Shredded Chicken Tostada Stacks with Refried Black Beans

A quick and easy shredded chicken tostada stacks recipe with creamy refried black beans, shredded chicken, salsa, and cheese. Use your favorite taco bar toppings to customize this recipe for your tastes! This is a small batch recipe that makes two chicken tostada stacks, but can be doubled or tripled if needed.

It doesn’t get much easier than this. These chicken tostada stacks are piled high with creamy refried black beans (hello protein and fiber), a generous portion of shredded rotisserie chicken that’s been tossed with your favorite salsa, then sprinkled with cheese and broiled until hot and bubbly.

There are a LOT of black beans in each of these tostada stacks. An entire half cup per stack, to be specific. The recipe for the creamy refried black beans is included in this post, but it does make more than you’ll actually need for two chicken tostada stacks. You could make more than two stacks, or keep the refried black beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-6 days. They’re a fantastic spread inside a Southwest chicken wrap, these breakfast burritos, or even as a side dish for these spicy shrimp tacos for two.

And because you won’t use an entire rotisserie chicken for this recipe, I’ve got some great recommendations for using the rest of your rotisserie chicken. Two of my favorite rotisserie chicken recipes are the ever-popular buffalo chicken sliders, and these shredded chicken caesar lettuce wraps.  They’re both super delicious, and way different than these crunchy chicken tostada stacks.  If you need some variety in your weeknight dinners, keep these guys in mind for future use. 🙂 There’s also a list towards the bottom of even more small batch recipes that use rotisserie chicken.

Ingredient Notes

Onion

White, yellow, or red onion will work in the creamy refried black beans. A shallot will work if you have one that needs to be used, too. 🙂

Refried Black Beans

You can find a can of refried black beans near refried pinto beans. If you prefer refried pinto beans or have some on hand, you can certainly use those instead. NOTE: You will have leftover refried black beans from this recipe if you are only making two chicken tostada stacks! You can certainly make more than two tostada stacks to use the rest of the beans, or you can store the beans in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-6 days. They’re fantastic on southwestern chicken wraps, vegetarian bean and cheese nachos, these breakfast burritos, or as a side dish for these spicy shrimp tacos for your next Taco Tuesday. 🙂

Hot Sauce

I used Valentina hot sauce in these photos, but my go-to is typically Chalula. Crystal hot sauce, any flavor varieties of Cholula, or Tapatio are all great options. Feel free to use your favorite, or whatever you have on hand!

Tostada Shells

Tostada shells are crispy corn tortillas that are located near the other tortillas at the store. It’s easy to grab a bag of them, but if you prefer to make your own tostada shells (which really do taste better), check out this Black Bean + Avocado Tostada recipe post for a step-by-step guide on baking soft corn tortilla shells to transform them to tostada shells.

Shredded Chicken

Rotisserie chicken is easy and flavorful, so it’s the perfect option if you want this recipe to come together quickly. Any leftover cooked chicken breast or chicken thighs will work though! Just avoid them if they have flavors that could compete with the Tex-Mex flavors in these tostadas. For instance, I would avoid any lemon pepper or Italian seasoned chicken, but stick with any leftover simply seasoned chicken or Southwest seasoned chicken.

Shredded Cheese

Jack cheeses (such as Pepper Jack, Monterey Jack, or Colby Jack) are soft cheeses that melt easily. I used mozzarella in these photos because it’s what I had on hand, but Jack cheese would have been my preference. Cheddar cheese or a Mexican blend of cheese would work well, too!

Salsa

I used the Hatch Green Chile salsa from Trader Joe’s in my chicken mix for these tostadas.  I highly recommend using your favorite salsa (red, green, or any color/flavor – as long as you love it, it’s perfect for this recipe), a small 4 oz. can of green chiles, or even fresh tomatoes or pico de gallo if you like! 

Directions

See below for a step-by-step guide on how to make these Chicken Tostada Stacks:

Make the Creamy Refried Black Beans. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, a healthy pinch of salt, and seasonings (smoked paprika, cumin, and cayenne). [Note: I changed this part of the recipe after photographing the cooking process, so you don’t see the spices in with the onions. But add the spices with the onions so the spices will toast and enhance their flavor!] Cook the onions with the spices, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until onions are softened. Stir in garlic and cook for one minute. Add refried black beans, and stir to mix into the butter, onions and garlic.

Stir the beans occasionally until they are warmed through and their texture becomes soft and creamy. Stir in the sour cream and hot sauce, then turn off the heat from underneath the saucepan.

Make the Shredded Chicken. Toss shredded chicken with your favorite salsa until the chicken is thoroughly coated. Set aside. Note: I used Hatch Green Chile Salsa (from Trader Joe’s) in these photos. You can use red salsa, green salsa, or even pico de gallo! Just pick one you love, and it will be perfect for this recipe. 🙂

Build the Tostada Stacks. Spread about 1/4 cup of creamy refried black beans over the surface of one tostada shell. Sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of chopped green onions over the black beans. Repeat with another tostada shell, black beans, and green onions to make a second stack.

Place a second tostada shell on directly on top of the layer of black beans and green onions. Spread another 1/4 cup of creamy refried black beans over the second tostada shell. (Do this for both stacks!)

Divide the salsa-coated shredded chicken over the tops of your tostada stacks (about 3/4 cup on each). Sprinkle 1/3 cup of shredded cheese (or more if you like!) over each stack.

Bake the Tostada Stacks. Turn on the oven to a low broil. Once it is hot, pop the tostada stacks onto a rimmed baking sheet and broil for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is melted. (For an extra browned / crispy cheese layer, set the broiler to “high” for about a minute until the cheese is browned.) Sprinkle cilantro over the tops of the chicken tostada stacks, and serve hot with any of your favorite toppings!

More Small Batch Recipes with Rotisserie Chicken:

• Southwestern Rotisserie Chicken Soup
• Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Lime Slaw
• Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wraps for Two
• Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

Margaritas to Pair with Chicken Tostada Stacks:

• Fresh Pineapple Jalapeno Margarita
• Skinny Margarita Recipe
• Blueberry Cilantro Margaritas
• Strawberry Jalapeño Margarita Recipe
• Skinny Blackberry Margarita

If you make these shredded chicken and black bean tostada stacks, please leave a comment review and recipe rating below! Don’t forget to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram so I can share it, too. As always, if you have any questions about ingredients or how to make this recipe, reach out to me via email so I can help out. 🙂

xx Sara