Crispy crunchy chipotle chicken air fryer taquitos perfect for taco night.

Ever since I made crispy crunchy chicken tacos in the air fryer, I’ve been dying to make taquitos. There’s something about rolled tacos that is so incredibly addictive. Maybe it’s because they’re more dip-able?

It doesn’t really matter why I love them so much because you will too: golden yellow hot and crisp tortillas rolled around a chipotle tomato-y chicken and melty cheese filling finished off with avocado-cilantro crema. SO GOOD.

Why air fryer taquitos

The best part about this recipe is that you don’t need to break out the deep fry oil. Air fryer for the win! You could shallow/deep-fry or bake the tortillas for that crispy crunch you’re looking for, but really, the air-fryer is the answer. Less oil, less mess, more crunch. Everything you could want in a crispy crunchy homemade taquito.

What is a taquito?

Taquitos are rolled corn tortillas filled with juicy chipotle chicken and cheese, crisped up in the air fryer for the ultimate in crunch.

How to make taquitos

1. Make the filling. Super simple, especially because this filling uses already cooked shredded chicken. Just blend up the sauce, mix the chicken in, and simmer to meld all the flavors.
2. Roll. Warm up your tortillas: wrap them up in a damp paper towel and microwave briefly so they don’t crack and break when you’re rolling. Oil the tortillas on both sides, then top with chicken and cheese and carefully roll.
3. Crisp. Place the taquitos, seam side down in the air fryer basket (I like to line it with foil for easy clean up) and crisp them up, flipping once. They tend to get a bit crispier as they cool, so you can take them out once they feel crunchy.
4. Enjoy. Finish the tacos off with toppings of your choice and enjoy!

Air fryer taquitos ingredients

• Corn tortillas. If you want crispy crunchy tortillas, you’re going to want corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are great too, but they don’t fry up the same way in the air fryer. Usually we like street taco size small corn tortillas (about 4 inches) but we also use the slightly bigger corn tortillas too, the ones that are about 6 inches. We have a local tortilleria where we get tortillas, but you know, Mission street taco corn (or flour) tortillas work well too! Technically if you use flour tortillas you’re making flautas.
• Cooked shredded chicken. You can use thighs or breast, whatever cooked chicken you have on hand. Leftover rotisserie chicken works or you can even use your air fryer to quickly cook up some plain air fryer chicken thighs or breasts.
• Chipotle in adobo. Those little cans of chipotle in adobo are perfect! This is what adds such a huge amount of flavor to your tinga. Chipotle in adobo and are ruby red salty-sweet-spicy-tangy-smoky deliciousness. They are the base of so many Mexican stews and marinades. You can pretty much find them in all grocery stores (pictured below).
• Cheese. I use a shredded Mexican 4 cheese mix for the ultimate melty cheese pulls. You want a nice meltable cheese (mozzarella, pepper jack, colby, cheddar, monterey jack, queso, asadero) and any combination will work.
• Tomatoes, oregano, cumin. The tomatoes add umami, sweetness, and acidity. The cumin adds a warm earthy aroma and the oregano adds lemon-y citrus flavors, if you’re using Mexican oregano. Mexican oregano can be found near the Mexican food stuffs in the grocery store it tastes quite a bit different from the typical oregano. If you don’t have any, you can always sub regular oregano, but try and find some Mexican oregano if you have a chance, it’ll really up your Mexican food game.

Do I need an air fryer for these taquitos?

Technically you don’t need an air fryer because an air fryer is really just a very tiny convection oven that heats up super quickly. So if you have convection mode on your oven or don’t mind waiting for your oven to heat up, you can bake these taquitos for that same crispy crunch. We love the current air fryer we have though because it has such a giant fry basket and cleanup is a lot easier than washing baking trays.

What air fryer do you have?

If you’re wondering which air-fryer we have, it’s this one. I don’t know if it’s the best on the market because it’s the only one we’ve used, but it works great. It’s quiet and easy to clean and really big (which is good because you can put a lot of food in it and bad because it takes up a lot of room).

How to bake taquitos in the oven

If you don’t have an air fryer and need to bake these in the oven, you totally can. Bake them seam side down on a rack in a rimmed baking sheet in a preheated 425°F oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

How to fry taquitos on the stovetop

Heat up 1/2 inch of oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Roll the taquitos and holding the seam together with tongs, carefully place them seam side down into the hot oil. Cook until golden, flipping as needed.

What to serve with air fryer taquitos

• Mexican rice, of course
• Guacamole
• Quick and easy salsa verde
• Hot-n-fresh home made tortilla chips