Chicken Nachos with Homemade Pickled Jalapeño Rings

Party food in a flash! Chicken Nachos are quick and easy to assemble with rotisserie chicken, black beans, grilled peppers, homemade pickled jalapeños, cheddar and more. Seriously good stuff!

Budget-Friendly Party Food. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. High Protein.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~
~ Skip Straight to Chicken Nachos ~
~ Pickled Jalapeño Rings ~
~ Game-Day Pretzels ~

Forget Politics.

The Super Bowl is America’s Grand Old Party and the annual extravaganza happens every February.

St. Louisans, we may miss the Kurt Warner glory years, but look on the bright side. Now that the Rams have up and moved themselves back to LA, lets us point our remote controls to the Big Game’s best plays: the television commercials, the half-time show and the party food. Go team!

Party Food in a Flash

Chicken Nachos somehow make the party, whether for an occasion or you know, just a midweek supper after a long day.

• Hosting a football party? Taking food along to someone else's party? Look for lots of ideas in this collection of recipes, Football Fever!.
• For more cold-weather parties, check out this collection, Chillin: Chili, Chowder with a Side of Cornbread.
• For Cinco de Mayo or Mexican-themed gatherings, you'll find more recipes ideas with Mexican recipes.

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QUICK SUPPER: CHICKEN NACHOS

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Time to table: 45 minutes
Serves 8 as an appetizer, 4 as entrée

PEPPERS & BEANS
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 bell peppers (see TIPS), sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 15 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained

CHICKEN
• 1/2 pound cooked chicken (see TIPS), shredded
• Zest and juice of a lime
• Salt & pepper to taste

NACHO TOPPINGS
• 3 chopped green onions (don’t skip)
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 cups (8 ounces) grated cheese (see TIPS)
• Pickled jalapeños, from a jar or homemade, see Quick Jalapeño Pickles

TO SERVE
• 4 ounces tortilla chips
• 1/2 cup sour cream (see TIPS) or Mexican sour cream, see Lime Crema
• Salsa

Heat the oven to 450F/230C.

PEPPERS & BEANS In a skillet, heat the oil until shimmery. Add the peppers, garlic and spices; cook, stirring often, until just cooked but still colorful. Stir in the beans; warm through.

CHICKEN Meanwhile, toss the chicken, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper in a bowl.

ASSEMBLE Set up an assembly line with the Peppers & Beans, the Chicken and small bowls of the 4 Nacho Toppings. For a single oven-safe dish, leave room around the perimeter to arrange the tortilla chips but in the center, layer about half the Peppers & Beans, half the Chicken, and half of each topping. Repeat the layers, then arrange the chips around the edge.

BAKE Bake until the cheese melts, about 10 – 15 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly.

SERVE Serve with sour cream and salsa on the side. Dig in!

TO MAKE AHEAD All the components (the Peppers & Beans, the chicken, even the Nacho Toppings) can be prepped ahead of time but you'll want to assemble it all just before going into the oven, especially the tortilla chips (or maybe shortly before).

ALANNA's TIPS For a flash of color, use one green and one red pepper. One breast from a rotisserie chicken works beautifully, so does leftover roast turkey or chicken. If you use a rotisserie chicken, do save the carcass to make No-Big-Deal Homemade Chicken Stock! A Mexican cheese blend adds a welcome bite. If you like, stir chopped cilantro and minced pickled jalapeño rings into the sour cream. For portion control management, I like to serve Chicken Nachos in small individual oven-safe dishes such as these mini cast iron servers (affiliate link), we have all three shapes, round, oval and rectangle!

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Quick Note: A huge % of the calories and points come from the chips and sour cream. If you're paying attention, limit those!
Per Entrée Serving (for each serving, assumes 1oz tortilla chips, specifically Tostitos Bite Size; 2 tablespoons sour cream; 2 tablespoons salsa) 650 Calories; 35g Tot Fat; 17g Sat Fat; 118mg Cholesterol; 756mg Sodium; 42g Carb; 7g Fiber; 6g Sugar; 40g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 15 & PointsPlus 17 & SmartPoints 21 & Freestyle 8 & myWW green 19 & blue 8 & purple 8.

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I see people buy huge jars of jalapeno rings. Instead, make your own, just a few pantry ingredients and no canning required. Very handy to have on hand!

Need more detail? It's all here, Quick Jalapeño Pickles

QUICK JALAPEÑO PICKLES These homemade refrigerator pickles keep in the fridge for months. Just pack a clean glass jar with thin slices of fresh jalapeño rings, then slip in thin carrot slices and a bay leaf. Bring 1:1 volumes of water:vinegar to a boil, add half a teaspoon salt per cup of liquid. Fill the jar, let it cool, add a lid, then refrigerate for a week before serving. Delicious! Keeps forever.

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Every good party needs great party snacks!

GAME-DAY PRETZELS Warm 6 ounces of popcorn oil, then stir in a packet of Ranch dressing mix, 2 teaspoons of dill weed and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. With your hands, work the spice mixture into 2 pounds of small pretzels (shapes work better than pretzel sticks). Place on two sheet pans to dry on the counter overnight. Best made 24 hours before serving. The recipe is easily halved for less volume or doubled for great food gifts.

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More "Mexican" Recipes

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~ more Mexican recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade

~ Mexican Scrambled Eggs (Huevos Revueltos a la Mexicana) ~
~ Veggie Burritos with Cilantro Sauce ~
~ Zucchini Mushroom Tacos ~
from A Veggie Venture

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Start With a Rotisserie Chicken!

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~ more rotisserie chicken recipes ~

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