Air Fryer Chimichangas

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Air Fryer Chimichangas. Delicious Mexican recipe teaching you how to air fry chimichangas. From making your delicious chimichangas filling in the air fryer to ready to eat crispy chimichangas in your hand.    

Air Fryer Beef Chimichangas
Air Fryer Beef Chimichangas

Air Fryer Chimichangas

My first ever introduction to chimichangas was back in 2012 when us Milners visited Disney World.

We had this mad idea (well I did!) and that was to spend the day and night at Disney’s Epcot and eat our way around.

Everyone else had a bucket list for boozing around Disney’s Epcot BUT as we rarely drink and with food being our love, this is what we were going to do.

If you have not been to Epcot at Disney World then there is a big section dedicated to different countries and it is like being transformed around the world in a few short steps.

You get to visit Norway, China, England, France, Italy, Mexico and many other countries.

I remember fish and chips in England, chocolate eclairs in France, homemade waffles in Norway and the most delicious deep fried burritos in Mexico.

Of course, these deep fried burritos, were of course chimichangas and it was hard to just have the one!

Fast forward several years and making a burrito filling in the air fryer has become an obsession and today I want to transform our burrito filling, into delicious air fryer chimichangas.

What Are Chimichangas?

Chimichangas put simply, is a deep fried burrito. Your burrito is prepped and then it is loaded into a tortilla wrap and then deep fried.

Just like with a burrito a chimichangas can have various fillings and is common within Mexican cuisine.

Most people I know will reference chimichangas as an unhealthy burrito or a deep fried burrito. So, you may know them already, but you might be one of many that refers to chimichangas as burritos.

Why Air Fry Chimichangas?

Just like many foods that you associate with deep frying, they are perfect for the air fryer because you can rapidly reduce the calories.

The same rule applies to air fryer chimichangas.

In fact, the calorie reduction is so low, that you could easily adapt these air fryer chimichangas for the Weight Watchers or Slimming World diets.

This is because you could easily use WW Wraps and these chimichangas could soon be your go to diet friendly lunch on the go.

In a similar way to our air fryer slimming world sausage rolls.

But beyond that the air fryer is fantastic for making food crispy and I love it for air frying tortilla wraps.

Can You Air Fry Chimichangas?

Absolutely! But don’t forget that you can make both your chimichangas filling in the air fryer and air fry it.

Some people forget this, and it is a pet hate of mine among many kitchen gadgets.

Just like when you see a slow cooker recipe and it says finish it in the oven, or when you see an instant pot photo for beef stew, and it shows it finished in the Dutch Oven. I just want to cook the entire recipe in my gadgets!

You don’t need to bake or use a pan for your chimichangas filling because that is what the air fryer is there for.

Air Fryer Ground Beef Chimichangas

Air Fryer Chimichangas with ground beef

My favourite filling for chimichangas is ground beef. What I will do is start with some basic ground beef and tinned tomatoes.

Load them into the air fryer, via one of the amazing cake pans and cook the ground beef until almost cooked.

Then I can load up all the Mexican add ins and I have perfect ground beef chimichangas filling.

It is just so simple, and you just need to wait for the air fryer to beep to tell you its time to load your filling into your tortilla wraps.

Air Fryer Chicken Chimichangas

Or for the second most favourite way to enjoy air fryer chimichangas is with a chicken filling.

This is JUST as easy as making a ground beef filling.

I recommend that you follow our air fryer chicken breast recipe, then shred it, add in seasonings and Mexican sauce and then cook for a couple more minutes.

Either air fryer ground beef chimichangas or air fryer chicken chimichangas work well, its just a case of personal preference and your favourite burrito filling.

Air Fryer Chimichangas Ingredients & Gadgets

Air Fryer Chimichangas Ingredients

The ingredients and gadgets that go into air fryer chimichangas are rather simple and the chances are you will have the items in your pantry or fridge already.

The main ingredients include ground beef, black beans, frozen corn, tinned tomatoes, seasoning, tortilla wraps and Mexican cheese.

If you follow a Keto diet or prefer high quality ingredients, I recommend sourcing your ground beef from Butcher Box.

You can also get keto tortilla wraps to keep them low carb. Or if you follow Weight Watchers or Slimming World, I recommend the WW tortilla wrap.

