Confession time: late night half-price appetizers at Applebee’s are a bit of a guilty pleasure for us.  Well, maybe not so much a pleasure…it’s something we’re guilty of doing sometimes when it’s starting to get late and we haven’t made dinner yet.  We usually get nachos to share and then our own things.  In case you hadn’t noticed by now, Erik and I don’t eat beef, so instead of the Chili Cheese Nachos we get the Nachos Nuevos (which are chicken nachos), that used to be their own menu item but aren’t anymore so you have to ask for them special.

In general they’re pretty good.  But they can also be rather hit or miss.  Sometimes there’s hardly any chicken, sometimes the cheese is barely melted.  Worst of all, one time there was literally piles of salt on the chips.  The result is that we usually end up regretting our decision, since it results in being thirsty and bloated the rest of the night.  Finally we decided that we could do this better on our own.  And we did.

Homemade Nachos with Chicken

• ¾ bag (13.5 oz) tortilla chips
• 1 ½ cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 2 chicken breasts
• Dry rub or taco seasoning mix
• Pico de gallo or salsa

(Note: If you’re feeling really lazy, you could use Perdue southwestern flavor chicken shortcuts in place of the chicken breasts and dry rub OR use leftover chicken you have lying around)

Pound chicken so it’s about ½ inch thick.  Coat in olive oil and dry rub.  Cook in a hot pan until cooked through, about 8 minutes.  Once chicken is cooked, cut into bite size pieces.

Yummy chicken

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with non-stick spray.  Arrange tortilla chips in the pan.  Top with ½ cup of cheese and broil until cheese is melted.

Top with chicken, and the rest of the cheese.  Return to broiler until cheese has melted.

Top with pico de gallo.  If you’d like the pico de gallo heated through a bit you can return to the broiler for a minute or two.  Once everything has cooled to eating temperature, enjoy!

If you’d like you can have sour cream or guacamole nearby to dip your nachos into as well.

Dig in!

These nachos are delicious.  And the best part is they fill you up without making you feel thirsty and bloaty the rest of the night.  They’re light and fresh.  You don’t want to just lay down and sleep for a week after eating them.  And really, they don’t take that much time to make.  You can probably make them faster than waiting for a table at Applebee’s on a busy Saturday night.