These Air Fryer Tortilla Chips are crispy, light, crunchy, and the perfect scoop for your salsas, dips, nachos, and more. It's officially my favorite way to make chips at home. Have this easy recipe ready in about 10 minutes or less.
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📋 About the Recipe
- Made with just 3 ingredients! Skip the extra trip to the grocery store and make your own tortilla chips at home with just 3 simple ingredients (including salt!).
- They're incredibly versatile. Homemade tortilla chips are great for pairing with your favorite salsas, but they can be used for much more than that! Try them with nachos, dips, soups, on salads, or as a simple salty snack.
- You'll need just a little bit of oil. No deep fryer? No problem! Making your own chips at home can be done with a small amount of oil and a few tortillas, making this a healthier, lighter recipe than store-bought chips.
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Tortillas - Small tortillas that are about 5 to 6 inches in diameter are best here. Choose any type of tortilla based on personal preference.
- Nonstick oil spray - For best flavor, I recommend a neutral tasting oil suitable for high temperatures. I typically use olive oil or avocado oil, but you can use vegetable oil or canola oil cooking spray if preferred.
- Kosher salt - I typically keep it simple and use a sprinkle of coarse salt. If you'd like to use additional seasonings, check out my recommended substitutions and alterations below.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Lime tortilla chips - If you love tortilla chips with a hint of lime, you can season them with a bit of lime zest when you add the salt.
- Nacho cheese tortilla chips - Make homemade nacho chips for your next Spooky Halloween Snack Board, add nacho cheese powder or spices like chili powder, cumin, or garlic powder.
- Za'atar seasoned - If you're using flour tortillas to make pita-style chips, try sprinkling them with a bit of za'atar seasoning.
- Ranch tortilla chips - Try your hand at homemade Doritos and sprinkle these tortilla chips with a dry ranch seasoning.
- Churro-style dessert nachos - Sprinkle the tortilla chips with a cinnamon sugar mixture and serve with whipped cream or red, white, and blue fruit salsa!
- Tortilla strips - If you’d prefer to create tortilla strips, just cut the tortillas into 1 inch thick strips instead of triangles.
📓 Instructions
- Cut the tortillas. Stack the tortillas on top of one another. Cut the tortillas in half from top to bottom, then cut them in half once more crosswise to form tortilla triangles.
- Season the tortillas. Brush each tortilla chip with olive oil on both sides of the tortillas, then sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Spread tortillas in the air fryer basket. Do NOT stack the tortillas on top of one another. Instead, keep them in a single layer - depending on the size of your air fryer basket, you'll likely need to work in batches.
- Air fry. Cook the tortilla chips for 3 minutes, flip the tortillas, then air fry for another 3 minutes, or until lightly golden and crispy.
- Serve. Serve the homemade chips with your favorite dips and salsas, or as desired.
Homemade Pico de Gallo Salsa
Ingredients
- 5 tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ of a red onion, diced small
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced small
- A pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, and cumin
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine.
- Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking. You can also blend the salsa in a food processor to make it thicker and less chunky.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Allow the tortilla chips to cool completely before storing, then transfer to an airtight container or zip top bag with the excess air removed. Store at room temperature for up to 1 week in a cool, dry place.
To freeze: Homemade tortilla chips do not freeze well - the moisture from the freezer will make the chips soggy and less crispy.
To reheat: Leftover tortilla chips can be enjoyed room temperature, but if you'd like to reheat your chips, place them back in the air fryer basket in an even layer and cook for 3 minutes, or until hot and crispy again.
🔍 FAQs
This recipe can be made with yellow corn tortillas, white corn tortillas, flour tortillas, or whole wheat tortillas.
In my personal air fryer, flour tortillas took about 2 minutes longer on each side to become crispy chips.
If you are looking for a classic tortilla chip that is similar to deep-fried, store-bought chips, go with corn tortillas. If you'd like your tortillas chips to be similar to pita chips, I'd recommend using whole wheat or flour tortillas.
Absolutely. If you'd prefer to make these crispy tortilla chips in the oven, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lay the chips in a single layer on a sheet pan. Spray them with nonstick spray and cook for about 6 minutes, or until crispy.
Homemade tortilla chips are healthier than store-bought chips because they are made crispy with significantly less oil. Store-bought chips or restaurant-style tortilla chips are almost always deep fried in vegetable oil or canola oil.
This is, of course, fine to enjoy from time to time, but nothing beats fresh, homemade tortilla chips. They're lightly sprayed with a thin layer of oil and are a much lighter, fresher option.
You can't go wrong with serving fresh tortilla chips with Mango Habanero Salsa, homemade guacamole, Air Fryer Nachos or dips like this Spooky 7 Layer Halloween Spiderweb Taco Dip. Or, if you've made flour tortilla chips, it will pair well with Pine Nut Hummus and other Snacks Served with Hummus.
💭 One More Tip
Easily double or triple the recipe as needed. As a general guideline, I'd recommend planning on around 6 to 10 tortilla chips per person when enjoying as an appetizer or 10 to 15 chips per person when enjoying as a main (like nachos).
🍴 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!
Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Tortilla Chips
- 10 small corn tortillas (about 5 ½ inches in diameter)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For Homemade Pico de Gallo Salsa
- 5 tomatoes chopped
- ¼ red onion diced small
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 handful of parsley or cilantro chopped
- 1 jalapeño seeded and diced small
- pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, and cumin
Instructions
- Stack tortillas on top of one another. Cut into triangular quarters.
- Brush olive oil on the front and back of each tortilla. Sprinkle salt on both sides.
- Place tortillas in your air fryer basket in a single layer. Do NOT stack them. You’ll probably have to cook them in multiple batches.
- Air fry at 350 degrees F for 3 minutes. Remove the air fryer basket, flip the chips, and air fry another 3 minutes, or until lightly golden and crispy.
- Serve tortilla chips with your favorite salsa or guacamole.
For Homemade Pico de Gallo Salsa
- Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine. Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking. You can also blend the salsa in a food processor to make it thicker and less chunky.
Notes
- This recipe can easily be made with corn, flour, or whole wheat tortillas. However, you may need to adjust the cook time. In my air fryer, flour tortillas took about 2 minutes more than corn in order for them to crisp up fully. Also, flour tortilla chips are fairly similar to pita chips in texture.
- You can get extremely creative with the seasoning on the chips. Lime or lemon zest, sea salt, nacho cheese powder, za’atar seasoning, ranch seasoning, or even cinnamon sugar for churro-style dessert nachos can all be great options!
- If you’d prefer to create tortilla strips, just cut the tortillas into 1 inch thick strips instead of triangles.
- If you’d prefer to make this recipe in the oven instead, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lay the chips in a single layer on a sheet pan. Spray them with nonstick spray and cook for about 6 minutes. Add another minute or two if the chips are still soft after 6 minutes.
Nutrition
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Marni says
I made the salsa recipe that was embedded in this post and it was amazing!! The bold flavors are fantastic! Definitely have leftovers for lunches this week.
Alana Lieberman says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