These Low Calorie Air Fryer Taquitos are made with corn tortillas and a flavorful rotisserie chicken filling. You'll need very little oil to make hot and crispy chicken taquitos from scratch! Oven baked instructions included!
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Check out my Air Fryer Breakfast Potatoes and my Air Fryer Sesame Chicken for more great air fryer recipes!
Using store bought rotisserie chicken and your air fryer to make taquitos makes this recipe a cinch! They're quick and easy to assemble and even easier to pop into your air fryer to cook. The results are perfect chicken taquitos, crunchy outside, and juicy in the middle.
The best part? These low calorie air fryer taquitos are just as delicious as deep fried taquitos but are made with much less grease. Clearly, air fryer taquitos are the healthy, lower calorie option!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's quick and easy. Using store bought rotisserie chicken is a huge time saver.
- It's healthier than deep fried taquitos. Air frying requires almost zero grease to yield hot and crispy food.
- Taquitos are the perfect appetizer, main course, and after school snack.
- These taquitos are gluten free and delicious!
More light and nutritious tortilla snacks: Turkey Tortilla Pinwheels
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Vegetable Oil: To saute the onions and garlic. You can also use avocado oil or olive oil here.
- Onion & Garlic: These aromatic veggies enhance the chicken taquito filling with a mouthwatering savory flavor.
- Green Chiles: A can of diced green chiles adds moisture, flavor, and a bit of spice to the filling.
- Rotisserie Chicken: These taquitos are an excellent opportunity to repurpose extra rotisserie chicken, but you can use any cooked skinless, shredded chicken here.
- Reduced Fat Shredded Cheese: I used Colby Jack cheese, but you can use any mild, hard cheese like Monterey jack, cheddar, or mozzarella.
- Salt & Pepper: To enhance every flavor.
- Corn Tortillas: This wouldn't be a recipe for taquitos without corn tortillas. Be sure to warm the tortillas until they're pliable before rolling.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cook onion & garlic. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and cook until soft and fragrant. Then, add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Step 2: Combine taquito filling. Next, add your green chilies, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Stir until the mixture is warmed through, then remove from the heat.
Step 3: Fill tortillas with taquito filling. After warming the tortillas, spoon the chicken mixture down the center of each, and then roll-up. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
Step 4: Cook taquitos in air fryer. Place taquitos, seam side down, in your greased air fryer basket, leaving space in between each, and cook at 400 ℉ until crisp, flipping after the first 5 minutes. Repeat until all taquitos are hot and crispy.
NOTE: You can print the FULL recipe with all ingredients & detailed instructions below!
Expert Tips
- Don't forget to warm your tortillas before rolling. Cold tortillas will tear. Warm a couple of tortillas at a time so they don't get cold during assembly.
- To warm your tortillas in the microwave, place a stack on a plate wrapped in a damp paper towel and warm for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- You may need to air fry the taquitos in batches, depending on your air fryer basket size. Be sure to leave enough room between each to circulate the hot air.
Variations
Meat: Swap rotisserie chicken for another shredded meat like shredded beef. You can also use cooked taco-seasoned ground meats like chicken, beef, and turkey.
Meat-free: To make vegetarian taquitos, use your favorite plant-based ground "meat" cooked in taco seasoning instead of chicken.
Spicy: Give your taquitos a fiery kick by adding chili powder, cayenne, cumin, red pepper flakes, or hot sauce to the filling mixture.
Oven Baked Taquitos
- Preheat the oven to 425 °F.
- Heat 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it's hot, but not smoking.
- Add the diced onion to the skillet and cook until it becomes soft and fragrant.
- Stir in the minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the diced green chiles, shredded rotisserie chicken, shredded Colby Jack cheese, salt, and ground black pepper to the skillet. Stir the mixture until it's thoroughly warmed through, then remove it from the heat.
- Warm the corn tortillas. You can do this by briefly heating them in the microwave or by wrapping them in aluminum foil and placing them in the oven for a few minutes until they are pliable.
- Spoon the chicken mixture down the center of each corn tortilla.
- Roll up the tortillas, enclosing the filling. Place them seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a greased baking dish.
- Lightly brush or spray the taquitos with a bit of vegetable oil to help them become crispy.
- Bake the taquitos for about 15-20 minutes, or until they turn golden brown and crispy.
Storing & Freezing
Storing: Keep extra rotisserie chicken taquitos in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Once the taquitos are cool, place them in a single layer in a resealable freezer-safe bag and lay the bag flat in the freezer. Keep frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, place frozen taquitos on a baking sheet or in the air fryer and cook at 400 ℉ until heated through and crispy again.
Recipe FAQ‘s
If you are finished cooking your taquitos, but it's not quite time to serve, place them on a baking sheet and keep them in the oven at 200 ℉ to keep warm.
You can, but they're typically thicker and will need a few more minutes in the air fryer to get crispy. They will also add more calories.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Low Calorie Air Fryer Taquitos
Special Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 7 ounces diced green chiles
- 2 pounds rotisserie chicken skin removed and meat shredded
- 1 cup reduced-fat shredded Colby Jack cheese
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 30 6-inch corn tortillas
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onion and cook until soft and fragrant. Then, add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Next, add your green chilies, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Stir until the mixture is warmed through, then remove from the heat.
- After warming the tortillas, spoon the chicken mixture down the center of each, and then roll-up. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
- Place taquitos, seam side down, in your greased air fryer basket, leaving space in between each, and cook at 400°F until crisp, flipping after the first 5 minutes. Repeat until all taquitos are hot and crispy.
Notes
- Different air fryer brands may cook at different rates, so be sure to keep on eye on food.
- Don’t forget to warm your tortillas before rolling. Cold tortillas will tear. Warm a couple of tortillas at a time so they don’t get cold during assembly.
- To warm your tortillas in the microwave, place a stack on a plate wrapped in a damp paper towel and warm for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- To warm tortillas in a skillet, warm a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the tortillas 30 seconds per side (or until warm and easy to bend without breaking).
- You may need to air fry the taquitos in batches, depending on your air fryer basket size. Be sure to leave enough room between each to circulate the hot air.
- Storing: Keep extra rotisserie chicken taquitos in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezing: Once the taquitos are cool, place them in a single layer in a resealable freezer-safe bag and lay the bag flat in the freezer. Keep frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, place frozen taquitos on a baking sheet or in the air fryer and cook at 400 ℉ until heated through and crispy again.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Shelley
I'm a huge fan of using rotisserie chicken as a shortcut for QUICK weeknight meals ... and also on any technique that cuts down on unhealthy grease and fat like from frying. So, these taquitos are a perfect idea - my family's gonna be thrilled - thank you!
April
These are so good and my kiddos beg me to make them.
Jess
Who knew chicken taquitos could be so easy!
Aimee Mars
Oh, I love taquitos! So do my kids and that's why I like to make them on the weeknights. This is a great version for weeknights too because it uses rotisserie chicken and the air fryer! I'm looking forward to making it.
Toni Dash
This is so good!! Can't wait to make it again!
sarah johnson
These were really tasty thank you! I loved that they came out so crispy.