Easy Shrimp Nachos

This easy shrimp nachos recipe is a nice change from your typical beef or chicken nachos. They are my version of Chi Chi’s seafood nachos.  Easy and delicious and you can make this tasty seafood appetizer in just 20 minutes using simple ingredients! Great for a quick dinner or serve them on game day.

You might also like these easy sweet potato loaded nachos!

Another recipe reminiscent of my college days at Chi Chi’s. Back in the day, we occasionally went to Chi Chi’s. On these outings my friends and I would get either the beef nachos grande (this is my version) or sometimes seafood nachos.

I don’t know why we liked them so much. Perhaps it was being up until 3am the night before or maybe their food was just better than cafeteria food. Regardless my friends and I used to love them and I was craving them today.

Chi Chi’s didn’t use a pile of corn tortilla chips for their seafood nachos but rather corn tortillas baked with the cheesy seafood mixture and then cut them into individual nachos. And while they used imitation crab I used shrimp instead to make these shrimp nachos. They came out delicious and my family loved them for dinner but they would also be a great game day appetizer.

Recipe ingredients I used.

From what I can remember Chi Chi’s seafood nachos the basic ingredients were essentially sour cream, mayo and fake crab on top of corn tortillas. They also put Mexican cheese on top.

I didn’t stray too far from that but I used cooked frozen shrimp, green onions, mayonnaise, sour cream, corn tortillas, Mexican cheese, paprika (optional) and fresh jalapeño pepper slices on top. 

The only seasoning I used was paprika and it was just for color. Other seasoning to try would be chili powder or cayenne powder which are Mexican spices but have color. And I like fresh jalapenos for a little extra heat but pickled jalapeno slices would also work or even black olive slices if you like them.

Now if you like imitation crab legs or crab stix please feel free to substitute. Otherwise this is a great way to use leftover cocktail shrimp from a party. You can use frozen shrimp just make sure to thaw and cook it first.

You can use different kinds of cheese like cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack, pepper jack cheeses. However I like this blend because it’s full of melty cheese and I like the flavor combination.

And lastly I recommend using the corn tortillas because they have the best flavor for nachos like this and they are more sturdy than flour tortillas. However if that is all you have they will still work.

And if you are on a low carb diet you could easily swap keto tortillas and this would be a low carb snack because the toppings are all naturally low carb.

How to make these easy shrimp nachos.

Start to finish you can make these seafood nachos in about 20 minutes. This is how I make them. Note if using frozen or raw shrimp make sure to thaw and cook shrimp first. Also I used 12 medium large shrimp which was approximately ⅓ pound shrimp.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Get out a rimmed baking sheet and lay down 3 small corn tortillas. Spray them with nonstick cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Then flip them over and spray (or brush with oil) on the other side. Place in the oven for 5 minutes. When they come out flip them over.

You can cover the baking sheet with foil or parchment paper if you want but the cheese is the only thing that will stick and it cleans up easily.

Step 2: While the tortillas are baking, get a medium bowl and add the chopped cooked shrimp, diced green onion, mayonnaise and sour cream. The combination of cheese and this mixture creates a nice creamy cheese sauce.

Step 3: Once the tortillas are done let them cool for a minute or two. Then divide the shrimp mixture between the 3 corn tortillas. Spread the mixture evenly.

Step 4: Next divide the shredded cheese evenly and sprinkle on top of the creamy mixture. Sprinkle some paprika over top (optional) then lay 4 slices of jalapenos on each tortilla. This way you know where to cut to make 4 nachos per corn tortilla.

Step 5: Place back in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese starts to turn golden brown. Cooking time may vary. Take out and once cool you can cut them each into 4 individual nachos. I used a pizza cutter and it worked well.

If you want you can garnish with some chopped fresh cilantro leaves or fresh parsley on top. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

Store leftover shrimp nachos in an airtight container. To re-heat them, best results are placing them in the air fryer for a few minutes or in the oven. The microwave will also work but they won’t have as crispy a texture as they would in the air fryer or oven.

Other toppings and seafood to use.

I intentionally made these the way that Chi Chi’s did. But I also tried them with shredded lettuce, diced avocado or guacamole, diced tomato and black olive slices. They were very good this way too. If you want to add your favorite toppings just make sure to do it after they have cooled a bit from the oven.

As I mentioned before I think Chi Chis used imitation crab sticks in their seafood nachos. That is something you can try if you like that. Other alternatives to shrimp are real crab, scallops or even lobster.

Check out all my easy seafood recipes here.

And that my friends is all there is to these easy shrimp nachos. I ate these for a regular weeknight dinner but they would make a great snack, fun appetizer or even a quick lunch.

I hope you enjoy this delicious appetizer recipe and I promise you this is my last Chi Chi recipe. Those were seriously the only 2 things I ever bought there. Enjoy!

See how to make these easy shrimp nachos here!