Easy Air Fryer Tortilla Chips made with simple ingredients in 5 minutes! Perfect chips to serve with enchiladas for dinner or with your favorite dips for an appetizer or snack!
Homemade air fryer tortilla chips are so easy to make! They literally take just minutes to make, which makes them a perfect side for busy weeknight dinners.
The main factor that sets these apart from store bought chips is they are made with much less oil, since you air frying instead of deep frying them. Another huge benefit is that homemade air fryer chips are less expensive than most store-bought tortilla chips. 😅
Believe it or not, you can make a very crispy chip using a little bit of oil when making tortilla chips in an air fryer.
So, the next time you find yourself with a few leftover tortillas after making tacos, enchiladas, or quesadillas, just cut them into triangle shapes and turn them into chips. So easy!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy Recipe This is an easy recipe for making corn tortilla chips in an air fryer. Use kitchen shears or a pizza cutter to slice tortillas into chip-sized pieces, lightly coat each piece with a little oil, and sprinkle with salt (and spices if you want). Then, air fry. That's it!
- Simple Ingredients Tortillas, oil, and salt. Homemade air fried tortilla chips taste different than store-bought chips, but don't worry, they are still delicious! And when you make your own chips, you can choose how much oil and salt you use.
- Kid-Approved My nephew described these chips the best by calling them a "chef's chip" (as my nephew calls them) after the first bite. 😍
- Less Food Waste Making tortilla chips is a great way to use up leftover tortillas. I don't know about you, but there are always more tortillas in a package than I can use in one meal.
Ingredient Notes
- Corn tortillas I've made these with white corn tortillas and yellow corn tortillas. I like to use Trader Joe's brand because they keep the ingredients simple. I have also made these with flour tortillas, but the texture was very different. See the 'tips' section below for more.
- Oil Use olive oil or avocado oil. These oils contain heart healthy monounsaturated fats and polyphenols.
- Salt & Spices Use coarse sea salt or table salt. For even more flavor, try adding my favorite seasoning combination: garlic powder, cumin or chili powder, paprika, and turmeric. Turmeric is the spice that gives the chips pictured a yellow color. Turmeric is a spice that has been recognized for its medicinal properties for a long time.
How to Make Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
Here's a summary of how to make homemade air fryer tortilla chips. For the full list of ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe card.
- Cut each tortilla in chip sized pieces. One standard sized corn tortilla can be cut into 6-8 chip-sized pieces.
- Lay tortilla triangles in a single layer on an air fryer basket fit for your air fryer. Do not overlap 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 salt and, if using, the seasoning mixture.
- Air fry for 5-7 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. If your air fryer is pre-heated, they will likely only take 5 minutes. If you use flour tortillas, check on them after 3 minutes.
- Let cool and enjoy.
Dietitian Tips
Tip 1 It's no secret that kids love chips. Instead of fighting the 'chips battle' consider surprising your kids with a snack of homemade chips and guacamole or one of their favorite salsas for an easy after school snack.
Tip 2 A little bit of oil goes a long way when using an air fryer recipe to make your own tortilla chips. Some recipes say air fried tortilla chips can be made without oil but then instruct you to use an oil spray to coat them. Oil is oil whether it comes out of a bottle or spray can. 💁♀️
Helpful Tips
- Use kitchen shears, a pizza cutter, or sharp knife to cut tortillas into triangles.
- Use a pastry brush or oil sprayer to coat the tortilla triangles.
- Do not overlap the tortilla pieces. Lay them in a single layer and cook in batches if needed.
- To make flour tortilla chips, use flour tortillas instead of corn and reduce the time in the air fryer to 3 minutes in a pre-heated air fryer. Yes, they cook that fast! The texture will be light and flaky, not as crisp as when using corn tortillas.
- In my experience, air-fried tortilla chips do not get crispier as they cool to room temperature.
- Some companies add gluten or dough conditioners as ingredients to soften tortillas. Tortillas made with these ingredients will not get as crispy as tortillas made with basic ingredients like corn, oil, and salt.
- To make tortilla chips for dessert, make a cinnamon sugar mixture and sprinkle them on tortilla triangles coated with oil before air frying (leave the salt out).
- 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 your air fryer is preheated reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes.
- I use a Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven. Different air fryers might require small adjustments in temperature and/or cooking times.
Questions You May Have
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!
Air fryer tortilla chips are best for same-day eating. Once cooled completely, they can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days.
If they soften, place them back in the air-fryer for about 2-3 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.
One of the most common dips to serve with tortilla chips is a simple salsa, like pico de gallo. Guacamole and fruit salsa are my personal favorites.
More Side Dish Recipes
- Green Goddess Salad with Green Goddess Dressing (Homemade)
- Green Goddess Salad Dressing (No Oil, No Mayo)
- Green Bean Casserole with Fresh Green Beans
- Top 9 Holiday Side Dishes (30 Minutes or Less!)
Did you make these homemade tortilla chips and love them? Please leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below to let me know. A 5-star rating is the best compliment!
Remember to follow me on Instagram for more easy recipes and nutrition tips!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
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!
Notes
- Use either kitchen scissors, pizza slicer, or a sharp knife to cut the tortillas into triangle-shaped pieces.
- 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.
- 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.
- Do not overlap the kale pieces - keep them in a single layer and cook in batches if needed.
- My kids like the chips to be slightly soft in the center and crispy on the edges - this takes 5 minutes to achieve in an already heated air fryer, 6 minutes if it is not preheated. One minute in the air fryer makes a difference between slightly soft in the center and a completely crisp chip.
- Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for how to properly and safely use your air fryer.
- I use a Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven. Different air fryers might require small adjustments in temperature and/or cook time.
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