Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

A little while ago, I couldn’t decide which new recipe to make first, so I held a little contest on Instagram and Facebook to help me choose.  The winner, but not by much, was Buffalo Chicken Nachos!  So here you go, folks!

A couple years back I actually made a buffalo chicken nachos recipe that I had found on Pinterest, and it was good, but I always felt I could do it better.  It had a blue cheese sauce, which was not terrible, but I found it to be too rich.  Personally, I can’t handle too much blue cheese at once (despite my deep affinity for blue cheese dressing), it’s just too much for me.  And if I recall correctly, I felt like the chicken took too long to prepare, so I jotted this dish down as something I could figure out how to do better.

And I think I did it!  The cheese sauce is actually my American cheese-based queso, with some crumbled gorgonzola cheese added in.  The American cheese provides a nice, mild base upon which to build these spicy nachos, and balances out the tang of the gorgonzola.  I chose gorgonzola because I find it milder than traditional crumbled blue cheese, as well as creamier with a better melt factor.  We baked the chicken breast doused in buffalo sauce, then diced fine so it wasn’t too hard to bite through on a tortilla chip, and tossed with extra buffalo sauce.  Then I topped with some more crumbles of gorgonzola and some sliced scallions, and YUM!!  These nachos were a nice tasty treat!

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

Ingredients
Tortilla chips (I like Tostitos Cantina Traditional style)
1/2 lb Land o’ Lakes white American cheese, sliced and/or cubed
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (or crumbled blue cheese), plus additional for topping, if desired
1 chicken breast
Your favorite buffalo wing sauce (I like Frank’s Red Hot)
Sliced scallions, if desired

Directions
1. Make Queso: Add milk and American cheese to a saucepan and place over low heat on the stovetop. If you let it sit and leave it alone, it should melt nicely. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. When the American cheese is fully melted, stir in the crumbled gorgonzola. Alternatively, you can melt in a microwave-proof bowl in the microwave, cooking on high for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring at each interval. Again, once the American cheese is melted, add in the crumbled gorgonzola.

2. Bake Chicken: Place the chicken breast in a baking dish and pour buffalo sauce over top. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken breast. Check for doneness, or cook until the inside reaches 165 degrees F. Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly, or until you are almost ready to assemble the nachos. Leave the oven on. Remove the chicken to a cutting board and dice to your preferred size – I like small dices. If desired, toss with leftover or extra buffalo sauce. Set aside.

3. Prepare Nachos: Place tortilla chips on a baking sheet, and warm in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and promptly dress with cheese sauce, diced buffalo chicken, and sliced scallions and additional crumbled gorgonzola, if desired. Enjoy!