Air fryer nachos incorporate the same cheesy, crispy, gooey, crunchy deliciousness that oven baked nachos provide, but they come together in less than 5 minutes with absolutely no preheating needed! Just throw all your favorite fixings on top of your chips, give it a whirl in the air fryer, and you’ll have a wonderfully tasty snack in no time!
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📋 About the Recipe
Load up these air fryer nachos with all your favorite toppings! When you use fresh and flavorful ingredients, like black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and avocados, and opt to make the tortilla chips from scratch in the air fryer, these nachos become a healthy snack option full of nutrient-rich vegetables and healthy fats. You can also add additional protein by topping them with other types of beans, seasoned chicken, or ground beef.
This Mexican inspired recipe is perfect for your next fiesta, birthday party, game day get-together, or as a filling weeknight meal. It’s so easy to throw together, as well as customize, allowing you to whip up a batch catering to nearly anybody’s tastes in nearly any amount of time! Plus, as an added bonus, cleanup is extremely easy as well, since all you have to clean is a cutting board, knife, and the tray of your air fryer.
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- I highly recommend making the tortilla chips from scratch, either in your oven or in the air fryer. You eliminate a ton of extra oil and fat by making your own and they still get perfectly golden brown and crispy. Plus, you get to season them any way you’d like!
- I prefer to use blocks of cheese that I shred myself because it melts much better than pre-shredded cheese. Packaged shredded cheese that you buy in the grocery store is full of anti-caking agents which prevent it from sticking together in the bag. This also impacts its ability to melt properly. If you want the perfect gooey nachoey cheese pull, then you should not buy pre-shredded cheese.
- These nachos are vegetarian as the recipe is written, but you can always top them with some cooked and seasoned shredded chicken or ground beef if you prefer.
📓 Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together all of the dried seasonings from the chili powder to the onion powder or cayenne powder (if using).
Prepare your air fryer basket or tray by spraying it with nonstick spray.
Add a single layer of chips to the bottom. Sprinkle some of the seasoning mix over the top. Then, top the chips with a layer of shredded cheese, black beans, and corn.
If you don’t mind your chips sticking together a bit, you can continue the process above until your air fryer basket is halfway full. Because you will be alternating the layers, the chips will still get all the delicious flavor and cheesy goodness. However, if you prefer, you can also cook the nachos in separate batches so the layers don’t stick as much.
Air fry at 350 degrees F for about 2 minutes or until the cheese melts completely.
You can remove the nachos from the air fryer tray or basket and place them on a serving platter or simply leave them in there to serve.
Top with any of your favorite fixings. I like to add lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, and avocado on top of mine.
Serve with your favorite homemade salsa or guacamole.
Check out the how-to steps in this web story!
🔍 FAQs
These nachos are best served warm from the air fryer. However, if you have leftovers or simply want to reheat them, you can put the nachos back in the air fryer basket and heat them at 350 degrees F for 1 or 2 minutes.
To keep nachos crispy, make sure that all of your ingredients are dried thoroughly. Rinse and dry the black beans and corn before adding them to the air fryer. Then, top with lettuce, tomatoes, and all the other fixings that have been dried after washing. You should also serve salsa or other dips on the side, instead of drizzling them over top, to keep the chips perfectly crunchy.
You can use any of your favorite cheeses. I personally prefer a sharp cheddar cheese for the best cheesy bite. Though, I also recommend using a fresh block of cheese and shredding it yourself instead of buying pre-shredded.
The shredded cheese you find in bags at the grocery store is full of anti-caking agents which help to prevent the individual shreds from sticking together in the bag. However, they also prevent it from melting properly. Therefore, when you shred the cheese yourself, it will become gooey and melty instead of hard and dry.
If you don’t have an air fryer, nachos can easily be made right in your oven. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Then spread the chips, beans, corn, and cheese out on an aluminum-foil lined baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes or until the cheese melts. Remove the pan from the oven and top with your favorite fresh fixings!
💭 One More Tip
If you’re looking for other topping ideas for these nachos, the possibilities are truly endless. You can top them with black olives, shredded chicken, steak or pork, queso cheese, sour cream, bell peppers, roasted garlic, or pickled red onions, as well as the many options listed in the recipe.
Or, you can even make your own air fryer tortilla chips and season them with cinnamon sugar instead of the salt and lime. Then, make dessert nachos by topping the chips with diced apples or other fresh fruit, a drizzle of chocolate or caramel sauce, and finally top them off with a dollop of whipped cream.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Nachos
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder more or less
- ¼ teaspoon cumin more or less
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder more or less
- ¼ teaspoon paprika more or less
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder more or less
- a pinch of cayenne pepper OPTIONAL, if you like spice
- 30 to 50 tortilla chips (see notes)
- 1 cup canned corn drained, rinsed, and dried
- 1 cup canned black beans drained, rinsed, and dried
- 1 to 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese freshly shredded by hand with a cheese grater
Toppings
- ½ cup romaine lettuce chopped
- 1 green onion sliced thin
- ½ an avocado diced
- ½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes sliced
- 1 jalapeño sliced thin and seeds removed
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together all of the dried seasonings from the chili powder to the onion powder, or cayenne powder (if using).
- Prepare your air fryer basket or tray by spraying it with nonstick spray.
- Add a single layer of chips to the bottom. Sprinkle some of the seasoning mix over the top. Then, top the chips with a layer of shredded cheese, black beans, and corn.
- If you don’t mind your chips sticking together a bit, you can continue the process above until your air fryer basket is halfway full. Because you will be alternating the layers, the chips will still get all the delicious flavor and cheesy goodness. However, if you prefer, you can also cook the nachos in separate batches so the layers don’t stick as much.
- Air fry at 350 degrees F for about 2 minutes or until the cheese melts completely.
- You can remove the nachos from the air fryer tray or basket and place them on a serving platter or simply leave them in there to serve.
- Top with any of your favorite fixings. I like to add lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, and avocado on top of mine.
- Serve with your favorite homemade salsa or guacamole.
Notes
- I highly recommend making the tortilla chips from scratch, either in your oven or in the air fryer. You eliminate a ton of extra oil and fat by making your own and they still get perfectly golden brown and crispy. Plus, you get to season them any way you’d like!
- I prefer to use blocks of cheese that I shred myself because it melts much better than pre-shredded cheese. Packaged shredded cheese that you buy in the grocery store is full of anti-caking agents which prevent it from sticking together in the bag. This also impacts its ability to melt properly. If you want the perfect gooey nachoey cheese pull, then you should not buy pre-shredded cheese.
- These nachos are vegetarian as the recipe is written, but you can always top them with some cooked and seasoned shredded chicken or ground beef if you prefer.
- If you don’t have an air fryer, nachos can easily be made right in your oven. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Then spread the chips, beans, corn, and cheese out on an aluminum-foil lined baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 5 to 6 minutes or until the cheese melts. Remove the pan from the oven and top with your favorite fresh fixings!
- You can use any leftover seasoning to season meats, seafood, or vegetables.
Nutrition
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