Easy Crispy Air Fryer Tortilla Chips Recipe

Name: Easy Crispy Air Fryer Tortilla Chips Recipe
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 15 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3-4 White Corn Tortillas, Cut into Triangles or Strips; 1/4 Teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt; 1 Teaspoon Avocado Oil, or oil of your choice

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Air Fryer Tortilla Chips are super easy to make! Just grab some tortillas, cut them up, cover them in spices, and then start air frying! In about 10 to 12 minutes, you'll have a serving of crispy tortilla chips for a quick snack. You can customize your chips with different seasonings too!

This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for details.

Hey Internet, ready to make your own chips? Homemade tortilla chips are really not hard to make! You just chop up tortillas, flavor them, and then cook. That's already really easy, but it can been even easier. That's where your air fryer comes in.

Normally, to make your own tortilla chips, you'd have two options. Option one is to oil fry the cut tortillas. This method can be really fast, but with all that oil it can me messy, expensive, and even dangerous. If you're running a restaurant or making a ton of chips for a big party, this method is great. Otherwise, it's a big investment in time and money.

Option two is to bake the tortillas in the oven. This involves much less oil and all you need are some prepared baking trays, but the cooking time is much longer. Recipes we've seen can take 20 to 30 minutes, and that's not including the preheating time. Not very convenient.

So one day, we were using tortillas for another recipe (we made nachos with our Tofu Ground Beef and our Nut-Free Vegan Queso!) and thought "what would happen if we tried making these in our air fryer?" After a few attempts, we finally developed a recipe that's the best of both worlds. Homemade air fryer tortilla chips only take about 10 to 12 minutes to make, don't require any preheating or using boiling oil, and only use a teaspoon of oil per batch. And they still get a perfect crisp to them; they give a solid snap when we bite into them!

Not only do they have a better crunch to them than store-bought chips, there's lots of room to customize them. With the right spices, you can take these delicious chips in any direction, flavor wise. This recipe will teach you the basics to make classic tortilla chips, with a little salt and squeeze of lime juice, but we have suggests on how you can take them to the next level! We're even close to developing a vegan copy of Doritos! We'll talk more about it below.

We made this recipe to make small batch servings for ourselves, and the directions below are for one person. It's a great way to add some portion control if you find yourself eating an entire bag of chips in one go. But you can easily make large batches using one air fryer. We'll explain it later, but essentially you just need to cook tortilla triangles a little longer and with more shakes of the basket. Without this increase in time and effort, your chips will get unevenly cooked, with some of them burnt while other chips will be a little chewy in a gross way.

Are these exactly like restaurant tortilla chips? Not quite, but we think they are REALLY delicious and definitely have a healthier twist. Plus, if you keep tortillas on hand, you always have an easy way to make a crunchy snack. Make some fresh salsa, pico de gallo, or guacamole to go with it for extra deliciousness.

Alright we'll quit our yapping and get on to the recipe and our best tips for making amazing homemade tortilla chips. Grab a bowl, a cutting board, and your air fryer basket. We're going to make some awesome chips!

Why You'll Love This Air Fryer Tortilla Chip Recipe

Super Easy Recipe: It only takes 2-3 minutes tops to get your tortillas into an air fryer. Just slice them, cover them in salt and oil, and then cook them and you'll have a tasty appetizer with a healthier twist.
Less Mess: Unlike deep frying, you don't need to use a ton of oil. All you should have to clean is a small bowl and and your air fryer.
Use Any Tortilla: While white corn tortillas are king with this recipe, we've tried this with other tortillas as well! So flour tortilla chips will work!
Customizable: Add some spices and you can have so many different flavors to satisfy all your salty snack cravings! We've got some ideas down below in the Additions section.

Ingredients

Pick up the following simple ingredients for this crunchy snack the next time you're at your local grocery store. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full ingredients, instructions, and accurate nutrition information (to the best of my ability; please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or healthcare professional if you have specific dietary needs or need to meet certain daily values of any nutrient). we give substitutions for the ingredients in the section below this one, so most people can still make this recipe!

