These Chicken Air Fryer Taquitos are a delicious Mexican-inspired appetizer that can be made in 25 minutes. Made up of a spicy chicken filling wrapped in a crispy corn tortilla, these taquitos are the perfect go-to snack for any occasion.
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Why this Air Fryer Taquitos Recipe is a Keeper
- 25 Minute Meal: Have these easy taquitos ready in less than half an hour, with a prep time of 15-minutes and a cooking time of 10 minutes.
- Easy Ingredients: All of the ingredients for this appetizer recipe can be found in your kitchen or local grocery store.
- Adaptable: Fill the taquitos with your favorite meats, cheeses, toppings, and more.
If you’re looking for more spicy recipes, try these: Mango Habanero Salsa, Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa, and Baked Beef Chimichangas.
Why Aren’t My Shredded Chicken Taquitos Crispy?
If your taquitos aren’t crispy, it could be because the tortillas haven’t fried for long enough. Fry the taquitos for about 1 to 2 minutes longer for crunchy tortillas.
Ingredient Notes for Corn Tortilla Taquitos in the Air Fryer
- Chicken: Use a pound of shredded cooked chicken. This recipe is a wonderful use for leftover rotisserie chicken, or chicken breasts. We recommend using chicken, but you can also have taquitos made with a beef mixture if you’d prefer.
- Tortillas: Taquitos are traditionally made with corn tortillas, but you can use flour tortillas as well. Use corn tortillas from the grocery store, your favorite local Latin American market, or make them from scratch.
See the recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Variations and Substitutions to Make Taquitos in an Air Fryer
- Meat: Use any kind of meat you want to make these air-fryer taquitos. For instance, you can make beef taquitos instead.
- Cooking Methods: Instead of the air fryer, you can bake taquitos in the oven.
Special Equipment Needed to Air Fry the Taquitos
- Air Fryer: It only takes 10 minutes to air fry these easy taquitos.
Fun Fact
Taquitos are similar to flautas, another Mexican dish. However, flautas are typically longer and thinner than taquitos, and are made with flour tortillas.
How to Make Taquitos in the Air Fryer
These air fryer taquitos made with shredded chicken make the perfect appetizer or dinner treat. They don’t take that long to make and you can use any air fryer model. To learn how to make air fryer taquitos with a cheesy chicken filling, just read these easy-to-follow instructions.
These are the basic steps for making air fryer taquitos. Refer to the full, printable recipe card below for detailed instructions.
1. Make Filling Mixture
First, in a large bowl, add the chicken, sour cream, salsa, and taco seasoning together. Cover the tortillas in a damp paper towel and heat them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to 1 minute to keep them warm and pliable, then place them on a baking sheet and preheat the air fryer.
2. Assemble the Taquitos
Second, fill the center of each tortilla with 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture and then roll. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until each taquito is rolled. Place the taquitos in the air fryer basket in a single layer.
3. Spray the Air Fryer Basket and Cook the Taquitos
Next, spray the taquitos with cooking spray or oil in a large air fryer basket, and fry the taquitos in a single layer at 380 degrees Fahrenheit. Air fry the taquitos for 10 minutes. Flip the taquitos to cook evenly. Fry until the taquitos are golden brown and crispy on the outside.
4. Serve the Taquitos
Allow them to cool. Then, remove the taquitos from the air fryer. Top the batch of taquitos with salt and pepper, cheddar cheese, shredded cheese, cream cheese, black beans, chili powder, green chiles, fresh pico de gallo, or sauce. If desired, use a toothpick to hold the toppings in place.
Air-Fryer Taquitos Recipe FAQs
Expert Tips for Making This Air Fryer Recipe
- Cheese: Use cheese to make these taquitos, such as Mexican shredded cheese or sharp cheddar.
- Do not overfill: Make sure not to overstuff the taquitos.
- Toppings: Feel free to top with queso, sour cream, guacamole, fresh cilantro, or parsley.
- Vegetarian: To make vegetarian taquitos, use beans instead of meat.
What to Serve with Air Fryer Taquitos
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Air Fryer Taquitos
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 pound Shredded Cooked Chicken
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- ½ cup Fresh Cantina Style Salsa
- 1 tablespoon Taco Seasoning
- 6 Corn Tortillas, 6”-8” in size
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, sour cream, salsa and taco seasoning.
- Once mixed fill the tortillas with 3-4 tablespoons of the chicken. Roll and set aside.
- Spray the air fryer basket with oil and place taquitos in to cook at 380 for 10 minutes. Spray the taquitos with oil before cooking.
- Remove and top with favorite pepper, cheese or sauce.
Christina’s Notes
- Cheese: Add cheese, such as Mexican shredded cheese or sharp cheddar.
- Do not overfill: Make sure not to overstuff the taquitos.
- Toppings: Feel free to top with queso, sour cream, guacamole, fresh cilantro, or parsley.
- Vegetarian: To make vegetarian taquitos, use beans instead of meat.
- Scale the recipe: Simply adjust the serving size in the recipe card and the ingredients will update automatically.
- Make your own All Purpose Seasoning: When a recipe calls for All Purpose Seasoning, you can use my homemade All Purpose Seasoning recipe or substitute salt and pepper to taste.
- Meat doneness: I always use a meat thermometer to test for doneness when cooking meat.
- Use unsalted butter: I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt level in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven: Unless otherwise noted, always preheat your oven before baking.
For more helpful information about this recipe, such as variations, substitutions and other pro-tips, check out the blog post.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided are estimates. It is recommended that you verify this information with your own trusted resource.
We love honest feedback, but to keep reviews helpful for everyone, we reserve the right to remove star ratings if it is clear the recipe has not been made, if the comment does not provide meaningful input, or if significant substitutions or alterations were made. Please note that ratings should reflect the original recipe as written to avoid confusing other readers.
This recipe is my personal adaption of an ethnic-inspired recipe. It is not intended to be an authentic recipe. I’ve recreated this recipe because I enjoy the flavors and I want to encourage my readers to expand their tastes and try new flavor combinations. The recipe, ingredients, and processes may have been adapted to make the recipe accessible to the average American. I have provided links to authentic versions of the recipe in the post above. I encourage you to visit these pages and learn more about the traditional version(s) of this recipe.
This chicken taquitos looks delicious I like that we can make it in Air fryer.
Look great and I know my kids will love this!
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!