In today’s air fryer chicken tacos recipe, we stuff crisped-up tortillas with wholesome fillings: juicy chicken, crunchy veggies, cheese, and creamy dressing for a top-notch dish bursting with flavor.
Best of all, this recipe is practically mess-free since everything is cooked to perfection using just one kitchen appliance: the air fryer.
Is This Air Fryer Chicken Tacos Recipe Healthy?
Yes, our air fryer chicken tacos recipe is healthy.
For starters, we use chicken thighs as the primary source of protein for today’s recipe. We love to use this particular cut of poultry because it is juicy, tender, and high in protein. Each serving of our chicken tacos contains up to 36 g of protein.
Plus, we used only a minimal amount of salt and cheese, and also analyzed the calories in each taco to make it healthy. The dish’s nutritional content adheres to the USDA’s nutritional guidelines.
Finally, because we use a lot of different vegetables in the filling, one serving of our chicken tacos has about 16% of your daily fiber needs.
If you’re looking for healthier Mexican-inspired meals, try our Instant Pot Chicken Tacos recipe. It’s yet another delectable recipe that takes only 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish!
Ingredients for Air Fryer Chicken Tacos
Like other tacos, our Instant Pot variant is packed with delicious protein and fresh vegetables. It’s also easy to customize.
- Chicken: With only 5 minutes of soaking in the flavorful marinade, olive oil, and a squeeze of lime juice, the chicken thighs become extra tender and juicy.
- Vegetables: Onions and cilantro are traditional, but guacamole and/or salsa work well in this recipe. We went with a refreshing combination of green romaine lettuce, crunchy red cabbage, mild onions, and sweet corn. These ingredients give more nutrients to the tacos but are also rich in color, making them more visually appealing.
- Cheese: If you want to take your tacos to another level, don’t skip the medium cheddar or Monterey Jack. For a more authentic garnish, try crumbled cotija or queso blanco.
- Dressing: Our dressing is simple, with mayonnaise and Greek yogurt. It adds a little bit of tanginess and creaminess to balance the flavor and mouthfeel of the chicken.
- Tortillas: Once baked, either corn or flour tortillas offer a wonderful crunchiness to the tacos’ texture. A great tortilla wraps this dish up both literally and figuratively; it brings everything together.
1. Best Chicken for Tacos
The best cuts for tacos are chicken thighs and breasts. They’re both tender and reasonably priced. You can choose either variety, but make sure to cut it into slices to speed up the marinating and cooking process.
2. How to Season Chicken for Tacos
You might notice that our recipe calls for a lot of condiments for the chicken marinade instead of going with the store-bought taco seasoning. The main reason for this is that many store-bought types contain high amounts of sodium and are not as flavorful as the DIY blend.
Our seasoning blend is made with simple elements and most of them you probably already have in your pantry: salt, paprika, pepper, Italian seasoning, cayenne, and oregano.
The marinade blend ends up not only being quick to put together, and bursting with flavor, but also perfect for beef, pork, and seafood. Once you try our blend, you’ll never go back to the store-bought ones.
How to Make Chicken Tacos in an Air Fryer
Today’s air fryer chicken tacos recipe creates a quick yet full-flavored meal. Here’s the basic process:
Marinate the chicken thighs with seasonings and spices.
Prepare the dressing.
Air fry the marinated chicken.
Warm the tortillas.
Add toppings and serve immediately.
Full ingredient measurements and detailed instructions are available below.
Jump to RecipeStorage and Reheating
1. To Store
Since there are fresh veggies and dressing in the tacos, it’s best to serve them right after they’re done or they will become soggy rather quickly. If you have leftover ingredients for chicken tacos, we recommend keeping them in separate containers.
You can keep the mayonnaise-based dressing in a bottle in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Refrigerated chicken, vegetables, and cheese can last for 3 – 5 days. As for the tortillas, stack them and wrap them in parchment for up to a week.
2. To Reheat
The vegetables and dressing can be used right away from the refrigerator, but the chicken and tortillas need reheating. Cook the chicken in a pot with a little water until it’s hot, then bake the tortillas for 5 minutes at 400 °F.
In love with this recipe, this Instant Pot Chicken Tacos Recipe is a more convenient version.
What to Serve With Air Fryer Chicken Tacos
Coming from the same cuisine, pico de gallo is also an excellent, delicious side for tacos. The salad can be added to the tacos themselves or eaten as a dip for tortilla chips or Doritos. Either way, pico de gallo enhances the flavor of the meal.
Finally, we round everything off with a glass of honey and lemon juice. It’s simple to make and packs tons of vitamins and minerals.
More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes We Love
- Air Fryer Chicken Parmigiana Recipe
- Air Fryer General Tso’s Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe
- Air Fryer Peri Peri Chicken Recipe
Air Fryer Chicken Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
- 22 oz skinless boneless chicken thighs sliced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tbsp garlic chopped
- 1/2 tsp lime juice
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 8 6-inch corn tortillas
- 4 oz romaine lettuce chopped
- 2 oz red cabbage shredded
- 1 oz red onion shredded
- 1 oz cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 oz corn
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves
Instructions
- In a bowl, season 22 oz chicken thighs with 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tbsp garlic, 1/2 tsp lime juice, and 1 tsp oregano. Set the bowl aside and marinate the chicken for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise and 2 tbsp Greek yogurt until well combined. Set the dressing aside.
- Place the marinated chicken in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 400 ℉ for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken thighs from the air fryer.
- Gently fold 8 corn tortillas in half and place in the air fryer basket. Warm them at 360 ℉ for 4 minutes. Remove the tortillas from the air fryer.
- Top the tortillas with 4 oz romaine lettuce, 2 oz red cabbage, chicken, 1 oz red onion, 1 oz cheddar cheese, 2 oz corn, mayonnaise-based dressing, and 2 tbsp coriander. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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