Buffalo Chicken Nachos with Blue Cheese Queso

For the Buffalo Chicken

• A couple teaspoons of a neutral flavored oil (safflower, vegetable, canola, grapeseed)
• 1 lb ground chicken (season w salt pepper)
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/3 cup buffalo hot sauce (I used Franks)

For the Blue Cheese Queso

• 2 tbsp butter

• 2 tbsp flour

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tsp garlic granules

• Fresh cracked pepper (a few grinds)

• 1 cup milk at room temperature or slightly warmer

• ½ cup Mexican blend cheese (monterey, cheddar, queso blanco)

• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese

Other ingredients

• tortilla chips

• shredded cheese for topping- as much or as little as you want

• chopped tomatoes

• chopped fresh parlsey

• chopped fresh scallions

Method

For the buffalo chicken

In a large pan, heat about a tsp or two of a neutral flavored oil (grapeseed, canola, vegetable, safflower), and then add your ground chicken.

Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink. Then add in your sour cream, cream cheese, and hot sauce. Stir the mixture and allow it to come together. Remove from the heat when it starts to simmer slightly and everything is smooth & combined.

Meanwhile….

For the Blue Cheese Queso

Grab a small pot and melt the butter. Once melted, sprinkle the flour, plus the salt, pepper, and garlic granules on top of the butter and whisk until combined. SLOWLY pour in the milk with one hand while whisking the mixture with the other. Bring to a simmer and allow the mixture to bubble and thicken. Lower the heat and whisk in the blue cheese and the shredded cheese. Whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat.

At this point, if the chicken is cool, you’ll want to warm it up before assembling.

Assemble the nachos by spreading an even layer of tortilla chips on a baking sheet. I usually line my baking sheet with foil and some nonstick spray to make cleanup easier!

On top of the first layer of chips, pour on some of the buffalo chicken, followed by a sprinkle of shredded cheese, and some of the blue cheese queso. Repeat with another layer of chips, queso, and shredded cheese.

Place the nachos in the oven, under the broiler, for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

Remove the nachos from the oven, and sprinkle the chopped tomatoes, parsley, and scallions.

Serve immediately with a nice cold beer!