Chicken nacho salad – with cucumber, lettuce, tomato, soured cream, jalapeños, chicken and cheesy nachos – is a simple and fast salad that’s perfect for warm evenings.
This chicken nacho salad is one of those recipes that is so quick and easy, it’s barely a recipe. There’s very little cooking involved – just popping the nachos in the oven – and very little other work.
It’s simple, it’s tasty and it’s toddler approved! I developed it from a need to make an extremely quick dinner for a hungry child after a busy day, and this was an absolute win.
Looking for more ways to use your roast dinner leftovers? Why not try:
Duck: Hoisin Duck Stir Fry
Chicken: Leftover Roast Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Filo Pie, Chicken and Pea Risotto, Chicken and Lentil Soup, Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta
Beef: Leftover Beef Cottage Pie, Warm Beef and Lentil Salad
Ham: Leftover Ham Pie, Leek and Ham Pasta
Lamb: Leftover Lamb Shepherds Pie

Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Tortilla chips– use the cheapest, simplest ones you can find, flavoured only with salt.
- Grated cheese – you can use any melting grated cheese. I went for mozzarella.
- Cooked chicken– leftover roast chicken is great for this, as is rotisserie chicken. You can also bake some chicken breasts to use in the recipe.
- Cucumber, lettuce, tomato – this was just the salad mix I happened to have to hand. You could also use sweetcorn, avocado, bell peppers…get creative!
- Jalapeños – optional, but the kick of spice takes this to the next level.
- Soured cream – a dollop of soured cream on the side of each bowl is just enough to add some moisture and sharpness to each mouthful.

Top Tips
- Get ahead You can make the salad up to 48 hours ahead – just cook the nachos as you’re about to eat.
- Grill or bake You can either grill or bake the nachos. I baked mine, but they would be just as good under the grill.
- The chicken You can have the chicken hot, if you like. You can cook chicken breasts in the oven (I would coat them with smoked paprika for a warm, smoky flavour) and slice and serve in the salad when ready.
More delicious salad recipes to try:
- Carrot, Watercress and Beetroot Salad
- Warm Roasted Chickpea Salad
- Quinoa and Lentil Salad
- Steak and Green Bean Salad
- Warm Beef and Lentil Salad
- Sweetcorn and Black Bean Salad
- Pomegranate, Feta and Chickpea Salad
- Avocado, Bacon and Dolcelatte Salad
- Quinoa, Feta and Roasted Pepper Salad
- Asparagus and Green Bean Caesar Salad
Get the cook books:



Chicken Nacho Salad
July 18, 2024Ingredients
- 200 g tortilla chips
- 100 g grated cheese
- 4 cooked chicken breasts
- 1 iceberg lettuce
- ½ cucumber
- 100 g plum tomatoes
- 4 tbsps soured cream
- 4 tbsps sliced pickled jalapeños
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
- Put half the tortilla chips into an ovenproof dish and top with half of the cheese. Top with the rest of the tortilla chips, then the rest of the cheese. Put in the oven and bake for around 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Meanwhile, slice the chicken. Chop the lettuce, cucumber and tomato into small pieces.
- Get four bowls and share the chicken, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes between the bowls. Add a tablespoon of soured cream and jalapeños to each. When the nachos are ready, add a handful to each bowl. You’re ready to serve!

Leave a Reply