This is a carb-less play on the popular Texas Cheese Fries. I’m not a carb counter, but I’m also not a huge fry guy so, chicken seemed like a great sub.
It’s also one those dishes that does great as game day grub. It hits all the necessary criteria: ooey-gooey, cheesy, loaded with bacon and it’s finger food.
Or in my case, it was my second lunch. Yep. I made it with every intention of sharing with Cole as an after school snack, but got hungry and ended up eating the whole pan. The only problem was I forgot to wash out the pan before he could see the sticky crumbed remnants. That of course led to me making it a second time in one day. Which led to it ending up here on the blog!
Texas Chicken Nachos
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. chicken tenders
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large jalapeno,
3 tablespoons green onions
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Instructions
Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees
Combine and mix together salt, paprika, chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle and rub spice mixture over chicken pieces. Drizzle on vegetable oil on top of seasoned chicken and rub pieces together to evenly distribute oil. Place chicken on bake sheet, taking care not to stack any on top of one another and leaving at least 1/2 inch between each piece.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 3-4 minutes. Remove bake sheet from oven and flip chicken pieces to the other side and bake for another 3-4 minutes.
Transfer chicken to a cast iron pan, (or continue on the bakesheet), sprinkle with cheese and jalapeno. Return to the oven and increase heat to 425 degrees F. Bake until cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle green onions and crumbled bacon on top. Serve immediately. *Optional: Serve with Ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
So guess what? I still owe the kid another pan of these Texas Chicken Fries, because by the time I was done shooting them, they were cold.
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I am seeing a theme between you and Naomi today! But bring on the Texas goodness because these “Chicken” Nachos are my jam! Love the cheesy, protein-packed goodness! Pinned 🙂
Yes! These look crazy good. I must admit that I do love me some fries…but I think this chicken version actually looks better! I’d eat these bad boys for 2nd lunch any day of the week! #WolfpackEats
oh my gawd, after a few days of just juice and well, ok I cheated, salad too, damn, these chicken nachos look sooooooo good. oh my gawd. I’m dying over here, Matt. love this! perfect for Sunday!
Oh my goodness these look ridiculous. So gonna try this. Great photography, skillet dishes always turn out beautiful. I totally get you on the food getting cold. I can’t tell you how many dishes I’ve made that have gotten cold while photographing
Cole is one lucky kid for sure! These look incredible and I have a nice chunk of pepperjack I’d add myself. How much cheese or does it really matter? I say a handful or two! #WolfpackEats #baconrules
holy wow! This is a great recipe. I don’t count carbs either, I started out going to ‘watch’ them this year and by day 2 I wanted to kill somebody so I ate a cookie instead. This doesn’t seem like you miss the carbs though.
Gawd, these look so good Matt! First thought they were potato wedges under all that yummy gooeyness but chicken?! That’s like three meals in one. Super bowl perfection!
Matt, it’s obvious that this dish includes cheese, but nowhere in your ingredient list is it mentioned; you forced me to use 4 different cheeses in an attempt to appease some snack-god somewhere…
Good on ‘ya, bud! I posted a pic of the dish with a link to this page on Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/FoodPorn/comments/30sr9v/texas_chicken_nachos_498_x_747/) and it’s been getting a lot of hits and saw some comments re: the “missing cheese” – and the general consensus is; you’ve got a lot of worthy stuff here. Please keep it up!
I’m from England and I’m a little bit confused about what a chicken tender is?! Is it breaded or is it just chicken breast? Please help these look super tasty!!
This recipe not only looks amazing, it tastes amazing! And it was so filling, I don’t know how you ate the whole thing, three pieces of chicken with ranch dressing and I was through! My son loved it too, so this recipe is a keeper! Thank you.
I am just confused on how the chicken cooks all the way? Do you need to have already cooked chicken? Or does it cook in 3-4 minutes, because I have always found that it takes 20 minutes to cook….
Make this tonight and it turned out great. Cooked the chicken a little longer and it was still tender. This would be great over nacho chips or rice. Can’t wait to make your chili
I used pickled tamed jalapeños and sharp cheddar cheese and added some black olives and skipped the bacon because I’m calorie counting. And it was DELICIOUS. THANK you so much for helping me diet deliciously.
Made this for dinner tonight….absolutely yummo!!! Had it with cream cheese and bacon jalapenos and a nice dollop of sour cream on top.
Cant wait to try your other recipes ????????
I’m going to put a twist on this tomorrow. I’m attending an outdoor autumn party about an hour from me, after my daughters game. I’m going to use whole breasts, cook then shred. Assemble, cover and transport, finish off there. I’m going to supply “scoops” for those that eat carbs ( I do not)…
This dish sounds yummy and I will give you the verdict of the recipe and twist.
Thank you
Leave a comment & rate this recipe
If you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and review. Star ratings help people discover my recipes online. Your support means a great deal to me.
90 comments to " Texas Chicken Nachos "