May 18, 2020

Chicken Nachos Grilled Cheese Sandwich Recipe

Name: Chicken Nachos Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 2 slices of bread; 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp of shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided; 3 Tbsp of shredded cooked chicken; 1 diced jalapeño pepper, de-seeded; 1 tsp of diced onion; 1/4 tsp of chipotle hot sauce; 1 Tbsp of salsa; 5 tortilla chips (or more if you want more crunch); butter

With Meat Tex-Mex

Who doesn’t love nachos? The spicy jalapeños, the crispy tortilla chips, the gooey cheese… Yum! So I thought, why not make this into a grilled cheese sandwich? People put potato chips into sandwiches, so it’s not a totally crazy concept. Check out my chicken nachos grilled cheese sandwich recipe, and enjoy!

What goes into the sandwich?

I started with the idea that chips on a sandwich is not unheard of. It adds a fun little crunch to your sandwich, all in one bite. And nachos are amazing, so why not, right?

First I tried laying out the tortilla chips whole into the sandwich. But since chips aren’t exactly flat, I decided it was better to break them up into pieces before closing up the sandwich. It made the whole thing a little easier to manage.

Other ingredients you put on your nachos can be a little flexible, but I especially like onions, so I diced some up and put them in with the chicken and jalapeños. Refried beans are pretty common on nachos, but I thought that might be one step too far for a grilled cheese sandwich. If you try it with beans, let me know how it works!

For the cheese, you can use one of those bags of pre-shredded Mexican blend cheeses. Pre-shredded cheese has a coating on it to prevent the cheese from sticking to itself, so it doesn’t melt quite as nicely, but I don’t think it’s overly noticeable. You could also mix half Mexican blend cheese with your own shredded cheddar, Monterrey jack, or similar cheeses.

>>Check out the chicken quesadilla grilled cheese sandwich recipe.

How to make a chicken nachos grilled cheese sandwich

I used chicken, but you could also do ground beef instead. Shred about 3 tablespoons of chicken, and in a bowl, mix it with a diced jalapeño (de-seeded unless you like it really spicy), 1 teaspoon of diced onion, 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle hot sauce, and a tablespoon of your favorite salsa.

Mix in 1/2 cup of your cheese blend. I think mixing the cheese in with the chicken and other ingredients helps keep everything together better so there’s melted cheese throughout the sandwich.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of cheese onto a slice of bread. Then layer on your chicken mixture.

Next are the tortilla chips. About 5 chips worked well for my sandwich, but adjust as needed if you have bigger or smaller chips. Basically you want enough chips to cover the chicken and cheese mixture. I also found that breaking the chips up into smaller pieces worked better for actually closing up the sandwich.

Then sprinkle another tablespoon of cheese on top of the chips. Now close up your sandwich with the other slice of bread, and you’re ready to grill it.

I prefer to use butter when making a grilled cheese sandwich. Let the butter melt completely and wait until you see tiny bubbles form in it. That’s when you know it’s hot enough to place your sandwich in the pan.

Grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, checking to make sure the bread doesn’t burn. If your bread isn’t golden brown enough, give it another minute or two on each side. I find that 10 minutes total is usually perfect for that dark golden brown, but not burned, grilled cheese sandwich.

I hope you enjoyed this chicken nachos grilled cheese sandwich recipe! Let me know if you try it with beans or beef.

Yield: 1 sandwich