One of a Kind BBQ Chicken Nachos

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. As always, all opinions are mine alone. #PassThePepper #CollectiveBias

Well, here we are in a New Year… Happy 2015!

If you’re a big sports fan, you know what this time of year means. You guessed it – the College Football Championships!!

If you’ve been around for a while, you know that my family is a football one. With four boys and a husband who played football most of his life, it’s a big deal around here. Even more-so now (if that’s possible) that lil G is a sophomore in high school and getting more serious about figuring out which college he’ll be attending and playing football at. We enjoy this time of year when we watch some of our favorite schools and get to know some of the players that may eventually move up to the next level once they graduate.

As you know, one of my favorite aspects of this time of year is the food. I love a good game day spread, and even though I have plenty of recipes for these occasions, one more could never hurt. That’s why when I was recently shopping at Food 4 Less and spotted the Dr Peppers with the limited edition College Championship packaging, I just knew I had to create a recipe with it. We love Dr Pepper for our get togethers as it is, but you know I love to cook and bake with soda too.

Yup. I had an idea.

I’m a huge fan of nachos. Huge.

Upon thinking about it, I realized I’d never shared a recipe here for one of my favorite food groups (nachos!!) and I thought to myself how crazy that was. They are the perfect food for College Game Day!

Then I thought about chicken nachos.. and oh wait, BBQ chicken! That’s when this creation was born.

I used the Dr Pepper as an ingredient in my barbecue sauce, along with other spices and ingredients. This sauce has such a fabulous flavor! It’s sweet and tangy with a bit of a kick and it’s perfect with the grilled thigh meat I already had on hand. Since thigh meat tends to be juicier and a bit more flavorful, it complimented the flavors in the sauce. Because the sauce has such a bite to it, no salsa is needed. I did whip up a batch of my homemade guacamole while the nachos were baking, and of course these were a hit! Even though we had them for dinner, I’ll definitely be adding them to my food table at our next homegate! You can too, and here’s a $2.00 off coupon for you!

While I was enjoying my nachos, I thought of a fun drink to make with the Dr Pepper too. Why not a Dr Pepper float?

My favorite ice creams always have to have cherry in them, and I just so happened to have some cherry vanilla ice cream on hand. Why not serve it with Dr Pepper for a fun float? Just fill up a glass with cherry ice cream.

Top it with some Dr Pepper…

And enjoy! The cherry vanilla ice cream was the perfect compliment to the Dr Pepper.

Now, onto the nacho recipe..

Ingredients for Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Ingredients for BBQ Chicken Nachos:

• 1 pound grilled chicken thigh meat, lightly shredded or cubed
• 1 bag of tortilla chips
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup black olives, sliced
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1-2 limes
• sour cream
• guacamole

Directions for Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce:

Begin by heating the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan. Add the minced onions and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once soft and fragrant, add the minced garlic and saute for another minute or so.
Add the tomato sauce to the mixture and stir well. Lower the heat just a tad to medium/low.

Add the vinegars, brown sugar, honey and Worcestershire sauce, then stir them in.

Add the Dr Pepper, stirring well.

Add the seasonings and continue to stir. Keep the sauce over medium/low heat for about an hour to an hour and a half until the sauce has reduced and thickened to your liking. I like my sauce a bit thick, so I went more towards an hour and a half.
Be sure to stir every so often, especially as it thickens.
Remove the sauce from heat, and sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.

Directions for BBQ Chicken Nachos:

Add the pre-grilled chicken to a medium pan and heat over low.

Add about 1-2 cups of the sauce to the chicken, depending how saucy you want it. Mix it around a bit to be sure all the chicken is covered.
Remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil, then spray with non cooking spray.
Cover the baking sheet with a layer of chips.
Top with half of the BBQ Chicken, spreading evenly over the chips.

Evenly sprinkle with half of the shredded cheese.
Top with another layer of chips.
Spread the remaining chicken over the second layer of chips.
Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the top, being sure none is spilling over the sides of the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven, and let cook for about 10 minutes or until all the cheese has melted.

Remove from the oven and squeeze half a lime all over the top of the nachos.
Top with the tomatoes, olives and green onions.

Slice up the other half of the lime, and serve the nachos with the lime wedges as well as sour cream and guacamole.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy Game Day?