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High Protein Nachos With Cottage Cheese Sauce

ByNicole Langdon Hours Updated on
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These flavorful high protein nachos are made with cottage cheese nacho sauce, tender marinated chicken, black beans, and Greek yogurt for a satisfying and delicious meal.

High protein nachos with cottage cheese sauce.

We’re obsessed with nachos. So we couldn’t resist making these high protein nachos with our new cottage cheese queso recipe!

These healthy nachos are made with a flavorful marinated chicken, cottage cheese sauce (that seriously tastes like real queso), black beans, and plenty of veggies. With creamy guacamole and Greek yogurt for added protein, these nachos are super filling and satisfying.

We love to make these for a game day appetizer. Sometimes we even indulge in them for a cozy date night dinner! There’s just something so us about digging into a pile of nachos around the coffee table while watching a movie or playing video games.

What This Recipe Entails

You can easily make this recipe in about 45 minutes from start to finish. Or, if you use grilled chicken you already have in the fridge, you can make them in about 15 minutes! Otherwise, we recommend using the time the chicken is marinating to make the cottage cheese nacho sauce and prep the veggies.

  • Ready in: 45 minutes, if starting from scratch
  • Serves: 4 people
  • Great for: Game days, appetizers-for-dinner nights, and Cinco de Mayo parties
  • Flavor profile: Cheesy, savory, and fresh
  • Why we love it: It makes eating nachos for dinner feel a whole lot healthier, thanks to the protein from the chicken, cottage cheese sauce, and black beans – and fresh toppings!
Ingredients for making high protein nachos: guac, onion, toamto, jalapeno, cottage cheese queso, chicken, black beans, and tortilla chips.

Ingredients For High Protein Nachos

Any good nacho platter is drenched in a delicious nacho cheese sauce and piled high with toppings like meat, beans, and veggies. These nachos are no exception! Here’s what we use:

  • Grilled chicken – We like to make a Mexican-inspired grilled chicken specifically for these nachos to give them tons of flavor. Marinate in vegetable oil, lime juice, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, cumin, and chipotle powder at room temperature for about 20 minutes, it’s so worth it! Alternatively, you could use plain grilled chicken if you already have some in your fridge, or other Mexican inspired options like our salsa marinated chicken or crockpot chicken tinga.
  • Cottage cheese queso – This cheese sauce makes these nachos extra high in protein, and extra delicious! It’s creamy, lightly spiced, and perfectly gooey. Just like real queso, only healthier 🙂
  • Tortilla chips – The best nachos require large, triangular tortilla chips so there’s ample surface area to cover with toppings. We love Mi Nina chips – try them if you’re in the New England area!
  • Black beans – Canned black beans work great here, just make sure to drain and rinse them before they go on the nachos.
  • Fresh veggies – Roma tomato, red onion, and jalapeno are our favorite veggies to put on nachos. We like to slice wheels of jalapenos for a spicy kick; feel free to skip these if you don’t like heat, or swap in a milder pepper. You can also use other kinds of hot peppers like Anaheim or poblano.
  • Optional toppings – A little fresh guacamole and plain Greek yogurt (in place of sour cream – Fage works best thanks to its thick and creamy consistency) taste great on these nachos! Always go for homemade guac if you can – it’s so much fresher and more flavorful than store bought. We also love that the yogurt is yet another source of protein in this recipe.
High protein chicken nachos.

How To Make High Protein Nachos With Cottage Cheese Sauce

  1. Marinate the chicken – Combine the chicken, vegetable oil, lime juice, salt, paprika, cayenne, cumin, and chipotle powder in a medium bowl. Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
  2. Prep the toppings – While the chicken marinates, make the cottage cheese queso and chop up all your fresh veggies. Now is a great time to make guacamole if you’re adding that, too!
  3. Cook the chicken – Preheat a cast iron grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, cook the chicken until it reaches an internal temperature of about 160 to 165 degrees F, flipping a few times during cooking. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes before slicing.
  4. Assemble and bake – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grab a large sheet pan. Spread out the tortilla chips in a single layer, overlapping them slightly, then dollop the cottage cheese sauce evenly over them. Top with sliced chicken, black beans, and veggies, then bake until warm and the cheese is slightly runny.
  5. Serve – Optionally top with fresh guacamole and Greek yogurt, and enjoy!

It’s tempting to not give the chicken the full 20 minutes to marinate when you’re seriously craving nachos. But trust us, it’s worth the wait! Even a quick marinade adds extra juiciness and moisture to the chicken, and breaks down the proteins just enough to yield a deliciously tender texture.

Nachos with cottage cheese nacho sauce.

