Ultimate Loaded Campfire Nachos with Chicken

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Loaded campfire nachos, with shredded chicken and hummus, are a cheesy delicious camping meal everyone will love. Easy recipe with all the best toppings!

My family loves a good Tex-Mex meal, so we love making campfire nachos when we're on a camping trip. Oh my word, just the thought of them has my mouth watering for more.

While we love ground beef tacos and chicken tacos, there's just something about chicken nachos, especially when you combine the chicken with ingredients like roasted red pepper hummus, shredded cheese, queso, avocados, red onion, and Roma tomatoes.

And cheesy nachos that have been cooked over the campfire have a hint of a smoky flavor to them too. I'm telling you, they are sooooo good, almost as good as my campfire chili cheese fries.

What I love about this nachos recipe is that it's easy to make, especially if you use chicken that's already been cooked. Just layer up your ingredients, give your nachos a few minutes to cook to let things melt together, and you've got one of the best camping meals ever.

Well, besides camping tacos… Yet another one of my favorite camping recipes.

loaded camping nachos with chicken, Roma tomatoes, avocados, and sour cream

Maybe you're at home and want to make these in your oven? No problem! Make these sheet pan nachos instead.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE ACTUAL RECIPE CARD?

If you’d rather skip all of my tips for making camping nachos, important info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the chicken nachos recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.

PREP FIRST BEFORE YOU COOK

Before you starting the layering process, you'll need to do a little prep work first.

Making sure you have a campfire going is imperative, of course, because that's where we're going to cook these nachos.

You can also cook them the same way on a grill, and I say that because I know a lot of the time when we're out camping, we can't even have a campfire. So if a grill is all you've got, you can definitely make grilled nachos.

Another couple steps you'll need to take are prepping all your veggies and cooking the chicken. Sometimes we'll cook the chicken at the campsite, and sometimes we'll cook it before we leave home, shred it up, and pack it in a plastic baggie in the cooler.

Of course, you can also use canned chicken, making this recipe even easier.

CAMPING GEAR FOR MAKING NACHOS

When we made this recipe, we used a large homemade griddle we use for so many different recipes.

cooking chicken nachos over the campfire on a large cast iron griddle

While I wouldn't change the way we did it, I might recommend using a Dutch oven or a larger cast iron skillet with a lid, so you have the heat both above (with coals) and below, much like an oven.

I really do love using our homemade cast iron griddle because it's big, it can hold a lot of tortilla chips, and we just use aluminum foil as kind of a tent to trap and hold that heat in while cooking (see picture on down below).

HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN NACHOS WITH LAYERS

Ready to layer up nachos with chicken and all your favorite toppings? While I like to use regular tortilla chips, you can also make chicken nachos with Doritos for a little extra kick.

  1. Add a generous layer of tortilla chips to your pan, spreading them out so they cover the entire pan.
  2. Add small dollops of roasted red pepper hummus around on top of the chips.
  3. Mix the shredded chicken with salsa and spread it around next, also giving it a little spritz of lime juice.
  4. Then spoon white queso all around on the nachos.
  5. Scatter minced or chopped red onion on as another layer.
  6. Finally add shredded cheese, spreading it out evenly all across the nachos.

I mentioned giving the chicken a spritz of lime juice in the layering instructions. This step is totally optional, although I do feel like the lime juice gives the nachos a little oomph they're kinda missing without it.

spritzing fresh lime juice on top of cheesy nachos

HOW TO COOK CAMPFIRE NACHOS

Your fire should be down to coals, with a little bit of flame here and there.

We use a tripod grill. You’ll want to watch it closely, though, as you may need to adjust the height of the grill over the fire, so the pan doesn’t get so hot that it burns the nachos.

cooking chicken nachos on a cast iron pan over the campfire

Once you have the height you think you need, place the pan on the grill, and you can either use a heated lid (with a skillet or Dutch oven), or use aluminum foil as sort of a tent wrapped around the griddle to trap the heat.

using aluminum foil to act as an oven tent, trapping heat for chicken nachos recipe over the campfire

Cook the nachos until you melt the cheese and everything else is heated through. It'll probably take about 10 to 15 minutes.

melted cheesy nachos in cast iron pan on campfire grill

WHAT TOPPINGS TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN NACHOS

Once your nachos are done and all the cheese is melted, you can add things like chopped tomatoes, avocados, salsa with basil, and sour cream.

loaded chicken nachos in cast iron pan

Other ideas might include things like black olives, green onions, maybe even strips of bell peppers. Some of these things can even be added before cooking the nachos.

picking up campfire chicken nachos with melted cheese and all the toppings

HOW ‘BOUT DESSERT AFTER DINNER? MORE CAMPING RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY…

SHOP KITCHEN TOOLS AND CAMPING GEAR FOR THIS RECIPE:

Large Cast Iron Skillet or Dutch oven – You can also find a 14-inch cast iron pizza pan, which is similar to our large homemade griddle.

Lid for Cast Iron Skillet and Lid Lifter

Tripod Grill – While we rigged up our own tripod grill, you can also buy them. They come with slightly smaller grates, but still usable over the fire.

Cutting Board and Outdoor Knife Set

Welding Gloves – These work so much better for cooking over a campfire than regular grilling gloves/mitts.

We've put together a list of camping cooking gear you may need for your next adventure. Be sure to check it out for all the essentials!

GET THE PRINTABLE RECIPE

If you love this chicken nachos recipe as much as we do, please write a 5 star review, and help me share the recipe on Facebook and Pinterest!

Ultimate Loaded Campfire Nachos Recipe

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campfire nachos with chicken cooking on a cast iron griddle on a tripod grill over the campfire

Loaded Campfire Nachos with Chicken

Loaded campfire nachos, with shredded chicken and hummus, are a cheesy delicious camping meal everyone will love. Easy recipe with all the best toppings!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizers, Camping Recipes, dinner
Cuisine: American, Tex-Mex
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 631kcal
Author: Mel Lockcuff

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces tortilla chips
  • 10 ounces roasted red pepper hummus
  • 2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1/2 cup queso
  • 1/2 red onion medium size, minced
  • 4 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
  • 4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese shredded
  • 3 Roma tomatoes
  • 2 avocados
  • 1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions

  • Add a generous layer of tortilla chips to your pan, spreading them out so they cover the entire pan*.
  • Add small dollops of roasted red pepper hummus around on top of the chips.
  • Mix the shredded chicken with salsa and spread it around next, also giving it a little spritz of lime juice.
  • Then spoon white queso all around on the nachos.
  • Scatter minced or chopped red onion on as another layer.
  • Finally add shredded cheese, spreading it out evenly all across the nachos.
  • Once you have the height you think you need over the campfire, place the pan full of nachos on the tripod grill (you can either use a heated lid with a skillet or Dutch oven, or use aluminum foil as sort of a tent wrapped around the griddle pan to trap the heat).
  • Cook the nachos until the cheese has fully melted and everything is heated through. It’ll probably take 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Then serve with your favorite toppings like tomatoes, avocados, and sour cream.

Notes

*When we made this recipe, we used a large homemade griddle we use for so many different recipes, along with aluminum foil. While I wouldn’t change the way we did it, I might recommend using a Dutch oven or a larger cast iron skillet with a lid, so you have the heat both above (with coals) and below, much like an oven.

Nutrition

Calories: 631kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 938mg | Potassium: 740mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 800IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 369mg | Iron: 7mg
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