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taquitos on a plate topped with pico, cheese, and lettuce

Air Fryer Taquitos with Chicken

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Air Fryer Taquitos with Chicken are simple and flavorful, plus SO easy to make. Cook the chicken filling in your slow cooker, then fill up some tortillas for a crispy finish in the air fryer!
Course Main
Cuisine Mexican Inspired
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 5 minutes
Servings 24 servings
Calories 165

Equipment

  • Crockpot
  • Air Fryer

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 12 oz salsa verde I like the kind from Trader Joe's
  • 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 24 (7-8 inch) flour tortillas or corn tortillas

Instructions

  • Place the chicken in the bottom of your crockpot. Sprinkle the salt, garlic powder, and cumin over the top of the chicken. Pour in the salsa verde and diced green chiles.
  • Place the block of cream cheese on top, then place the lid on the crockpot. Cook over low heat for 6-8 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours.
  • Remove the chicken from the pot and shred with two forks. Return to the pot and stir everything well, evenly incorporating the cream cheese.
  • Soften tortillas by placing 3-4 at a time inside of a damp paper towel. Heat in the microwave for 3o seconds. Lay out the tortillas on a clean work surface. Place 2 Tablespoons of shredded cheese down the center of each tortilla then add 1/4 cup of the chicken filling to the side of the cheese. Roll the tortillas up tightly and place in your air fryer seam side down, not touching. 
  • Heat your air fryer to 400 degrees. Spray the top of the filled and rolled tortillas with cooking spray (I like olive or avocado oil spray) and cook for 6 minutes. Flip the taquitos and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Serve with desired toppings.

Notes

  • Eat right away: These taquitos taste best when eaten right away when they are fresh and crisp! You can definitely refrigerate leftover taquitos to enjoy later, but they will soften up over time.
  • Leftovers: Because this recipe makes a lot of meat, I usually save about half of the meat for another meal like tacos or enchiladas (recipe below.) You can also freeze the leftover meat to make taquitos another day.
  • To freeze leftover chicken: Once your chicken is cooled, add small servings to individual ziplock bags and squeeze out the air. Lay flat and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then reheat on the stove over low heat,  in the microwave, or in your crockpot using the warm setting.
  • Other recipe ideas: The filling for these chicken taquitos is also delicious over rice or as a filling for tacos. It's simple and easy and tastes amazing with shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and diced avocado on top!
  • I only recommend using full fat or 1/3 less fat cream cheese in this recipe. Fat free cream cheese won't melt and incorporate as well.
  • You can use whatever salsa verde or green salsa that your prefer or can find at your local grocery store. I love to use Hatch Chile salsa when I can find it (the kind I use here is from Trader Joe's.) The Hatch Valley version from Trader Joe's is spicier than their Salsa Verde version, so feel free to use whichever works better for you and your preferences. I do find that the cream cheese in this recipe helps to tone down the heat, however!
  • We love to eat these taquitos with shredded lettuce, pico, sour cream, chopped cilantro, cotija cheese, and diced avocado on top!

Nutrition

Calories: 165kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 431mg | Potassium: 166mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 229IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 1mg