The air fryer we used to make our chimichangas with was the Philips Air Fryer XXL, but you can use any good quality air fryer for a similar result.

Make Ahead Air Fryer Chimichangas

Another great thing about our air fryer chimichangas is that you can make them ahead of time.

They are perfect for Sunday meal prep and can save you a lot of time on making lunches later in the week.

I recommend that if you want to make ahead your chimichangas is that you treat it like making regular burritos.

Make ahead the filling and wrap them up ready for air frying.

When you want to eat your chimichangas, simply load them into the air fryer and cook them for the final 4 minutes.

How To Reheat Chimichangas In The Air Fryer?

If you have made your chimichangas already, or you have some leftover from a trip to a Mexican takeaway, then the air fryer is PERFECT for a quick reheat.

I recommend reheating chimichangas in the air fryer for 4 minutes at 160c/320f. After all, you want to reheat and not cook, therefore a lower temperature is essential.

How Long To Air Fry Chimichangas?

Air fryer chimichangas is split into two parts:

  • Making your ground beef burrito filling takes 14 minutes in the air fryer. This included adding in your favourite extras such as black beans and corn.
  • Cooking your just wrapped chimichangas in the air fryer basket which is a speedy 4 minutes.

Altogether from raw ingredients from the fridge and pantry to a yummy chimichangas in your hands is JUST 18 minutes.

How To Air Fry Chimichangas?

air fryer chimichangas step by step

Cooking air fryer chimichangas is the simple steps to follow:

  1. Load your ground beef and tinned tomatoes into your air fryer baking pan. Cook for 10 minutes, stir and add in the rest of your chimichangas filling ingredients. Stir and cook for a further 4 minutes.
  2. Remove your filling from the air fryer and allow to cool for a minute or two.
  3. Load your filling into tortilla wraps with grated cheese and then place back in the air fryer.
  4. Cook for a further 4 minutes on a high temperature until the wraps have a crispy glow.
  5. Serve.
Air Fryer Chimichangas

Air Fryer Chimichangas

Air Fryer Chimichangas. Delicious Mexican recipe teaching you how to air fry chimichangas. From making your delicious chimichangas filling in the air fryer to ready to eat crispy chimichangas in your hand.
Prep Time4 minutes
Cook Time18 minutes
Total Time22 minutes
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Air Fryer
Servings: 4
Calories: 780kcal

Ingredients

Air Fryer Chimichangas Ingredients:

Air Fryer Chimichangas Filling:

Instructions

  • Load your ground beef into your air fryer baking pan, along with your tinned tomatoes and place the baking pan inside of your air fryer basket.
  • Cook for 10 minutes at 180c/360f.
  • When the air fryer beeps, stir, load in the rest of your filling ingredients, stir and cook for a further 4 minutes at the same temperature.
  • Allow to cool for a minute or two so that it is not too hot to handle.
  • Fill your tortilla wraps with your filling and Mexican cheese and roll up into chimichangas.
  • Using a pastry brush, brush the tortilla wrap with egg wash so that when it cooks it will have a lovely golden glow.
  • Place up to 4 in your air fryer basket at a time and cook for 4 minutes at 200c/400f.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Notes

We love to use this Mexican seasoning, but your favourite burrito seasoning will be fine to use.
Our favourite brand for ground beef for your filling is Butcher Box. You can click here to read more about them, or we also have our Butcher Box Review.
I recommend no more than 4 at a time in your air fryer basket. You don’t want the chimichangas to be on top of each other. We used the Philips Air Fryer XXL and felt that 3 was the perfect fit.
This is the air fryer baking pan that we used. We love it as it is 100% non-stick and we use it almost every day when air frying.

Nutrition

Calories: 780kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 908mg | Potassium: 961mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 785IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 551mg | Iron: 8mg
Nutrition InfoPlease Note: Nutrition values are our best estimate based on the software we use at Recipe This and are meant as a guide. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi! I am Sam and along with my chef hubby Dom we love sharing with you easy everyday recipes using kitchen gadgets. We are also the authors of The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook, an amazing air fryer cookbook filled with 140+ everyday air fryer recipes. Beyond the air fryer we also love the instant pot, slow cooker, soup maker, ninja foodi, pie marker and several other kitchen gadgets. CLICKING HERE →

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