These Air Fryer Chicken Chimichangas taste just like the ones you order from your favorite Mexican restaurant.
If you like this recipe, check out my Air Fryer Shrimp Tacos next!
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Chimichangas are a guilty pleasure of mine. My fondness for them began in high school when my friends and I would frequent our local Chi Chi’s restaurant. I still order them out to this day. So I wondered if I could recreate a really good chicken chimichanga in my air fryer at home. Good news – I can, I did and I’m sharing the recipe with you!
The texture of these Air Fryer Chicken Chimichangas is spot on. No deep frying. The tortillas are lightly brushed with vegetable oil before air frying. Don’t be tempted to use cooking spray. The additives in the spray can damage the non-stick coating on your air fryer basket.
This is a quick weeknight meal made for busy families. You can eat in shifts with this meal. Prepare the chimichanga filling and then as each kid/adult gets home, assemble one or two chimichangas and air fry. So easy and so tasty!
Ingredients for air fryer chicken chimichangas
- Chicken mixture – This is a quick and basic recipe. I mixed together cooked rotisserie chicken breast with cooked rice and salsa. Feel free to add some taco seasoning, refried beans, shredded pepper jack cheese, green chiles, fresh cilantro, or make your own pico de gallo instead of jarred salsa.
- Tortillas – I like using soft taco size tortillas to help with portion control. If you want a larger chimichanga, use large burrito size tortillas.
- Toppings – As pictured, I smothered each cooked quesadilla with warmed white queso dip. Plus a dollop of sour cream and fresh chopped tomatoes. You can add chopped onion, avocado and lime juice too.
Instructions
Mix the ingredients together for the chimichanga filling in a large bowl. Use a cookie scoop to place about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture in the middle of each flour tortilla. Roll like a burrito.
Brush the air fryer basket lightly with vegetable oil. Place the chimichangas seam side down into the basket in a single layer. Brush the tops of the chimichangas with oil.
Air fry crisp for 8-10 minutes, flipping them over halfway through cooking time. For my free printable recipe card, keep scrolling to the bottom.
Storage directions
Make the filling up to two days ahead and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. I recommend storing the components separately and then assembling when ready to eat.
Serving suggestions
For the filling you can use a bag or ready rice, or cook your own. Here’s some recipes to make the chicken chimichangas into a complete meal –
Air Fryer Chicken Chimichangas
Ingredients
Chicken Chimichangas
- 1 rotisserie chicken white meat shredded - reserve the dark meat for another use
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup salsa use your favorite brand - I like a green salsa with this recipe
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 soft taco size flour tortillas about 8 inches across
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Toppings
- white queso cheese sauce
- shredded lettuce
- diced tomatoes
- sour cream
- guacamole
Instructions
- Brush the bottom of the air fryer basket with vegetable oil. Preheat the air fryer to 360 degrees.
- In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, rice, salsa and salt until well blended.
- Place about 1/2 cup of the chicken filling in the center of each tortilla. Roll them up tightly with the ends folded in to seal in the filling.
- Place the chimichangas, two at a time and seam side down, in the oiled basket. Brush the tops of the chimichangas lightly with vegetable oil.
- Air fry the chimichangas for about 4 minutes at 360 degrees. Open the air fryer and use metal tongs to flip the chimichanges. Continue to air fry for another 4 minutes until the chimichangas are hot and browned.
- The filling will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days so the chimichangas can be prepared as needed.
- Top the chimichangas with white queso cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and guacamole.
Video
Nutrition
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Dannii says
We are loving finding new recipes to make in our air fryer, but we haven’t tried chimichangas yet. Definitely trying that soon!
foodtasticmom says
Yep, me too. Come back and let us know what you think!
Jacqueline Debono says
How fabulous that it’s possible to make chimichangas in the air fryer! They look delicious!
foodtasticmom says
The air fryer is definitely the way go with these. I have a recipe for oven fried – and these are even better 🙂
kim says
What a fabulous dish! So delicious and flavorful!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Kim
Julia says
Love this recipe, especially because it can be made in an air-fryer!
foodtasticmom says
Thanks very much Julia!
Courtney says
I used to love chimichangas at Chi Chis too!! This is a great air fryer recipe!
foodtasticmom says
I miss Chi Chis LOL Thanks so much!
Toni says
This was amazing! My kids ate them all!!
foodtasticmom says
So happy to hear this Toni! Thank you
Sandhya Hariharan says
Love the idea of making Chimichanga in an Airfryer! Delicious..
foodtasticmom says
Thank you Sandhya
Sonila says
We love chimichangas!! And I’m about to buy an air fryer so will definitely try your recipe for chicken chimichangas. Thank you
foodtasticmom says
Awesome. Come back and let me know what you think!
Jennifer says
YUM!!! I can’t wait to make these in our air fryer!!!!
foodtasticmom says
I think you’ll love them
Peggy Jernigan says
Made these today!! Wonderful!!
foodtasticmom says
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Jennifer Foster says
I have a 6 quart air fryer. Do I still have to do 2 at a time? I would like to do at least 4
foodtasticmom says
As long as you can fit four in one layer, then you can do 4 at a time!
Lorraine says
Made this tonight My mom is a very fussy eater and she gave them a “10”. Thanks !!! Will be making them again
foodtasticmom says
This is so great to hear. Thanks to both you and your Mom!
Jennifer Grimm says
I searched the internet for a chicken chimichanga recipe for the air fryer and found many! I don’t like recipes that are complicated or have lots of fancy ingredients. I am finicky with my taste and I found yours to be perfect! I loved all the ingredients and I had them on hand. I also added shredded fiesta cheese in them, which I don’t think was added in the recipe to go inside. They crisped up very nicely and were delicious!!! For the sides, Once they were done, put more of the fiesta cheese on them and stuck them in the microwave until the cheese was melted. I used lettuce, guacamole, and salsa on the side. Thanks for the recipe!
foodtasticmom says
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for taking the time to comment and the 5-star review!
Bry says
Super easy! Family loved it! Will be making these again.
As black bns and followed the rest. Yummy!
foodtasticmom says
Awesome, I’m happy to hear you enjoyed them.
Sue says
I just made your chimichangas tonight and they were soooooo good. It didn’t take long to prepare and they were very delicious.
foodtasticmom says
So happy you liked them. Thank you for taking the time to rate and review!
Lori Tanzer says
These are delicious. Made exactly as the recipe states!
Question – about how many cups of chicken if you are not using a rotisserie chicken?
Thanks!
foodtasticmom says
I’m sorry for the late reply. So happy you enjoyed the chimichangas! If you use both white and dark meat, depending on the size of the chicken, it’s about 3 – 4 cups of chicken.
Dottie says
Yes I’m anxious to try these. Can you air fry them & ten freeze them.?
.
foodtasticmom says
I’ve not tried to freeze them. I think I’d freeze them after assembling but before air frying. And then try air frying them from frozen – just add more minutes to the cook time. Let me know if it works!