Make Crispy Air Fryer Tacos in just a few quick minutes with this easy recipe, perfect for Taco Tuesday or any night of the week!
This recipe will use hard shells that will then be warmed up in the air fryer to a golden brown coloring that will make for a great crispy taco. These come out of the air fryer basket tasting like restaurant-style tacos, plus they are very easy to customize with your favorite toppings!
We originally made these many years ago and years later, we have them at least once a week. It’s just a quicker way to get those corn tortilla shells crisp.
This will be a game changer to the way you make beef tacos!
It’s time to make Air Fryer Tacos.
Complete List of Ingredients for Easy Air Fryer Tacos:
- Corn Taco Shells (Hard Taco Shells)
- Ground Meat such as Ground Beef
- Homemade Taco Seasoning
- Lettuce
- Black Beans or Refried Beans (Optional)
- Favorite Cheese (Shredded Cheese)
- Tomatoes, Red Onion, Cilantro, Hot Sauce, or Toppings of Your Choice
A variety of ingredients can be used for these beef tacos, you could even mix it up and use shredded chicken too, it’s totally up to your personal preference.
Do you add the toppings before you put them in the Air Fryer?
This is where it gets really controversial. We ALWAYS add all our ingredients before placing them into the air fryer, even the lettuce. It comes out all cheesy and toasted, but some people do not agree with this method.
I get that, it’s a do-it-your-way kind of thing.
If you want to simply reheat the shells to get them crisp, then do not add your ingredients to the tacos. If you want to add all the ingredients except the lettuce, then that will work too.
Remember that these are only being cooked for 4 minutes, so the lettuce is not going to come out as wilted as you might think it will. We follow these simple steps in the recipe card and load our taco with the ingredients, then place them right in the air fryer basket.
Once the timer goes off, they are warm and crispy and in my opinion, it’s the best way to eat them.
How do you make Air Fryer Tacos?
Once you have decided if you are going to add the toppings first or not, then it’s time to use your air fryer basket to make the tacos.
The air fryer will not be preheated before adding these, if yours is then they will crisp up much faster, so be sure to watch them carefully.
The air fryer basket can be coated with a light coat of grapeseed oil spray, and then place the taco shells into the basket.
Alternatively, you can also lightly line your basket with aluminum foil. If you do this be sure that the sides of the foil are up enough that air can still circulate. Also, remember to have food weighing the foil down so that it does not blow around the air fryer.
These are going to be best served right away. The crispy shells without the toppings can be stored in an airtight container; however, if you do have them full of toppings then I suggest eating them warm and fresh.
How do you heat taco shells in the air fryer?
If you do not want to add the toppings first and you just want to heat up the shells in the air fryer, that is very easy!
All you need to do is place the shells evenly in the air fryer, then cook them using the Air Fryer or Air Crisp on the Ninja Foodi at 360°F for 4 minutes. This is also how you reheat taco shells in the air fryer.
Carefully remove them and stuff them with your favorite taco toppings.
What about flour tortillas?
If you want to make tacos in the air fryer from scratch or with soft tacos, check out these recipes.
These recipes use flour tortillas for some of them as well as corn tortillas, but they focus on soft tortillas that would be warmed up in the air fryer. This is also a great way to use warm tortillas.
What type of Air Fryer do you use?
Our Air Fryer is a 3.7L and I was able to fit 8 tacos into the Air Fryer, then I did 4 more after too. They only take about 4 minutes in the Air Fryer and you will be totally done and ready for dinner.
I am now using a Ninja Foodi Air Fryer; however, you can check out a variety of different air fryers in my post on, How to Choose the Right Air Fryer.
Air Fryer Tacos are going to be a game changer for your taco night, these are by far the best crispy tacos!
If you want all these recipes right at your fingertips, be sure to grab the e-book. This e-book features 15 Easy Air Fryer Recipes!
Easy Air Fryer Tacos
Ingredients
- 12 Corn Taco Shells Hard, Crispy Shells
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 Package or Homemade Gluten Free or Regular Taco Seasoning
- Shredded Lettuce
- Black Beans Rinsed & Drained
- Shredded Mexican Cheese
- Tomatoes Onions, Salsa
Instructions
- In a medium sized skillet, add the beef and brown.
- Drain if needed, add in the taco seasoning as instructed on the package.
- Build taco with the shell, cooked meat, lettuce, beans, and cheese. (If you want to add the lettuce after the air fryer cooks, that works too.)
- Carefully add the built tacos to the air fryer. The air fryer can be coated with grapeseed oil cooking spray or you can line it with foil and then place the tacos on it.
- Cook at 360°F for 4 Minutes until crispy.
Juniper says
This is just heating already made taco shells. This is not making taco shells in an air fryer. I don’t need a recipe to heat a taco shell. How do I make a taco shell from a corn tortilla in an air fryer?
Kristy says
Yes, this is heating cooked taco shells to make them crispy, here is one using soft corn tacos – https://airfryerfanatics.com/air-fryer-fish-tacos-gluten-free/
Nirvana says
So how many tacos per person do you think is reasonable? 😋
Cindy says
These are the best tacos ever!! My husband loved them!!! Definitely will make them again!!