Easy Small-Batch Air Fryer Nachos

These Easy Cheesy Air Fryer Nachos take minutes to make and are loaded with crispy tortilla chips, taco meat, and black beans. Finish with chopped tomatoes, green onion tops, jalapeños, and sour cream. They're perfect when you don't want to feed a crowd, but want a game-day appetizer or quick snack with minimal cleanup.

Jump to:

• Quick Look at the Recipe
• Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need
• How to Make Air Fryer Nachos - Step-by-Step
• PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen
• In Case You Were Wondering
• Other Game-Day Appetizers
• Recipe

Quick Look at the Recipe

• Method: Layer ingredients rather than piling everything on top
• Ready in: A little over 10 minutes
• Difficulty: Easy
• Air Fryer used: Ninja Crispi Pro, but the same basic technique would work in a different basket-style air fryer
• Make-ahead: Make your favorite taco meat in advance and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the nachos
• Best for: Game day, movie night, casual entertaining, or a quick small-batch appetizer

Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need

How to Make Air Fryer Nachos - Step-by-Step

1. Make the taco meat: Make your favorite taco meat. I've included how I make mine, made with ground beef, taco seasoning, Rotel Original Tomatoes & Green Chilies, and water, in the recipe card below.

2. Prepare the air fryer: Line the air fryer basket with nonstick aluminum foil. This does two things. First, it makes it easy to remove the nachos. Second, it minimizes cleanup.

3. Build the first layer: Add half of the tortilla chips to the air fryer basket. Then sprinkle on half of the taco meat and half of the black beans. Top with ¾ of a cup of the shredded fiesta cheese.

4. Build the second layer: Add the remaining tortilla chips, shredded fiesta cheese, black beans, and taco meat.

5. Air fry the nachos: Place the nachos in the air fryer and select bake at 350°F. Air fry for 6 minutes, until the cheese is completely melted and the chips are hot and crispy.

6. Remove from air fryer: Carefully lift the foil and nachos from the air fryer basket.

7. Garnish and serve: Top the nachos with your favorite garnishes and serve immediately. I used chopped tomatoes, chopped green onion tops, sliced fresh jalapeños, and sour cream.

This recipe checks all the boxes, whether you're making these Easy Air Fryer Nachos for game day, movie night, or just because you're craving nachos. The quick small-batch version is designed so that the last chips are as good as the first. Yum!

PudgeFactor's Test Kitchen

When I first made air fryer nachos, I tested how to ensure that the meat and black beans, along with the melted cheese, were incorporated throughout the nachos, rather than just on the top. The layering achieved that result.

I also tested how to assemble the top layers so that the ingredients stayed put with the airflow. My solution was to add the heaviest ingredient, i.e., the taco meat, last. This worked well.

I also tested the air fryer settings, and determined that the less aggressive airflow from the bake setting was preferable to the air fryer setting.

I lined the air fryer basket with nonstick aluminum foil so that removing the nachos would be effortless and cleanup a breeze.

I tested the quantities of the ingredients to ensure the air fryer basket wasn't overloaded and that this small batch allowed the cheese to melt efficiently and the chips to stay crisp.

Initially, I tried to remove the nachos from the aluminum foil to improve the presentation, but it ended up a mess. Therefore, for serving, I left the nachos on the aluminum foil.

In Case You Were Wondering

Other Game-Day Appetizers

Game day is as much about the food as it is about the game. Here are some of my favorites.

Recipe