3-4 White Corn Tortillas, Cut into Triangles or Strips (flour tortillas also work, but we prefer corn tortillas!)
¼ Teaspoon Coarse Sea Salt (we recommend grinding this yourself over the chips to disperse it nicely, but we do not recommend just using fine table salt for best results (it can clump in one area and make your chips way too salty!)
1 Teaspoon Avocado Oil

Substitutions

White Corn Tortillas: Yellow Corn Tortillas can be used with barely any difference. We've also tested these with white flour tortillas. We prefer corn tortilla chips, but they are still good. When using another type of tortilla that we haven't tested, such almond flour tortillas or low-carb tortillas, be a bit more cautious and check them more often.
Avocado Oil: Because your air fryer will be set to 300 F, most oils will work with this recipe. So olive oil or canola oil can be used.
Sea Salt: While you can use fine grain salt, you may want to use as little as an eighth of a teaspoon. There's more salt in the same amount of space as there's less empty space between the grains. You don't want a salt bomb in your mouth.

Additions

There are many different ways you can make these your own chips! You can add spices and pre-made mixes to your chips at the same time you're mixing in the salt and oil. Some great options include:

Chili powder
Nutritional yeast: This makes a really great addition since it has a bit of a cheesy flavor!
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Paprika, sweet or smoked, depending on what flavor profile you want.
Ground Jalapeño Powder
Cinnamon Sugar if you plan to have a sweet treat instead.

How to Make Corn Tortilla Chips

Cut the Tortillas: Stack your tortillas on top of each other and then using a sharp knife, cut them into quarter triangles or strips.
Season: To a small bowl add the cut tortillas. Then quickly add the oil and mix together. Then grind in some coarse salt (use a light hand with this, a little goes a long way!) and any spices you want and mix them together. Then add the tortillas to your air fryer basket, ideally in a single layer.
Preheat Setting: If your air fryer has a preheat setting, you may be able to get even faster results. You may need to gook the tortilla chips for less time, so check them part way through and adjust accordingly. Our air fryer does not have this setting so we couldn't test it.
Air Fry: Set your air fryer to 300 F (150 C) and cook for 10 to 12 minutes with a shake alarm half way through. Give them a good shake, making sure they get flipped, cook again until they are crunchy.
Enjoy: Let cool for about 2 minutes and then serve with dips, like refried beans or our Edamame Hummus, Vegan Guacamole, or Nut-Free Vegan Queso!
Storage: Let the tortilla chips cool and then store them in an airtight container or plastic bag. These don't have any preservatives in them unlike regular tortilla chips, so they'll start going stale in about 2 to 3 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the tortilla triangles overlap in the air fryer basket?

A little. Shaking them part way helps get everything evenly cooked. Just make sure that after the shaking the covered parts were exposed.

I want to make more chips in one air fryer basket. Can I do it with this recipe?

Yes, with a few changes. Since there are more of them, not only do you need more time, you need more shakes. The additional shakes are important to ensure as even of a cook on the tortillas as possible. We did a double batch recently where we cooked the tortillas for about 15-16 minutes and shook them every 5 minutes.

Can these be made without oil?

The short answer is yes, you can use lime juice or water to adhere your salt/spices, but the crunch is MUCH better with a tiny bit of oil. You can get good results with spray oil too, but we think it's SO much better with using just a little bit of oil (real oil).

How did you cut your tortillas?

We have big sharp knife that allows us to cut through multiple tortillas at once. It you don't have a knife, a pizza cutter or some kitchen shears can work in a pinch when making your homemade chips!

Do you have any sauces to pair with these chips?

Yes! We have a great Guacamole recipe that would be great to make along side these tortilla chips. We also have a Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip, a Spicy Harissa Whipped Tofu Dip, and a Vegan Kale Artichoke Dip. If you'd prefer something store-bought, these go great with a spicy or mango salsa!

More Air Fryer Recipes