Our Slow-Cooker Kalua Pork is one of my all-time favorite things to cook because aside from the fact that it tastes amazing (like, I’m talking a-MAZ-ing amazing) it’s so dang versatile. I often pick up a couple of pork roasts and cook them this way simply to have the finished meat in the fridge for the week because it works great for lots of different meals. That’s how I came up with my popular Braised Italian Chicken that I posted recently. For these nachos, I had been thinking about it for weeks. I do that. I get random ideas in my head, and then I spend days (or sometimes weeks) thinking about them when I’m supposed to be thinking about other important things, like driving, working, or having conversations with my husband. When it’s perfect in my head, I make it in the actual kitchen. This idea actually started out as a sandwich idea, but when I went to make them, I realized I forgot to buy rolls, but I had chips. Hmmm Nachos…. With a little tweaking, these turned into the perfect party food. Or dinner.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that tender, smokey pork and how awesome it would be with some spicy pepper jack cheese,
all melted together with bits of crumbly bacon,
sweet red onion,
and tangy pepperoncini peppers.
And dude, I was right. It was as amazing in real-life as it was when I had been imagining it. So let’s make these nachos.
First a tip. Want to know the best tortilla chips in the grocery store aisle? It’s not a brand you probably recognize, because you’ve never seen an ad or commercial for them, but I swear these are the best. Especially when they’re warmed up in the oven. They’re more oily than something like Tostitos, but not in a greasy way- more in a hot, crispy, from-a-restaurant kind of way. I don’t know if they sell them everywhere; I didn’t discover these until I lived in Idaho, so you’ll have to keep an eye out at your local store: Juanitas.
If I’m making these for a crowd, I do it on a foil-lined baking sheet. For this blog post, and the after school snack I’m making for my boys, a dinner plate it is. Spread out a single layer of chips. You want them nice and snug so they’re all overlapping just a bit, but you don’t want chips on top of each other.
Pile on some pepper jack cheese. Be generous. These are nachos. Bad nachos don’t have enough cheese.
Then add your pork. I shred the pork and then chop it into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces so it fits nicely on chips and distributes well.
Then sprinkle on some chopped pepperoncini. At this point, I take a few more chips and break them into large pieces and sprinkle them on top. For a single plate of nachos, it helps everything stick together.
Then on goes more cheese.
And then top it with red onion (which I’ve sliced here, but chopped probably works better) and cooked, crumbled bacon.
After baking in the oven (or microwaving a smaller serving) Sprinkle the plate with some chopped fresh cilantro
and dollop on some sour cream.
You get this amazing combination of flavors with the gooey melted cheese, bits of crispy bacon, juicy smoked pork, tangy peppers, bright fresh cilantro and cool creamy sour cream. On a warm crispy chip, it’s nacho heaven.
Nacho HEAVEN I tell ya.
Pulled Pork Nachos with Pepper Jack and Bacon
Ingredients
There is no reason to be precise with nacho measurements. Use what you like! The amounts listed below will make a generous dinner-plate sized serving. Use a baking sheet and scale up if serving a crowd!
- 3-4 ounces tortilla chips 5-6 handfuls of chips
- 1 ½ cup pepper Jack cheese shredded
- ¾ cup + Kalua Pork chopped into bite size pieces (decrease salt in the recipe, 1 tsp kosher salt at the most, you can add more after cooking)
- 3-4 tablespoons drained and diced pepperoncini
- 2-3 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped red onion
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Place a single layer of tortilla chips on an oven safe plate. Top with a heaping 3/4 cup cheese. Place pork over top and sprinkle with pepperoncini. Break up a handful of tortilla chips into large pieces and sprinkle on top. Add remaining cheese, top with crumbled bacon and onion. Bake in the oven until cheese is melted. Remove, and sprinkle on cilantro and dollops of sour cream. Serve immediately.
Notes
- All of the different elements in this recipe can add quite a bit of salt. I suggest using low-sodium bacon, and omitting the salt on the pork (or simply decrease it and salt afterward) to make sure your finished dish isn’t too salty.
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
I drive all the way out to Winco here in Las Vegas (which is really not close to my house in any stretch of the imagination) when we run out of chips just for Juanitas. Worth it every time.
We are in Portland, OR as well and love those chips at our house! Thanks for the recipe. I send bags of these chips to my family in Logan, UT cause they like them so much when they visit. I know whats for dinner tonight.
They carry these chips at my local Fred Meyer (owned by Kroger Brands) in the Portland, OR area. These are my family’s favorite corn chip.
Juanita’s are by far the best tortilla chips on the market! However, Tostitoes Hint of Lime will always have a special place in my heart. These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
We’re chip sisters, Cami. I love the hint of lime, too! Have you ever bought powdered lime? You can buy it in packets by the bottled lemon and lime juice. I heat Juanita’s in the oven and then sprinkle on that powder and it’s the best of both worlds!
It makes me so happy that you know about Juanita’s tortilla chips! They really are the best brand that no one knows about. They’re pretty inexpensive too! Also, the recipe looks great.
So unfair that I’m pregnant, NEED to eat this NOW and have no ability to a) get to the store for the ingredients or b) eat it now. Boo hoo.
I can’t wait to try it though!
For all you Arizona people, I found these chips at WinCo in Mesa. Don’t know if they have them at WinCo in other states but they might! Also, in Arizona there is a brand of chips called “On The Border” that are just as yummy. I get them at Wal-Mart.
Oh my gosh, these look amazing!! Also…horrible mom confession: I just realized my kids have never had nachos. What the heck?! I shall initiate them, lol.
Never had nachos?!?! I’m in shock! Wow. There are just no words. I thought I ” knew” you, Kate.
Haha, remember the time my 8 year old said, “Mom have you ever heard of a ‘taco?’ I’ve always wanted to try one.” I had seriously never fed them tacos! So weird. They request nachos like, twice a week. You kids will love it, lol.
I know, right?! And the weirdest part is that we grew up eating nachos, like, once a week–they were my dad’s “specialty” and we’d eat them (or canned bean with bacon soup) every Sunday night (which I realize now was my dad’s way of making sure we ate on Sunday night because my mom was done. Sundays are rough.)
I can see your new cookbook now: “101 Ways With Kalua Pork”! LOL Sounds so delicious. And, being an Idaho girl, I totally know and love those chips!
Now THAT is a good idea! 😉
Mmm these nachos sound amazing! Jaunitas chips are the best!!! I first discovered them when we lived in North Idaho. Then we move to Arizona and I couldn’t get them 🙁 I actually ordered a box of them and had them shipped to my house. No joke I had been craving them for months! I’m happy to report that we finally got a few Winco stores and they carry them so no need to order large boxes of chips lol! Can’t wait to try these nachos! I better go make some Kalua pork 🙂
Haha, I love that you had those chips shipped to your house! I didn’t discover them until I lived in Idaho either, so maybe they’re not sold everywhere. I’ll have to look it up!