Loaded Chicken Nachos Recipe

Thank you to Frito-Lay for sponsoring this blog post. All opinions expressed are 100% my own. 

I am so excited that it is finally football season again! One of my favorite things to do is watch football games with my boys. We also like to invite friends over for football parties. It’s one of the best excuses EVER to eat all sorts of good food. Game Day snacks and recipes are as traditional as team jerseys and cheers.

Our favorite Game Day Foods include potato chips and tortilla chips, which are the #1 and #2 snacks on hand for NFL kickoff parties. The maker of America’s Favorite Snacks, Frito-Lay, is the perfect fit as an official NFL sponsor. Let’s all celebrate our team spirit this season by making TOSTITOS® brand products and RUFFLES® Original Potato Chips part of our Game Day tradition.

This year, Frito-Lay has invited bloggers to be part of their Frito-Lay Nacho Throwdown to create a unique nachos recipe. I was one of those bloggers! Starting in January 2015, fans will be asked to vote for their favorite blogger-submitted recipe in head-to-head recipe match-ups every week until one blogger recipe is crowned champion at the end of Week Four. Please go vote for my recipe at the Frito-Lay Facebook page.

The 12th Man Nachos Recipe

This year’s reigning Super Bowl Champions, The Seattle Seahawks, have one of the most unique weapons in the NFL: The 12th Man. Seahawks fans can literally change the course of home games with their deafening cheers. In honor of The Seahawks and The 12th Man, I created a 12 ingredient nachos recipe.

Add a bit of the Seahawks’ home state flavor when you use Washington apples and Walla Walla onions. I love using TOSTITOS® Simply Blue Corn Tortilla Chips because combined with the green avocados and limes, they make the Seahawks team colors!

Ingredients:

• TOSTITOS® Simply Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips and TOSTITOS® Simply Blue Corn Tortilla Chips (*or your favorite Frito-Lay chips)
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 2 cups cheese (1 cup Monterey Jack, 1 cup Cheddar), shredded
• 1/2 cup red taco sauce
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1/2 sweet onion, diced
• 1 apple, diced
• 1 juice of fresh lime *more limes if desired for garnishing
• 3 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped fine
• 5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place tortilla chips in a single layer on the baking sheet and cover with shredded cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Carefully transfer them to a serving dish (or just leave them on the baking sheet and serve from there).
2. In the meantime, make the Pico: Combine tomatoes, onion, apple, cilantro and jalapeno in a bowl. Add the juice of one lime and stir well.
3. Prepare the chicken: Add the taco sauce to the chicken and stir until evenly coated. Heat the chicken mixture in a skillet over low heat until thoroughly warmed.
4. Once your tortilla chips are out of the oven, they are ready to for the toppings. Cover them with chicken, then the pico. Then add your sliced avocado and crumbled bacon. Garnish with cut limes if desired.

Click to download a printable version of The 12th Man Nachos Recipe.

Don’t forget to head over to the Frito-Lay Nacho Throwdown and VOTE! 

Follow @FritoLay on Twitter

@FritoLay on Pinterest

and @FritoLay on Instagram