Air fryer taquitos are quick and easy and made healthier using minimal oil. They’re made with perfectly seasoned, shredded chicken and gooey cheese – all rolled into your tortilla of choice. Oven directions included.
Making taquitos at home means you get a delicious bite to eat without strange ingredients or preservatives that you would get from store-bought frozen taquitos. And amazingly, it only takes 20 minutes to get ultra-crunchy taquitos without much effort.
Now you can have a great hot snack without standing over a skillet of hot oil or heating your house with the oven! It’s the same with these Air Fryer Pizza Rolls.
Dress them up with your favorite dipping sauces like sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or queso dip, and you’ve got yourself a great finger food!
Ingredients
- Shredded cooked chicken – I used leftover rotisserie chicken in this recipe, but roasted chicken also works. And you can use light or dark meat.
- Shredded cheese – I like to use shredded Mexican blend cheese, but cheddar or pepper jack are also great choices!
- Taco seasoning – I used homemade taco seasoning, but store-bought
- Corn tortillas – Corn tortillas are the classic wrap used in taquitos, but you could use flour if you prefer. These Vegan Tortillas are my very favorite, and they don’t use any unusual ingredients! They just use oil instead of lard.
- Toppings (all optional) – shredded lettuce, sour cream or Greek yogurt, guacamole, or jalapenos.
Instructions
- Stir together shredded chicken, cheese and taco seasoning.
- Heat tortillas in a microwave.
- Fill and roll the tortillas, and place in the air fryer basket.
- Mist tortillas with olive oil spray.
- Cook until golden brown and crisp.
- Plate, garnish and enjoy.
These instructions are at a glance, so for the full recipe, scroll to the bottom of the page.
What’s a taquito?
Taquito is Spanish for a little taco and they’re like super crunchy rolled tacos. They can be filled with your choice of fillings like ground beef, chicken or pork.
Normally, they’re deep-fried, but I like to make snacks as healthy as possible, which is why I’m using the air fryer.
A taquito is typically made with corn tortillas, while flautas are made with flour tortillas. The word flautas means flute, and they certainly resemble them. Check out these Baked Flautas for another delicious option!
But today, the names are used interchangeably, and you’ll find frozen taquitos made with corn or flour tortillas alike. So whether you’re making air fryer taquitos or air fryer flautas, it’s all the same easy method for awesome eats.
Tips
Recipe Notes:
- When cooking with the air fryer, often there is no need to preheat it; however, with this taquito recipe, it actually helps to get a quick sear when you first place them into the basket. So for this crunchy snack, I do prefer to preheat the air fryer while I’m rolling the taquitos.
- When rolling, try to get even sizes that are thin and consistent. This helps them evenly cook. Also, you don’t want too much chicken sticking out from the ends of the tortilla because it might burn. Once rolled, push the chicken back inside the tortilla to help.
- I love oozy, gooey cheese, but be mindful to not add too much inside the tortillas because it could quickly melt and ooze out into the basket.
- If the taquitos unroll, secure them with a toothpick before cooking.
- You can use either corn or flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are usually pliable enough that you don’t need to soften them before rolling them. I would get the thinnest flour tortillas you can find.
- You don’t need to fry corn tortillas before rolling. Just wrap them 10 at a time in a damp kitchen cloth or paper towel and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Just enough to get them soft and pliable. This will make rolling so much easier. Heating them in the microwave will also keep them from cracking.
- Place the taquitos seam side down and leave enough space in between each flute for air to circulate. This is how you get that extra crunch.
- Don’t stack the taquitos in the air fryer basket as you will not get them evenly cooked.
- If you’re making these for a crowd, the best recommendation I can give is to make them in batches. To keep them warm, place each taquito on a wire rack leaving some space in between and place them in the oven on warm.
- There’s no need to flip the taquitos halfway through, so you can prep your side items with no interruptions.
- If you have an aluminum air fryer basket, it is quite alright to grease with cooking spray. However, if you have a non-stick basket, then do not use aerosol cooking spray (like Pam) because it will chip the finish and make the non-stick basket a sticky one.
- Depending on the model of your air fryer, you may need to adjust the temperature according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
How to store
Taquitos are best when they’re eaten right away, but if you have some left over, you can store them for up to 3 days in the fridge.
They may get soggy, so it’s best to reheat them in the air fryer to get them to crisp back up.
How to freeze
You can freeze taquitos for up to 3 months and have a quick snack handy.
- First, cook the taquitos according to the directions and let them cool completely.
- Place them on a lined baking sheet leaving room in between each flute.
