Tortilla Chips (Air Fryer) For Kids

Making tortilla chips in an air fryer in just five minutes is an easy way to turn a kid-favorite food into a quick healthy snack!

It's no secret that kids love chips. If you look at the ingredient list on most tortilla chip bags, the ingredients listed are simple: corn, oil, and salt. The only difference is that store bought chips are deep fried which significantly increases the fat content of a chip when compared to baking or air frying them.

Believe it or not, you can get the same crispness by making tortilla chips in the air fryer with such a small amount of oil.

I started experimenting with seasonings and I new I had the right combination when my kids said, "you need to post this recipe"! You might be surprised to see that my recipe includes turmeric...yep, that's right. It's the spice that adds a yellow color to the chip.

Kids love eating these chips plain, with salsa or guacamole. Serve them as an after school snack, as an appetizer, or as a side with lunch or dinner. In fact, these chips are perfect to serve alongside my salsa verde chicken enchilada dish or kid-favorite beans and rice casserole, which just happens to be my oldest daughter's favorite!

For more air fryer recipes, try my air fried frozen sweet potato fries, apple slices, beet chip, and kale chip recipes. All of these recipes are super easy to make, simply seasoned, and kid-approved!

About this recipe

Surprise your kids by serving up these homemade tortilla chips made in the air fryer! I mean, how often are parents saying "here, eat some chips!". Your kids might just give you a 'parent of the year' award for serving up this delicious snack, haha!

• Serve these chips alone or with a side of salsa or guacamole.
• For a small dose of protein, simply mix a small amount of plain Greek yogurt in with either salsa or guacamole and serve it with these chips.
• The spices are optional, oil and salt are not (at least if you want your kids to eat these).
• The spice combination I recommend includes turmeric. Turmeric is a spice that has been recognized for its medicinal properties for a long time. If you don't have turmeric, that's okay. These chips will still taste like a "chef's chip" (as my nephew calls them) without it.
• Cumin can easily be substituted with chili powder. Not everyone loves cumin and I get that!

Ingredient Notes

• Corn tortillas Use corn tortillas. I like to use Trader Joe's brand because they keep the ingredients super simple. I do not suggest using flour tortillas or even the combination of flour and corn tortillas unless your kids won't mind a chewy chip.
• Oil Use extra virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil contains heart healthy monounsaturated fats and polyphenols.
• Salt & Spices I suggest using coarse sea salt, but any salt will do. My kids enjoy the combination of spices listed in the recipe. Feel free to modify them as you wish!

Step-by-step instructions

Here’s a quick overview of the steps to make these homemade tortilla chips in the air fryer. For the full list of ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.

1. Cut each tortilla in chip sized pieces. One standard sized corn tortilla can be cut into eight pieces.
2. Lay pieces in a single layer on an air fryer basket fit for your air fryer. Do not over lap the pieces.
3. Lightly coat both sides of each piece with oil. If you are in a rush, you can coat just one side (your kids will likely not notice, but you might).
4. Sprinkle each piece with the seasoning mixture.
5. Sprinkle each piece with salt.
6. Air fry for 6-7 minutes. If your air fryer is pre-heated, check on them after five minutes.
7. Let cool and enjoy.

Expert Tips and FAQs

• I suggest keeping the spices toward the center of the chip because the yellow hue of turmeric will easily get on little fingers (no worries, though, it washes off easily).
• If you don't feel like measuring out each spice, simply give each chip a light dusting of each spice one at a time and finish with salt- do what works for you!
• Some recipes say air fried tortilla chips can be made without oil but still tell you to use an oil spray to coat them... that's still considered oil. A very small amount of oil is necessary to give these chips a flavor your kids will enjoy.
• Some recipes say air fried tortilla chips will crisp as they cool. I have not found this to be the case.
• Use a basting brush or oil sprayer to lightly coat the kale.
• If you have an air fryer that causes pieces to blow around, cover them with another air fryer rack.
• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for how to properly and safely use your air fryer. If it requires you to preheat the air fryer, simply cut back on the cooking time by 1-2 minutes.
• Do not overlap the kale pieces - keep them in a single layer and cook in batches if needed.
• I use a Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven. Different air fryers might require small adjustments in temperature and/or cook time.