A quick, healthy, and delicious chicken fajita nacho recipe with cheese sauce your entire family will love! Low Carb and healthy carb options! Works great for Trim Healthy Mama S & E meals!
We love to eat at Mexican restaurants. It’s one of the easiest types of restaurants for large families to eat at. You get chips and salsa in the beginning when everyone is starving and you can easily share meals.
One of our favorite Mexican restaurants serves Fajita Nachos. You can choose steak or chicken (we usually get a mix) and 4 of them will feed our family of 11!
But, as much as I love eating out, and as economical as it is being able to feed us all for a fairly low price, I wanted a way to make these nachos at home because we’d like to eat them WAY more often than we care to take everyone to a restaurant.
I also wanted a way to make Fajita Nachos Trim Healthy Mama friendly, and just plain good for you! I knew I wanted to stick with the chicken and find a better chip option.
And guess what?! I succeeded!
And my family LOVES the results!
First of all, let me tell you what inspired me to try making these Chicken Fajita nachos at home because I am NOT a foodie and I rarely do “copycat” recipes.
Several years ago, I ran across a recipe for all natural cheese sauce on Food Renegade. I was impressed with the results, and used this sauce for things like cheese toast (toasted bread with a cheese sauce drizzled over it) and as the cheese topping for horseshoes (a loose meat, french fry and cheese concoction some friends introduced us to after they took a trip through Illinois.)
So, because of that cheese recipe, I had something to work with for making my beloved Chicken Fajita Nachos a THM S meal…except they weren’t really “nachos”. To eat these as an S, you have to leave off the chips:
But honestly, I don’t even miss the chips! I mean seriously – what’s not to love about onions, peppers, chicken, and ooey-gooey cheese?!
HOWEVER, if you want to keep this a S meal, but still want a little “crunch,” try putting these fajita nachos over roasted cauliflower. So, so good!
But let’s be totally honest…some days, you want chips melting into sogginess as they sop up the cheese. You want the melding of onion, pepper, chicken, cheese, AND corn chips nibbling at your taste buds! You want an E meal that can really be called Chicken Fajita NACHOS because they actually have CHIPS as part of the ingredients!
And that means, you have to leave the full fat cheese behind. But how?
This is how…
My E cheese sauce takes the concept of “Creamless” Veggies from the Trim Healthy Mama book and applies it to making a sauce that is E friendly. It uses chicken broth and spreadable cheese, nutritional yeast, and glucomannan to bind it together.
And amazingly, it converted some of my kids to the E side! That’s right – they chose my E Cheese Sauce over the S cheese sauce!
Are you begging for the recipes yet? Here ya go!
Oh wait…a quick service announcement:
To make these uber quick and easy, buy your meat already diced in the bag. Our local Aldi sells frozen diced chicken breast meat in a 22 oz bag for $5.49. Our Aldi also sells Organic Blue Corn chips. No, they are not baked, so not “technically” on plan, but close enough for my taste.
Ok, back to the recipes…
For both kinds of Nachos (S or E), you will need to saute’ the peppers and onions and add in the diced chicken breast. Once cooked, just turn the heat down, cover it and let it hang out while you make up your cheese sauce.
Now, the hard part – WHICH CHEESE SAUCE??
If you are looking for rich and creamy, try the S version.
It use an all-natural binding agent, adds lovely, rich cream, and finishes it all off with cream cheese AND cheddar cheese! Ooey-gooey, yummy goodness!
But maybe you need a lower fat version that pairs well with some lovely blue corn chips? Then, you need the E version!
This cheese uses light spreadable cheese wedges, nutritional yeast for an extra cheesy kick, and chicken broth to keep things lower in fat. So, so good, my friends! You’ll never miss the fat!
So, there you have it! Let me know if you try them, and which one you like best!
Chicken Fajita Nachos {with REAL Cheese Sauce}
Ingredients
- 3 colored peppers, sliced
- 3 yellow onions, sliced
- 1 22 oz bag frozen diced Chicken Breast Meat (or dice your own chicken breasts and pre-cook)
S Cheese Sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ tsp glucomannan (or try 1 tbsp arrowroot powder)
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 cup heavy cream (or try 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream if you aren't following a strict THM plan.)
