Easy Shrimp Appetizer: Shrimp Nachos with Creamy Garlic Cheese Sauce

Shrimp Nachos with Garlic Cheese Sauce are an easy at-home meal that can be customized with all of your favorite toppings. Perfect for dining al fresco in warm weather!

I love shrimp. Like love-love them. They are seriously one of my favorite foods. Cold in shrimp cocktails, skewered on the grill, or sauteed like the ones in this amazing Shrimp Nachos recipe.

Shrimp Nachos with Creamy Garlic Cheese Sauce

These shrimp nachos start with crispy tortilla chips that are topped with mild Monterey Jack cheese, then layered with gorgeous shrimp sauteed in garlic and lemon and finally topped with a little Parmesan cheese and drizzled with a warm, rich creamy garlic cheese sauce!  Talk about YUM!

I peeled and deveined these guys and rinsed them in cold water before I popped them in a sizzling pan for a saute in olive oil and garlic.  The shrimp cook quickly so it wasn’t long before I was assembling this shrimp appetizer!

Shrimp nachos have all the best elements of a warm, shrimp alfredo dish – creamy sauce, plump shrimp, garlic – but none of the messy noodles and no fork required!  You can add any other toppings that you may like:  jalapeños, diced tomatoes or avocado.  But we stuck with shrimp and this ooey-gooey cheesy goodness:

Needless to say, there were no leftovers and these shrimp nachos got two big thumbs up from my family!

If you try this recipe please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!

Shrimp Nachos with Creamy Garlic Cheese Sauce

• Author: Melissa Riker
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: appetizer
• Method: baking
• Cuisine: American

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Ingredients

For the sauteed Shrimp

• 1/2 pound fresh Florida shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• Salt & pepper to taste

For the nachos

• Tortilla chips
• 2/3 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

For the creamy garlic cheese sauce

• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1/3 cup milk or half and half (1 or 2 additional tablespoons if needed to thin the sauce)
• 3 tablespoons light cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cloves minced garlic

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Instructions

1. Sprinkle 2/3 cup monterey jack cheese over tortilla chips on a baking sheet or oven safe serving dish.
2. Place in preheated 350* oven to melt the cheese.
3. While the cheese is melting, begin the shrimp.
4. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil and garlic.
5. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper, add a squeeze of lemon and saute for about 4-6 minutes.
6. Remove shrimp from heat and prepare creamy garlic cheese sauce.
7. In a small sauce pot, combine milk (or 1/2 & 1/2), cream cheese, minced garlic and shredded cheeses.
8. Stir until melted and add an additional tablespoon or two of milk to thin the sauce if necessary.
9. Once the cheese is melted on the chips, remove from oven.
10. Turn oven to broil.
11. Dice shrimp into bite sized pieces and spread it over chips.
12. Top with 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese.
13. Drizzle nachos with creamy garlic cheese sauce.
14. Return to oven under the broiler.
15. Watch closely and remove nachos when all of the cheesy is melted and the garlic cheese sauce is hot and bubbly.

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Keywords: shrimp nachos