BBQ Pork Sheet Pan Nachos Recipe with Chipotle Crema

My first job out of college I moved to a small town on the south shore of Boston. While there, I found this no-frills BBQ joint that was conveniently located 2 minutes from my best friends house. That was the first place I ever tried BBQ nachos. I’d had chicken on nachos, beef on nachos, beans on nachos. I had never considered pork on nachos, and boy was I missing out. Since I moved away, I tried to make an annual trip back to visit friends, and every visit had to include at least one trip to this restaurant just for the nachos. Thanks to a baby and then a pandemic, it’s been a few years since I was able to make the trip. I came up with my own BBQ pork nachos recipe to try and recreate the experience for me at home because I was massively jonesing.

My BBQ Pork Sheet Pan Nachos recipe is a simple and easy meal for a little “homemade takeout” vibe. Plus it makes a enough pork that you can have the leftovers the next day as sandwiches, on mac n cheese, or on nachos again (I won’t judge). This recipe is also great for entertaining, whether you feature it as a main course or an appetizer.

The crock pot does most of the hard work for this recipe, which means dinner comes together quickly. With a toddler, 5 – 7 PM is absolute madness in my house. As soon as work is done it’s a mad dash to try and get dinner on the table, eat, clean up, and do the bathtime/bedtime routine. I always feel the pressure to get dinner on the table as quickly as possible. With this recipe, the pork is ready to go by 5 and then all you need are some chips, some cheese, and a little pico and crema (both of which can also be prepped ahead of time!). 

This BBQ Pork Sheet Pan Nachos recipe is also great if you’re entertaining, either for dinner or an appetizer because it’s delicious, makes a ton, and can be prepped ahead of time. 

Quick Tips for Success:

1. Plan ahead. For my recipe below, I only use about ⅓-½ of the pork for the nachos. The rest I save t for leftovers. You can make multiple trays of nachos, you’ll just need to increase the topping quantities from the recipe. If you’re not going to use all the pork on nacho night, add some potato rolls to your grocery list. Then you’ve got easy sandwiches the next day!
2. Get creative. Add any other toppings you’d like! I think avocado goes great with BBQ pork, so I added some sliced avocado to my nachos. You could even go crazy and make your own guacamole. I highly recommend Alton Brown’s Guacamole, which is my go-to.  
3. Fresh is best. The fresh toppings are really key to great BBQ pork nachos. I recommend buying a block of cheese and grating it yourself as the pre-shredded cheese won’t melt as well. Also don’t reach for the jarred salsa—make your own fresh pico de gallo. Trust me, it’s key.
4. Easy on the layers. Only do one layer of nachos on the sheet pan. If you stack multiple layers the chips will get soggy. No one wants soggy nachos!

How to make the BBB Pork Sheet Pan Nachos recipe: 

1. Put the pork in the crockpot. This means time to pull out your best friend CROCKPOT! The pork is so simple. You’re going coat the crock pot with cooking spray and line the bottom with sliced red onion. Then you’re going to mix up the BBQ rub, coat your pork roast, and place it on top of the onions. I prefer to use a boneless pork roast because it’s leaner, but you can use a pork shoulder if you wish.
2. Make the pico de gallo. So you might be tempted to just buy some pico or a jarred salsa—DON’T. Making your own pico is super quick, it only requires a few ingredients, and the freshness balances out the smokiness of the pork. All you need is a diced onion, a few cubed roma tomatoes, cilantro, salt, and half a lime. Mix it all together and that’s it.
3. Prep the crema. It might sound fancy, but crema is just sour cream mixed with cream. And I added half of a chopped chipotle pepper in adobo as well as some adobo sauce for a little kick of smoky heat. You can add more or less chopped chipotles depending on how much heat you like.
4. Build your nachos and bake! Once everything is ready to go, all you need left to do is get out the cheese and the chips. If you’re looking for easy cleanup you can line a baking sheet with aluminum foil first. Then spread out a layer of chips, top with fresh grated monterey jack and sharp white cheddar cheeses. Add the pork with a drizzle of BBQ sauce. When it comes out of the oven, top with the crema and pico.

The BBQ pork recipe has a ton of flavor, but it isn’t overly saucy. I recommend drizzling it with additional BBQ sauce. You can just use your favorite store brand BBQ sauce (I like Stubb’s). If you want, you can even make your own homemade BBQ sauce. I love the Homemade BBQ Sauce recipe from Gimmesomeoven. It’s quick, easy, and doesn’t use ketchup.

I hope you enjoy this BBQ Pork Nachos recipe as much as I did. I’m a little embarrassed to say when I was trialing this recipe my husband and I ate the whole pan… but it was so worth it. I can’t wait to hear how yours turn out!

BBQ Pork Sheet Pan Nachos with Pico & Chipotle Crema

Better than takeout! Easy crockpot pulled BBQ pork on cheesy nachos and topped with fresh pico de gallo and homemade chipotle crema is simple enough for a weeknight but delicious enough for a weekend dinner in!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Total Time 8 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4 people

Equipment

• Crock Pot

Ingredients

  

BBQ Pork

• 1 2.25 lb Boneless Pork Roast Can use a pork shoulder, but get at least a 6 lb shoulder
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 ½ tsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp chipotle chili powder (optional, can replace with regular chili powder)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• ¼ tsp ground mustard
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp smoked paprika

Chipotle Crema

• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp half and half or cream
• ½ chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped
• 2 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce

Fresh Pico de Gallo

• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ lime
• ⅛ tsp salt

Chips & Toppings

• 1 13-oz bag tortilla chips pick a good chip!
• 1 jar BBQ sauce or make your own
• 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 4 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

 

Make the pork

• Coat a crockpot with cooking spray.
• Spread the sliced onion on the bottom of the crock pot.
• In a small bowl, mix the remaining ingredients for the BBQ (minus the pork!).
• Rub the BBQ mixture all over the pork and place the pork in the crockpot on top of the onions.
• Cover with the lid and cook on LOW 6-8 hours, or until pork shreds easily with a fork.

Make the Chipotle Crema

• In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients.
• Store in the refrigerator until the nachos are ready.

Make the Pico de Gallo

• Combine the diced onions, tomato, and cilantro in a small/medium bowl.
• Sprinkle the salt and squeeze the juice from the lime over the ingredients. Mix and store in the refrigerator until the nachos are ready.

Assemble the Nachos

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line a large sheet pan with foil.
• Spread a single, but dense, layer of tortilla chips on the sheet pan.
• Sprinkle a thick layer of Monterey Jack cheese over the chips.
• Sprinkle a thin layer of sharp cheddar over the chips.
• Top with BBQ pork (as much as you'd like!)
• Drizzle BBQ sauce over the prepared nachos.
• Bake for 8-11 minutes until the cheese is fully melted. Remove the nachos from the oven.
• Top with a drizzle of Chipotle Crema and Pico de Gallo.
• Dig in!

Keyword BBQ, crock pot, easy dinner, pork, sheet pan