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
- 10 oz diced tomatoes & green chilis (optional)
E Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 wedges Light spreadable cheese wedges
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp glucomannan
- 10 oz diced tomatoes and green chilis (optional)
- 1 bag blue corn chips
Instructions
- Saute’ the peppers and onions in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the veggies begin to soften, add in the diced chicken breast and cover. (You can add fajita seasoning here, but I really, really, really like the flavor of onions and peppers unadulterated, so I don’t season at all.) Turn your heat to low so you don’t overcook the peppers and onions and end up with mush. Put a lid on it too – it will keep its color better.
- While your meat and veggies are cooking, start your cheese sauce:For S (low carb) Cheese Sauce: Create a binding agent by whisking together the egg yolk, arrowroot and 1 Tbsp cream. Set aside. In a saucepan, warm 2 cups of cream over medium heat. Once heated, add binding agent, and whisk until it begins to thicken. Turn the heat to low, and throw in the cream cheese and whisk like there’s no tomorrow. Then, stir in the grated cheese followed by the diced tomatoes and green chilies (if desired). Remove from heat, and build your “Nachos”! (note: this cheese is best hot off the stove, so don’t delay!)For E (healthy carb) Cheese Sauce: In a small saucepan, warm the chicken broth. Whisk in the spreadable cheese wedges (I buy mine at Aldi). When the sauce is smooth, add in the nutritional yeast (this lends a cheesy flavor and yellowish color). Lastly, sprinkle the glucomannan across the top of the sauce and whisk in. Continue to whisk until the cheese sauce thickens. Add in the diced tomatoes and green chilis if desired, and turn heat to low. Grab your blue corn chips and start building your nachos! (Again, this sauce is best warm, so don’t delay!)
Stacy says
Thank you!! My kids have been begging for chips and queso. Pre-THM we had a healthy recipe we loved, but hasn’t made an appearance in months. I’m not sure why I never thought of just eating the meat/cheese/veggies for my hubby and I. The E version is brilliant. This weekend is my hubby’s birthday and those just might hit the spot! ????
Amy says
Enjoy!
Brittany says
I had no idea horseshoes were an Illinois thing, and I’ve lived here my whole life. Okay, maybe that’s why I didn’t know it was an Illinois thing. I also only recently learned Avanti’s and Giordano’s aren’t national chains. The risks of living in the same place your whole life. 🙂
Amy says
Giordano’s….aye, yi, yi! Had my first experience there last year! So, I take it you know what horseshoes are?!
Andie Birdsell says
These sound super YUMMY! Gonna have to try it out! 🙂 Thanks for sharing recipe.
Nikki says
Those look so delicious!
Hillary Nolen says
Thanks for the recipe! The ladies at THM are now saying you can eat the baked tortilla scoops by Tostitos as a sub for the baked blue corn chips. I use those now since we have a Sam’s Club near us. Trader Joe’s is almost 200 miles away. I’m making this recipe soon!!!!
Amy says
Ooo! I’m so glad you told me that!
Josi says
Note to self…..don’t read postings like this while hungry!! It’s kinda like grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Ha!
Katherine says
Nachos lover here! Absolutely trying this over the weekend. Can’t wait! Thanks for sharing!
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Samantha says
This looks amazing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mexican food. This is definitely on my next menu.
Julie says
Hi Amy! Blessed as always to read your posts and yummy recipes!! It amazes me that you carve out time for such good dinners….. We have two children, the same exact ages as your oldest two, a boy and a girl, and I try to make different dinners, but often, fatigue takes over…I am such an early morning person that by 5pm, I am beat sometimes..haha Anyway, my husband is manager of an Aldi store so I know all about these ingredients and buy many of them. But…what is glucomannan? I know I could google it, but you are more fun to talk to 🙂 ((smiles))
your frined, Julie in MO
Amy says
Hi Julie! Glucomannan is a root that thickens. It takes very little and doesn’t have the carbs you would get from something like cornstarch or flour.
Cheryl says
I’m guessing since you mentioned in your beginning comments that you used glucomannan, you simply forgot to change the arrowroot powder to gluccie. Perhaps you were interrupted (provably more than once) while writing the recipe.
Amy says
Thank you – I fixed it. 🙂
Peggy says
Is spreadable cheese laughing cow chesse?
Amy says
yes 🙂
Lor jolly says
On the E ‘cheese sauce’, could you sub the chicken broth for almond milk and still keep as E?
Amy says
yes!
maieka c says
Thank you for this awesome looking meal . The cheese sauce looks like goodness in your mouth . That should beit’s new name.
Amy says
Thank you! It is one of our favorites!