How to make crispy Air Fryer tortilla chips at home from scratch or with store-bought tortillas (oven method also included). These healthy tortilla chips are wonderfully crunchy/crispy for all your dipping, garnishing, and nacho needs (flavor options included)! Plus, they’re gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan!

Having shared my recipe for homemade corn tortillas last week, I enjoyed them with huevos rancheros. I’ve also since posted recipes for Salsa Roja and Salsa Verde – I think we can guess how I enjoyed the leftover tortillas, crispy air fryer tortilla chips, of course!

These healthy tortilla chips (taco chips) use a fraction of the oil than deep-fried versions, can be made as homemade corn tortilla chips from scratch (great for leftovers after taco Tuesdays!) or using store-bought tortillas, and are super versatile when it comes to seasonings. Best of all, though, they allow you to enjoy chips n’ dips (or a big bowl of nachos!) in a slightly healthier way – any excuse to load up on more guacamole is fine with me!

Learning how to make tortilla chips in an air fryer is also ridiculously simple and allows you to get super crispy results that you expect, in just minutes, with far less oil than deep-frying. However, for those of you who don’t own an air fryer, I’ve even included an oven-baked tortilla chips method too – because I don’t want to be held responsible for disappointing nacho fans everywhere!

Not only do these make for the most amazing guacamole chips, but these have now become part of my savory snack rotation alongside kale chips, potato skin chips, crispy chickpeas, and lentil crackers.

The Ingredients

• Corn tortillas: you can make these from scratch or use store-bought versions. You could also use flour tortillas; however, corn tortillas give the crispiest results.
• Oil: you’ll need a little neutral cooking oil to make sure the healthy tortilla chips crisp up. I recommend vegetable oil or avocado oil. You could alternatively use cooking spray for even fewer calories.
• (Optional) salt: the seasoning you use for these air fryer tortilla chips is up to you. However, you can’t go wrong with a little sprinkle of salt.

For homemade flavored corn tortilla chips

There are several ways that you can make homemade tortilla chip flavorings at home, including:

• Paprika: Combine around 1 tsp of smoked paprika with salt. You could optionally add a tiny pinch of sugar (it enhances the flavor in a way that’s hard to describe without trying them).
• ‘Cheesy’: combine nutritional yeast (1-2 Tbsp) with a little smoked paprika and optionally just a pinch of garlic powder. Feel free to add a little cayenne/chili powder for more heat.
• Rosemary & Garlic: combine a little crushed dry rosemary with garlic powder and salt for simple herby tortilla chips.
• Chili Lime: you can use chili lime seasoning or make your own by reducing the oil a little and replacing it with some lime juice (around 1/3-1/2 Tbsp lime juice) and chili powder (to personal preference).
• Cinnamon sugar: there are a couple of ways you could do this. First, you could reduce the oil used to add a little maple syrup and then combine equal parts cinnamon and sugar (coconut sugar would work well). Alternatively, omit the maple and simply combine cinnamon and sugar – between ½ -1 tsp of cinnamon and sugar based on how much flavor you want on the chips. I like to save some cinnamon sugar to one side to sprinkle over the chips after air frying.
• Pumpkin spice: During fall, swap out the cinnamon above for pumpkin spice – it’s delicious on these homemade corn tortilla chips, I promise!

Experimenting with different seasonings will help you to make the best tortilla chips ever! Let me know in the comments what your favorite ways to flavor these chips are!

How to make homemade tortilla chips

Step 1: Cut the tortillas

If you’re preparing the corn tortillas from scratch, then do that first. I like to use leftovers for this purpose – though store-bought work just fine too!

Depending on the size of the tortilla and the size of the chips you want, you can cut them into 4-6 pieces. I stacked them up in small stacks then used kitchen scissors (a sharp knife or pizza cutter would also work). Chop them in half, then in half again for 4 pieces. For 6 pieces, I find it easiest to use a pizza cutter – ccut them in half, then angle two diagonal cuts to make 6 equal-sized pieces.

