in the crock pot, or poach them until cooked through, which is what I did here)
- Franks buffalo hot sauce, to taste (about 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons powdered ranch seasoning
For the ranch queso:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 lb white american cheese, shredded
- 8 oz Monterrey or pepper jack cheese, shredded
- 1–2 tablespoons powdered ranch seasoning
Additional toppings:
- 10 slices pickled jalapenos, or to taste
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
- Buffalo sauce, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Toss together the shredded chicken, buffalo sauce, and powdered ranch seasoning in a medium-sized bowl. Make sure the chicken has a good coating of buffalo sauce, but you don’t want it to swim in it. You will add a drizzle of buffalo sauce to your nachos in addition to the sauce on the chicken. Cover and set aside to keep warm.
- In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream to a simmer. A handful at a time, stir in the cheeses, making sure they’ve completely melted before adding the next handful. Keep stirring and add in the ranch seasoning.
- Put a thick layer of nachos on the bottom of a cast iron skillet, and top with 1/2 of your buffalo chicken, making sure to get some in the nooks and crannies so all of the chips have a little chicken. Drizzle some of the queso on top.
- Add a second thick layer of tortilla chips, top with the remaining buffalo chicken, and drizzle again with queso. You will have queso leftover. Serve this on the side with additional nachos if you’d like, or save it in a refrigerated container.
- Add jalapenos, green onions, and blue cheese to taste, and drizzle with a tiny bit more buffalo sauce if you’d like. Remember, you don’t want to overdo it and wind up with soggy nachos.
- Place the nachos in the oven for 2-3 minutes, or until the blue cheese crumbles JUST begin to melt and the chicken is heated up. Serve warm.
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Looks so tasty and yummy!!!
Is that James’ beautiful hand? LOL
Yes it is, haha. He always is my hand model when he happens to be around =)
My favorite. Seriously.
Perfection!
I’m drooling! These look perfectly outrageous for gameday!
Thanks, Bri!
My husband and I devoured these for dinner last night – so good! That ranch queso is where it’s at! I actually had some leftover slowcooker shredded buffalo chicken so I used that and I also added some diced tomato and avocado to my side, which was a really yum addition. I’ll definitely be making these again, thanks for the recipe!
I’m happy to hear it, Stephanie! Next time I make these, I’ll have to try adding some avocado and diced tomato– sounds delicious =)
Do they need to be done in a skillet…would a throw away aluminum pan work?
That will be fine, Jen =)
My husband sad. ” you got to make this today!!. So I guess I’m going to the supermarket 🙂 thanks a lot. Lol.
This recipe is so amazingly good. I’ve made them countless times now, especially for the Super Bowl and for my family. Every year we go on a family ski trip and my siblings always request I make these. Thanks for this recipe!
Made this a few weeks ago, and will make it again soon! So good!
Can you make this recipe with cheddar cheese? I’m not a big fan of white cheeses.
Sure! That would be fine, Yolanda!
I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never had loaded buffalo chicken nachos! This recipe looks great though so hopefully that will change! Thanks for posting it Morgan!
★★★★★
Step 2: “set aside to keep warm” – why _keep_ warm, did I miss a step or word where we heat the chicken/make it warm already?