A healthier, but just as delicious twist on traditional taquitos, you’re going to LOVE this Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos Recipe. Corn OR flour tortillas filled with the easiest crockpot salsa chicken and air fried until golden brown and crispy. Oven baked and deep frying directions included!
Want more air fryer recipes? Be sure to check out: air fryer tortilla chips, air fryer hand pies, and air fryer chicken nuggets!
If you’ve never made homemade taquitos, I’m sorry, but you’ve been missing out!
To be fair, I JUST started making homemade taquitos liiiiike last week. 😉
For whatever reason, I thought making taquitos would be really difficult.
I was always intimidated and I thought they’d never taste as good as store bought or ones that you get at a restaurant.
But I’m here to tell you, that
- Homemade taquitos are really easy to make and you don’t have to be intimated
- These taste even better than store bought 😉
- Bonus: these are healthier than store bought, thanks to our trusty air fryer!
Crispy on the outside, juicy in the middle . . .
Trust me . . .
You’re gonna LOVE these air fryer chicken taquitos.
What tortillas should I use to make taquitos? Can you make taquitos with flour tortillas?
You can use corn or flour tortillas to make taquitos. While I personally love flour for air fried or oven baked taquitos, I think corn works best for deep frying.
There are a few other things to think about:
- Corn tortillas are lower in calories and are often considered “healthier” – is that important to you?
- Flour tortillas are MUCH easier to work with. Often, corn tortillas will fall apart or tear as you’re trying to roll them. If you’re not the most patient person, I’d recommend sticking with flour. 😉
- Taste! Do you like the taste of corn or flour tortillas better?
- Texture! Corn tortillas get crispier, especially when deep or air fried.
How do you make taquitos?
Making taquitos is SO easy.
You’ll start by making the crockpot salsa chicken filling.
I linked to the full recipe above, but here’s a quick rundown:
- Throw ingredients into crockpot <– chicken, salsa, Tabasco, taco seasoning, and water
- Cook, shred, done.
Once you’ve made the filling, it’s time to assemble and cook!
- You’ll take one small tortilla (corn or flour) and fill it with two tablespoons of salsa chicken and one tablespoon of shredded cheese on one end of the tortilla.
- Roll the tortilla gently to form the taquito, starting at the filled side.
- Use two toothpicks to secure the taquito along the seam.
- Bake, air fry, or fry! Directions below.
Can I use another filling for this air fryer chicken taquitos recipe?
Before we get into your cooking options, let’s talk about the filling.
While I think the crockpot salsa chicken is the PERFECT filling (it’s seriously SO juicy and flavorful), you could also try:
- Ground beef, turkey, or chicken
- Just cheese
What other filling would YOU try?
How long do you cook taquitos in an air fryer?
If you want to make air fryer chicken taquitos, you’ll air fry the taquitos (four at a time), for about 5-6 minutes at 400 degrees F in your air fryer. I like removing the toothpicks and flipping them at the halfway point to ensure even cooking.
How do you make taquitos in the oven?
If you don’t have an air fryer, have no fear, because you can absolutely make oven baked taquitos!
All you need to do is spray them with a little cooking spray, then bake ’em at 400 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes on a silicone mat lined baking sheet! Again, I like removing the toothpicks and flipping them at the halfway point to ensure even cooking.
How do you deep fry taquitos?
Deep frying taquitos is definitely the most “difficult”, but holy yum it’s good. You just can’t beat deep fried tortillas, can you? While this method will get you the crispiest taquitos (I definitely recommend corn tortillas for this method), it’s also the unhealthiest and the most “pain in the butt” method.
However.
If that’s your thing, all you need to do is heat 1 inch of canola oil to 350 degrees F in a deep straight edged sauté pan and fry each taquito for about 3-5 minutes, gently flipping every so often to promote even browning. When you’re done, remove the taquitos from the oil and let them drain for a bit on a paper towel.
So.
That’s air fryer chicken taquitos.
Super easy. DEFINITELY healthier than the traditional taquito. Super delicious.
What’s not to love about crispy tortillas stuffed with a touch of cheese and the most juicy, tender, ultra flavorful shredded salsa chicken?
YUM.
– Jennifer
Air Fryer Chicken Taquitos
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 batch crockpot salsa chicken you should have 24 tablespoons
- 12 tablespoons shredded cheese I used a pre-shredded Mexican blend
- 12 small corn or flour tortillas should be 5.5 - 6 inches in diameter
- Salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, greek yogurt optional for serving
Instructions
- Working with one tortilla at a time, place two tablespoons of shredded chicken on one end of the tortilla.
- Place one tablespoon shredded cheese on top of the chicken.
- Roll to form the taquito, starting at the filled side.
- Use two toothpicks to secure the taquito along the seam.
- Repeat with remaining taquitos.
- Hit “ON” on the air fryer.
- Then hit “PRE-HEAT”.
- Set the temperature to 400 degrees F and set the timer to 6 minutes.
- Hit “START”. The air fryer will beep at you when it’s finished preheating.
- Open up the air fryer and spray the basket with cooking spray. Place 4 taquitos (tooth picks will be facing up) into the basket, making sure they’re not touching, and spray the tops with more cooking spray.
- Air fry for 5-6 minutes*, or until the tortillas are brown and crispy to your liking.
- Repeat with remaining taquitos.
- Remove toothpicks before serving.
- Serve with salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, or greek yogurt, if desired!
- Take 5 seconds to rate this recipe below. We greatly appreciate it!
Notes
People Also Viewed
Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
Maritza
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
Angie
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
Bryan
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy