These skillet carnitas nachos are fully loaded! Tortilla chips piled high with refried beans, jack and cheddar cheese, jalapeños, onions and tomatoes. These nachos quick and easy to make, they only take 30 minutes!
If you love nachos, check out these sheet pan steak totchos (tater tot nachos).
The only thing easier than tacos are skillet nachos. Because nachos are beyond easy to make, you just put as much stuff imaginable on top of tortilla chips and you are done.
Am I right?
If you don't have a skillet, no problem, swap the skillet out for a sheet pan lined with foil.
The thing I love about using a skillet is it retains the heat from the oven, so your nachos stay hot throughout dinner. Like with these skillet white chicken and mexican street corn enchiladas.
It's an easy recipe, you can pick and choose what things you want to put on the nachos and what you things your family might not like - so leave them off.
My kids aren't crazy about jalapeños so I usually put them on only half of the carnitas nachos.
When we have family over I love to make these. Because everyone just gathers around and pulls from it, it's a great party food too (think cinco de mayo celebration).
Skillet Nachos Tips
I have some time saving tips for you, to make these super stress free.
You are going to use a package of precooked carnitas. Most grocery stores will sell this. I've seen it at Costco even. All you need to do is heat up the meat in a pan with a bit of water and you are done!
With this easy no fuss option it gives you time to make your own pico de gallo to serve with your carnitas nachos. Which, is really easy to put together.
And toasting up your chips prior to baking makes them extra crispy and helps them hold up to all those toppings layered on top. Just pour the tortilla chips on a baking sheet and put them in your 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.
You could also make some guacamole. All you need is avocados, onion, a lime, a lemon, cilantro, cumin, chili powder and salt. Mix it all together.
And to keep your guacamole from going brown, if you make it ahead of time, put the avocado pit back in to the guacamole. It will stay fresh.
How To Assemble Carnitas Nachos
Here's the order that works really well for assembling these carnitas skillet nachos so everything sticks together.
- tortilla chips
- refried beans
- carnitas
- shredded jack and cheddar cheese
- jarred jalapeños
- diced onions
- diced tomatoes
You can stack them as high as you want! Three layers high is an impressive height and what I tend to do.
Then you bake. After the skillet comes out of the oven, top it with spoonfuls of sour cream and guacamole.
People can't get enough of these! They are so much fun to eat for dinner with your friends and family. Kid's love that they get to use their hands.
In this recipe I don't give a lot of specific measurements for a reason.
Because nachos aren't really a measurable meal, it's like put more on if you like a certain thing, leave some off if you like less of that.
One part you don't want to skimp on is the cheese.
And you have to figure that this feeds 4-6 adults and it's also 3 layers so the cheese goes fast.
More Nachos and Tacos
- Chicken Tinga Tacos (Instant Pot) - an easy chicken tinga taco recipe made in the instant pot for a quick dinner
- Baked Elote Chicken Taquitos – Mexican street corn (elote) and juicy chicken all in a baked taquito, you have to try these!
- Sheet Pan Steak Totchos – these southwest inspired tater tot nachos have juicy seasoned steak, cheese, tomatoes, green onions and cilantro on top
- Cream Cheese White Chicken Enchiladas – Stuffed full of chicken and chiles, with a cream cheese sauce on top full of peppers
- Chicken Street Tacos with Chipotle Aioli – this aioli is a showstopper and you need it
- Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas With Elote (Mexican Street Corn) – These are seriously amazing, the Mexican street corn is out of this world
30 Minute Skillet Carnitas Nachos
These skillet carnitas nachos are fully loaded! Tortilla chips piled high with refried beans, cheese, jalapeños, onions and tomatoes These are quick and easy to assemble, they only take 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 16 oz carnitas, store bought, fully cooked
- bag of tortilla chips
- 16 oz can refried beans, warmed up
- 8 oz jack cheese, shredded (can use more or less)
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (can use more or less)
- jarred sliced jalapeños
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- optional toppings: sour cream, cilantro, limes, salsa, guacamole, whatever your favorite toppings are
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350
- Lightly grease a 10" cast iron skillet
- Layer the nachos in this order; chips, refried beans, carnitas, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, jack and cheddar cheeses
- Repeat this for a total of 3 layers for tall nachos (if your skillet is bigger than 10" you may end up with only 2 layers but can add a third layer or as many as you want)
- Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes
- Carefully remove the skillet from the oven
- Top with any toppings you chose and serve
Notes
- This is meant to be an easy throw together nacho dinner, the amounts can be very loosely followed and replaced with however much of an item you desire
- If you don't have a skillet, make them on a sheet pan lined with foil
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 763Total Fat: 49gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 129mgSodium: 1180mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 7gSugar: 4gProtein: 38g
This information comes from online calculators. Although moderncrumb.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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This recipe was originally published May 20, 2019.
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