Air Fryer Nachos - Every Chip Perfectly Topped

Air fryer nachos on a white Le Creuset platter served with salsa.

Air Fryer Nachos - Every Chip Perfectly Topped

These easy Air Fryer Nachos are made one chip at a time, giving you crisp tortilla chips, melted cheese and toppings in every bite. Each tortilla chip gets refried beans, jalapeño and cheese before going into the air fryer for a quick 2-minute cook.

Course Appetizer Recipes

Cuisine American/Mexican

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 2

Servings appetiers

Calories 115kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Equipment

Air fryer I make these nachos in a toaster-oven style air fryer with a tray. A purchased parchment liner sized to fit the tray makes cleanup much easier and helps catch any melted cheese.Because this recipe is assembled one chip at a time, I cook the nachos in three batches rather than overcrowding the tray.

Ingredients

24 corn tortillas round or triangle shape
½ cup refried beans canned or homemade
1 ½ cups Medium cheddar cheese grated
24 slices jalapeno pepper sliced thin. Or use pickled jalapeno peppers.

Instructions

Preheat air fryer to 380 degrees.
Top each chip with 1 tablespoon of refried beans,. Top that with one slice of jalapeno pepper. Then 1 tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese. As you build the nachos, place them on the air fryer rack, single layer.
Working in batches, cook each batch for two minutes or until cheese is melted.
Serve with guacamole, sour cream and salsa for dipping.

Notes

Conventional Oven Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place individual nachos on a sheet pan in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Tips For Success

What Not To Use: Toppings such as sliced olives, chopped avocado or chopped tomatoes will simply fall off when dipping the chips into salsa. I don't recommend these and my vote once again goes for simplicity. You want a finished nacho chip where the melted cheese has enclosed the ingredients into a nice little cheesy package.
Watch Them Close: Air fryer tacos cook in a jiff. And just like conventional ovens, air fryers vary in their capacity and cooking power. As soon as that cheese is nice and bubbly, your air fryer nachos are ready to eat.
Grate Your Own Cheese: I'm a big cheerleader for grating your own cheese. Packaged grated cheese contain ingredients to keep the cheese from clumping. This results in a cheese that doesn't melt as creamy or evenly.
Use Air Fryer Tray Liners: Once that cheese starts melting, some is surely bound to melt onto the tray of your air fryer. Use air fryer tray liners for easy clean up.

Can I make these in a conventional oven? Absolutely. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Simply place the chips and the toppings on a sheet pan. Cook for five minutes, or until that cheese is nice and bubbly.

Tip: Replace refried beans with cooked lean ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning.

Nutrition