Air Fryer Chicken Tacos Recipe

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 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 17% of your daily fiber needs.

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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!

Main Ingredients

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.

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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

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.

Storage 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.

What to Serve With

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.

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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.

Additional Recipes for Air-Fried Chicken to Satisfy Your Taste Buds

These incredibly tasty rolls are filled with ham and Swiss cheese and covered in a delicious, crunchy breading. They’re golden and crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside, and the flavor is just divine.

Crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside, these air fried chicken nuggets are a quick and easy treat (15 minutes of cooking only). Serve them with your favorite sauce, such as mayonnaise.

Air Fryer Chicken Tacos Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Your taco night will become a breeze with our easy air fryer chicken tacos recipe. Serve the dish with a salad and fruit juice for a well-rounded, healthy meal.

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• cook TIME 20 mins
• prep TIME 10 mins
• total TIME 30 mins

• COURSE Main Course
• CUISINE Mexican
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 493 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• 22 oz skinless boneless chicken thighs (sliced)
• 8 6-inch corn tortillas
• 4 oz romaine lettuce (chopped)
• 2 oz red cabbage (shredded)
• 2 oz corn
• 1 oz red onion (shredded)
• 1 oz cheddar cheese (shredded)
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp garlic (chopped)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp coriander leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Image instructions

1

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.

2

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise and 2 tbsp Greek yogurt until well combined. Set the dressing aside.

3

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.

4

Gently fold 8 corn tortillas in half and place in the air fryer basket. Warm them at 350 ℉ for 4 minutes. Remove the tortillas from the air fryer.

5

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

Nutrition Facts

Air Fryer Chicken Tacos Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 493Calories from Fat 207

% Daily Value*

Fat 23g

35%

Saturated Fat 5g

31%

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 8g

Cholesterol 164mg

55%

Sodium 559mg

24%

Potassium 594mg

17%

Carbohydrate 34g

11%

Fiber 4g

17%

Sugar 3g

3%

Protein 36g

72%

Vitamin A 3008IU

60%

Vitamin C 11mg

13%

Calcium 111mg

11%

Iron 3mg

17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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