We guarantee these nachos will become your new obsession! Try our recipe below and let us know what you think by rating and sharing.

Expert Tips

  • Cooking the chicken – You can cook the chicken on the stove like we do, or grill it if you prefer. We don’t recommend baking the chicken as this often dries it out, and you won’t get any caramelization on the outside.
  • Prep ahead to save time – Use leftover grilled chicken, or make it ahead of time so you can quickly assemble these nachos when you’re craving them! You can also make the cottage cheese queso ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you need it.
  • Fresh ingredients are key – Use natural or minimally processed ingredients whenever you can for the best flavor and nutrition. If you want guac on your nachos, try our easy guacamole recipe instead of using store-bought.
  • Swap out sour cream for Greek yogurt – Plain Greek yogurt tastes so similar to sour cream, it’s our new go-to for Mexican dishes! We’ve tried a few brands and found that Fage 5% works best for a sour cream substitute, since it’s so thick and creamy with just the right amount of tangy flavor.

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Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy this recipe! When you try it out, please leave a review and a star rating in the comments below. Happy cooking! – Nicole and Alex

High protein nachos with cottage cheese sauce.

High Protein Nachos With Cottage Cheese Sauce

Nicole & Alex Langdon
These flavorful high protein nachos are made with cottage cheese nacho sauce, tender marinated chicken, black beans, and Greek yogurt for a satisfying and delicious meal.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 4 servings
Calories 792 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

Marinated Chicken

  • ½ pound chicken breast
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon chipotle powder
  • 1 pinch salt

Nachos

  • 8 ounces yellow corn tortilla chips
  • 1.5 cups cottage cheese queso
  • 15 ounces canned black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 medium jalapeno sliced
  • ½ medium roma tomato diced
  • ¼ medium red onion diced
  • 2 servings homemade guacamole
  • ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

Instructions
 

  • Combine the chicken, vegetable oil, lime juice, salt, paprika, cayenne, cumin, and chipotle powder in a medium bowl. Marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
  • In the meantime, make the cottage cheese queso according to the directions linked above in the Ingredients section.
  • Next, preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Cook the chicken for about 9 to 12 minutes, flipping every 3 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of about 160 to 165 degrees F. Transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 2 minutes before slicing into strips.
  • Assemble the nachos. Lay the tortilla chips in a single layer on a large baking sheet, overlapping them slightly. Next, drizzle the cottage cheese nacho sauce evenly over the chips. Then, top with sliced chicken, black beans, diced tomato and onion, and sliced jalapeno.
  • Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the nachos are warm and the cheese sauce is slightly runny.
  • Finally, top with fresh guacamole and Greek yogurt and serve immediately.
One last step:Please consider leaving a review to let us know how it was!

Notes

Marinated chicken: You can shorten the prep time by making the chicken ahead of time, using leftover grilled chicken, or using something like our crockpot chicken tinga recipe instead. Cook the chicken on the stove like we do, or grill it if you prefer! We don’t recommend baking the chicken as this often dries it out, and you won’t get any caramelization on the outside.
Homemade guac: Guac made from scratch is so much more flavorful – and healthier – than any store bought version! Try our guacamole recipe here.
Greek yogurt: Plain Greek yogurt makes a great substitute for sour cream. It’s a healthier alternative that adds even more protein to these nachos! We love the thick and creamy consistency of Fage Greek yogurt.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 792kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 38gFat: 44gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 682mgPotassium: 1085mgFiber: 14gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 695IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 339mgIron: 4mg
Like this recipe?Please leave a review below! We read and respond to every single comment.

If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.

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90% of Nicole’s thoughts are about food. She’s had a passion for cooking (and eating) for as long as she can remember! Growing up, she started cooking with her mom at a young age, learned family recipes from her Italian grandmother, took every opportunity to make cookies (so many bake sales), and always loved going out to restaurants to try new foods.

Nicole currently works part-time as a marketing professional for OmieLife while also working nonstop on The Candid Cooks. As a former mechanical engineer, Nicole has consistently found herself at the intersection of creativity and logical reasoning. She credits not only her passion for photography, design, and writing, but also her problem-solving nature and desire to learn, as the foundation on which The Candid Cooks was built.

Nicole’s hobbies include anything that gets her moving - mainly hiking, skiing, ice skating, and dancing - as well as reading fantasy novels and scrapbooking. Her favorite food is a big plate of nachos, as long as they’re cheesy enough!

5 from 1 vote

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One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    Since we eat nachos for dinner more often than we probably should, being able to make a healthier, protein rich version is great. It at least makes me feel a little better when a whole sheet pan of nachos disappears!

    Reply