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! All you need are a few basic ingredients!
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 olive oil or avocado oil. These oils contain 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.
- Cut each tortilla in chip sized pieces. One standard sized corn tortilla can be cut into eight pieces.
- Lay pieces in a single layer on an air fryer basket fit for your air fryer. Do not over lap the pieces.
- 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).
- Sprinkle each piece with the seasoning mixture.
- Sprinkle each piece with salt.
- Air fry for 6-7 minutes. If your air fryer is pre-heated, check on them after five minutes.
- Let cool and enjoy.
Dietitian Tip
Some companies add gluten and/or dough conditioners as an ingredient to soften tortillas. Tortillas made with these ingredients will not get as crispy as tortillas made with basic ingredients.
Expert Tips
- 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.
Recipe FAQs
Coat tortillas pieces in oil and crisp them up in the oven or air fryer. An air fryer is the quickest way to make crispy chips. They won't be quite as crispy as store-bought tortilla chips that are deep fried, but they will crispy enough!
Set your oven or air fryer to 350 degrees. Place tortilla chips in a single layer on a sheet pan and warm in the oven for 2-5 minutes.
Air fryer tortilla chips are best for same-day eating. Once cooled completely, they can be stored in an air-tight container for a few days. If they soften, simply place them back in the air-fryer for about two minutes to crisp them back up.
Yes, you can! They won't crisp up quite as much as corn tortillas, but they will crisp up enough! I have made these with flour tortillas, corn tortillas, and corn-flour blend tortillas from Trader Joe's.
More Snack Recipes That Kids Love
Be sure to comment below to share your feedback, and don't forget to snap a pic of this incredible lentil soup and tag @carrots.and.cookies on Instagram. Enjoy!
Tortilla Chips (Air Fryer) for Kids
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tortillas corn tortillas I use Trader Joe's brand. Ingredients: white corn, water, lime.
- ½ teaspoon olive oil extra virgin
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ tsp cumin or chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Cut each tortilla into chip size pieces. About eight pieces per tortilla.
- Lay pieces in a single layer on an air fryer rack fit for your air fryer.
- Lightly coat both sides of each piece with oil.
- In a separate small bowl, mix spices together.
- Lightly dust each tortilla piece with spices.
- Sprinkle salt out evenly over the pieces.
- Air fry at 375° for 5-7 minutes, until lightly brown on the edges but not burnt.
- Let cool completely and serve!
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