- Once frozen, transfer to a resealable freezer bag, label and date, and place them in the freezer.
How to reheat
To reheat refrigerated taquitos, place the taquitos in a single layer on a greased air fryer basket. Cook at 350°F (175 °C) for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until hot. For extra crispiness, mist them with a little olive oil before cooking.
If reheating frozen taquitos, preheat the air fryer at 350°F (175 °C). Place taquitos in the basket leaving some space in between, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. It may take as much as five, but just keep an eye on them to make sure they get hot on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Toppings
Like I stated above, shredded lettuce, salsa, easy and healthy homemade guacamole, sliced avocado, sour cream, sliced jalapenos are all great topping ideas.
I like to make a toppings bar, so everyone can have their favorite choice.
I like to serve them with Refried Beans and Guacamole, but black beans and Spanish rice would also be terrific. That’s what I usually serve alongside these Cream Cheese Quesadillas.
This Queso with Black Beans would also be a real treat!
If you want to go skinny, you can use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and have a side of this Spicy Jalapeno Cabbage Salsa.
Dips
A great taquito dipping sauce makes it even more fun! These Mexican dips are easy and have 4 different flavors. Or if you want it more creamy, you might check out these dips from Isabeleats.
How to make shredded chicken
I used rotisserie chicken. It’s easy and nicely seasoned. Then all you have to do is shred the leftovers. If you don’t have rotisserie chicken but have some chicken breasts, you can easily use that instead.
Or even use the chicken from these Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Tacos?
Or you could try these Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Breasts which can be made in 15 minutes of cook time. Then just shred them.
So, how do you shred chicken?
It’s super easy to just pull the chicken breasts apart with your hands or use two forks to pull them apart. Just keep doing it until you get even shreds to fill the taquitos.
If you’re making taquitos for a crowd, it might be easier to shred the boneless chicken with a hand mixer. Just place the chicken in a large bowl, set the hand mixer on low and let it shred. It takes about 20 seconds, so it’s super fast when making a lot of taquitos.
Seasonings
I used premade taco seasoning because it’s super convenient and seasons nicely. There is also chicken taco seasoning if you prefer.
If you’d like to make your own, try this Homemade Taco Seasoning. You may even have most of the ingredients at home.
You just need chili powder, paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, flour, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.
Why use an air fryer
I’m so amazed at how efficient the air fryer is and how it consistently gets crispy, crunchy food out in minutes without a lot of oil. It makes it healthier and it makes my life so much easier!
You can make almost anything in the air fryer like terrific sides like these Air Fryer Garlic Fries, to breakfast items like this Air Fryer Quiche, or a main dish like this Air Fryer Ham, and amazingly, even sweets. Like these Air Fryer Brownies or these Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies!
You’re also left with more time to make drinks like this Mexican Candy Shot to enjoy with your taquitos. 😉
Oven directions
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can make taquitos in the oven for a healthier option.
Set the oven at 400 °F (205 °C) for about 8 minutes or until hot and golden brown. Also, if you only have an oven and want something Mexican, check out these Vegetarian Tostadas!
More Air Fryer Recipes
Want some more air fryer snacks? Check these out!
Air Fryer Potato Skins
Frozen Chicken Wings in Air Fryer
Popcorn Chicken Air Fryer
Air Fryer Baked Apples
I hope you enjoy these Air Fryer Taquitos! If you make them, we would love to hear from you. Drop a comment below or tag #fooddoodlesrecipes and let me know what you’re cooking today! Enjoy. 🙂
Air Fryer Taquitos
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- ¾ cup shredded cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 10 medium corn tortillas (make sure they're gluten-free, if you're GF)
- Optional toppings: salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce. avocado, sliced jalapenos, sour cream, etc.
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the shredded chicken and cheese and the taco seasoning.
- Warm the tortillas. Wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds or until you're able to roll them easily without ripping the tortilla.
- Brush or spray both sides of a corn tortilla with olive oil.
- Add about 4 teaspoons of chicken mixture to the center of the tortilla and roll it into a tight log.
- Place the taquito with the seam side down into the air fryer basket.
- Do the same with the remaining tortillas, but be careful not to overcrowd the air fryer basket.
- Spray the tops of the taquitos again with olive oil.
- Cook at 400 °F (205 °C) for 9-12 minutes, or until the taquitos are golden brown and nicely crisped.
- Garnish, if desired, and serve immediately. These should be enjoyed right away as they soften if they sit.
Notes
- Depending on the model of your air fryer, you may need to adjust the temperature according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Don’t stack the taquitos in the air fryer basket as you will not get them evenly cooked.
Leave A Reply!