For part two of my posts today, I'm bringing you the less healthy way to please a Super Bowl crowd using the base from my Crockpot Chicken Tacos. Less healthy, but worth every calorie if, for some reason, you are counting.

These nachos have two layers of chips, chicken, cheese, corn and black beans. The top layer is also topped with pico de gallo, avocado and sour cream when it comes out of the oven. Basically, it's everything you could want in a nacho masterpiece. 

All of the toppings are pretty standard as far as loaded nachos go. I used canned beans and frozen corn, but didn't go so far as to add any canned jalapenos or other not-so-fresh items that sometimes end up on nachos. I made my own pico de gallo since I cooked these during the snowpocalypse in DC, and Safeway was out of their fresh salsa (pico demand is high in times of peril). Assuming pico de gallo supplies are back to normal, you can use the store-bought kind to make this recipe even easier. 

If you make the full batch of crockpot chicken tacos, you will have enough chicken for the taquitos, chicken nachos and plenty of tacos. I made the chicken using only four chicken breasts, and I still had more than enough for all three. 

Serve the nachos immediately while the cheese and chicken are still hot. I took the nachos outside to photograph when they came out of the oven, and within seconds I could see everything cooling down. No one wants cold nachos, so I sacrificed decent pictures for the food (which is pretty much what I do every time I'm faced with this sort of dilemma). 

Enjoy!

Loaded Chicken Nachos

Serves 8

2 cups shredded chicken from Crockpot Chicken tacos recipe

1 14 1/2-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1     10 package frozen corn, thawed 

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2   teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4   teaspoon salt

20 ounces shredded cheese* (pepper jack, cheddar, monterey jack, etc. all work well for this)

1 bag tortilla chips*

1 cup salsa fresca / pico de gallo (store bought is fine)

3/4   cup sour cream

2      avocados, peeled, seeded and cubed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking pan or large oven-proof dish with alumnium foil. Make sure the pan has high edges so that the toppings do not spill over. 
2. Heat a saute pan over medium heat. Add beans, corn and spices. Stir to combine, and heat for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add shredded chicken and stir to combine. Heat through.
4. Spread a layer of tortilla chips over the baking pan. They should overlap at points and cover the pan completely, but keep in mind that this is only one of two layers! 
5. Add half of the chicken, corn and beans mixture over chips. 
6. Sprinkle half of the cheese evenly over the layer. 
7. Repeat, adding another layer of chips, the remaining chicken mixture, and the remaining cheese.
8. Bake pan in oven for 12-15 minutes, or until both layers of cheese have completely melted and chips have crisped but are not burnt on the edges.  
9. Remove nachos from oven and top evenly with pico de gallo, avocado and sour cream.
10. Serve immediately.

* Use a brand that has good, sturdy chips. Often times loading nachos with toppings before baking leaves you with soggy chips. I used Mission Brand, which I usually like, but they didn't work as well for this. 

* Hand shredding cheese will give you a meltier cheese that's better for nachos. I buy the 10oz blocks of Cracker Barrel for these and use one cheddar and one pepper jack.

The most popular recipe on my blog has been Crockpot Chicken Tacos for four years running. It's no surprise why when you consider the steps to make it:

1) Add six chicken breasts, one packet of taco seasoning and one jar of salsa into a crockpot and stir to combine.
2) Turn on crockpot for 4-6 hours.
3) Shred with a fork or a hand mixer. Serve.

It makes more chicken than you would've possibly thought you could get out of six chicken breasts, so once you've had your taco fix, you can use the leftovers for soup, quesadillas, salads, crunchwraps, etc.

Super Bowl Sunday calls for delicious food that feeds a crowd. Assuming your crowd isn't full of vegetarians, one batch of crockpot chicken tacos lends itself perfectly to THREE crowd-pleasing variations using the chicken. The first of those is just your standard taco bar with all the fixin's. I usually do this by setting out the chicken and tortillas alongside bowls of sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, avocado/guacamole and salsa. Any variation is good. The more bowls the better.

The second option is what I'll cover in this post -- taquitos! It's hard to beat traditional fried taquitos, but with all the greasy food choices for the Super Bowl, I figured it might be best to give you a baked taquitos recipe. Guilt-free taquito eating to your heart's delight! Also, the next recipe I'm sharing isn't remotely guilt-free, so really I'm really just aiming for balance.

You can serve the taquitos with sour cream, ranch, and/or salsa on the side for dipping. Any of the southwestern/chipotle ranch options are especially good for these. You will need to use the smaller tortillas because otherwise you'll just have very long, awkward taquitos that require double-dipping, and nobody wants that. The pictures show the batch I made using the Mission brand "Super Soft" tortillas because that's what I had on hand, but I'd recommend using just the normal thickness so that they crisp up a bit more.

Check back later today for the next post for chicken nachos!

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Taquitos
Makes 10 Small Taquitos

1 cup chicken from Crockpot Chicken Tacos *
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
10 small flour tortillas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
3. Stir cheese and chicken together in a bowl.  
4. Set out tortillas, and place a few tablespoons of the mixture in a line on the left 1/3 of the tortilla, leaving about an inch on the ends so the mixture doesn't melt out in the oven. 
5. Roll up the tortilla very tightly, and place seam side down onto the baking sheet. 
6. Repeat with remaining mixture and tortillas, placing tortillas at least an inch apart on the sheet.
7. Spray the top of each tortilla with cooking spray or brush with oil. 
8. Place pan in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are starting to turn golden brown.
9. Serve immediately with sour cream, ranch and/or salsa.