Step 2: Season the tortilla chips

Lightly brush or spritz the tortilla chips with a bit of oil or cooking spray and optionally salt or any seasonings (options in the notes above).

Step 3: Cook the healthy tortilla chips

To air-fry tortilla chips

Preheat your air fryer (if required) to 350ºF/175ºC – this usually takes just 4-5 minutes.

Then place a single layer of tortilla chips in your air fryer basket – this will need to be done in batches to avoid too much overlapping.

Cook for between 4-6 minutes. Test one at the 5–6-minute mark, and if they need a little longer, then keep an eye on them for a further minute or so.

Remember that they will crisp up further as they cool, and each air fryer can vary with cooking times, so you may need to adjust the times slightly. I don’t find it necessary to shake/turn the tortilla chips at the halfway point, but feel free to do so if preferred (or if the air fryer has caused the chips to blow about and stack up).

Allow the chips to cool on a wire rack; they will continue to get crunchier as they cool. I like to make mine a couple of hours at least before serving (although I will nibble on a few – admittedly.)

For oven-baked tortilla chips

Place the tortilla chips in a single layer across a baking tray. I like to use a wire tray so air can fully circulate around the chips.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF/175ºC (fan-assisted) for 7-8 minutes. This may be increased to 10 minutes based on the oven tray you use and your oven.

Once ready, allow the homemade corn tortilla chips to cool to crisp up further before enjoying.

How to serve

You can enjoy these air fried tortilla chips in all the same ways you would with the store-bought versions:

• Serve them up as nachos: load up the healthy tortilla chips with your choice of toppings, including cooked beans, Pico de Gallo, guacamole, cheese, etc.
• For chips n’ dips: It’s not just for salsa (like this salsa Roja and Salsa Verde or Fire-Roasted Salsa, cowboy caviar) and guacamole chips, other dips also taste great. Like hummus, baba ghanoush, and a whole list of other dips!
• Added to salad/burrito bowls.
• To garnish soups and stews: Swap out croutons for these crispy air fryer tortilla chips instead.
• Serve them sweet: You can serve these up with sweet dips, too. They’d also work well with a fruity salsa, a sweet yogurt or cream cheese dip, a drizzle of chocolate syrup, or even a scoop of ice cream.

How to store?

Store: The cooked and cooled air-fried tortilla chips will last at least 5 days in an airtight container or bag at room temperature. They may need to be reheated for a couple of minutes if they lose their ‘crisp’ ness.

Freeze: I haven’t tried freezing flavored air fryer tortilla chips- however, it may work. I recommend freezing them for up to 3 months- allow them to thaw before enjoying. You’ll need to reheat them to crisp them up again.

Reheat: If you find that the __ tortilla chips lose their crunch. Spray them with just a little bit of oil, then reheat in the air fryer at 350ºF/125ºC for 1-2 minutes just to crisp them up once more.

FAQs

Top tips

• Don’t overcrowd the basket: for the crispiest results, you don’t want to overcrowd your air fryer basket. It’s better to cook them in batches than end up with uneven, not quite crispy results.
• Don’t omit the oil entirely: air fryers may allow you to cook with less oil, but you’ll still need a little if you want crispy homemade tortilla chips. Also, homemade tortilla chips made with no oil lose their crunchiness a lot faster.
• Air fryer tips: it’s important to do what’s best for your specific model. Some need preheating, and some don’t. Also, some will cause the chips to move around a lot. These may require a trivet or something placed over the chips to stop them from moving around.
• Keep an eye on the tortilla chips: when you air fry tortilla chips, they take just minutes to cook to perfection. Each air fryer model will be slightly different, though. So, keep an eye on them with your first batch, so you know what works best for your model.

Other Mexican-inspired recipes

• Chicken Quesadilla
• Taco Casserole
• Mango Avocado Salsa
• Tepache De Piña

If you try this oven and air fryer tortilla chips recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts/questions below. Also, I’d really appreciate a recipe card rating below, and feel free to tag me in your recipe recreations on Instagram @Alphafoodie!