• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Food Lovin Family
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Cooking Tips
  • Appetizers
  • Breakfast
  • Drinks
  • Dinner
  • Lunch
  • Sweets
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Cooking Tips
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About Me
    • Recipes
    • Cooking Tips
  • ×

    Home » Appetizers

    Air Fryer Nachos

    Published: Jan 27, 2021 · Modified: Aug 6, 2021 by heather · This post may contain affiliate links

    • Facebook
    Jump to Recipe

    Air fryer nachos are loaded with seasoned beef, beans and toppings. These nachos are easily customizable and make a great appetizer or meal.

    Nachos with been and cheese.

    There are so many ways to use the air fryer to achieve delicious food like steak fajitas, wontons and chicken drumsticks. These loaded beef nachos are no exception. The chips stay crispy and the cheese gets melted to perfection.

    Why they are so good

    • The air fryer helps prevent them from getting soggy. It does a great job of crisping up the tortilla chips to keep them sturdy. **Tip: You can also warm taco shells in the air fryer 350 degrees for 2 minutes.
    • Cooks fast and easy clean-up.
    • Perfect party food. I like to cook a few batches and set up a topping bar to let people create their own.

    Ingredients needed

    Below are the basic base ingredients for these air fryer nachos. This recipe makes enough beef and bean mixture for 2 batches of nachos using a 5.8 quart air fryer, so perfect for a crowd or party. You can cut the recipe in half for a smaller batch that would be great for 2-4 people.

    Tortilla chips – Choose your favorite tortilla chips. Any shape works like triangle or round. I would avoid thin chips so they don’t break and become soggy.

    Cheese – I like using freshly shredded cheese because it melts well. Pre-shredded cheese also works just fine.

    Ground beef – This is optional. You could also use leftover crockpot taco meat.

    Refried beans – Use your favorite brand canned refried beans or substitute with black beans.

    Spices – Use our own taco spice blend or prepackaged.

    Air Fryer – I use this 5.8 quart model which is a nice in between size.

    Bowl of chips, cheese, beans, beef and spices.

    Can you put foil in air fryer?

    This is a question I get asked often and the answer is yes. I don’t use it often but in the case of these nachos, we will be using foil to form a little basket to hold them and to make it super easy to remove once finished cooking. ***I would recommend checking with your air fryer manual before using foil as some models might have specific instructions.

    How to make

    1. Start by placing a sheet of aluminum foil in the air fryer basket. This helps to easily remove the nachos once finished cooking.
    2. Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Once cooked through, drain off excess grease. Stir in spices, water and beans. Stir to combine.
    3. Place tortilla chips on top of foil. Top with half of the beef mixture and then top with around 1 cup of cheese.
    4. Cook at 380 degrees for 3-4 minutes or until cheese has melted.
    5. Carefully lift foil and nachos out of basket. Add desired toppings and serve.
    6. Repeat the process to make a second batch. You could also store the remaining beef and bean mixture in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
    Chips with beef and shredded cheese.

    What’s the best cheese for nachos?

    Cheese is an important ingredient when it comes to this recipe. You want something that will melt well. I like using blends like Colby Jack, Monterey Jack, or a Mexican blend. I also like shredding my own cheese because it really makes for delicious, gooey cheese. You can use pre-shredded cheese just know it’s coated with a powder to prevent caking so sometimes it doesn’t fully melt.

    Can you reheat nachos in the air fryer?

    Yes you can. I would only recommend reheating if you haven’t added any cold toppings like sour cream or guacamole.

    Place them back in the air fryer and cook at 350 degrees for about 2 minutes.

    Nacho topping ideas and variations

    Protein – You can replace the beef with pulled pork, ground turkey, ground or shredded chicken. Black beans can also be substituted with the refried beans.

    Cheese – You can leave off the protein and make these cheese nachos. Use your favorite shredded cheese that melts well.

    Toppings – There are so many wonderful ways to top nachos. Here are a few ideas:

    • Guacamole
    • Sour Cream
    • Taco Sauce
    • Jalapenos
    • Black Olives
    • Onion
    • Cilantro
    Beef nachos in air fryer basket.

    More Mexican inspired recipes

    • Mexican style black beans – Black beans with onions and green chilis.
    • Copycat Chi-Chi’s corn cake – Soft, sweet corn cake, just like the restaurants.
    • Crockpot Chicken Fajitas – Super easy to make crockpot meal.
    • Charro Beans – Beans cooked with onion and bacon.

    If you would like more air fryer recipes or share what you are making, check out our Easy Air Fryer Facebook community.

    Plate of beef nachos.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
    No ratings yet

    Air Fryer Nachos

    Easy to make air fryer nachos with ground beef.
    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time3 minutes mins
    Total Time13 minutes mins
    Course: Appetizer, Main Course
    Cuisine: American, Mexican
    Keyword: nachos
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 390kcal
    Author: Heather

    Ingredients

    • 1 lb ground beef (Use 1/2 lb beef for one batch.)
    • 1 can refried beans (Use 1/2 can beans for one batch.)
    • 1 packet taco seasoning (Use 1/2 packet of spices for one batch.)
    • 2 cups shredded cheese (1 cup of cheese for one batch.)
    • 2-3 cups tortilla chips

    Instructions

    • Start by placing a sheet of aluminum foil in the air fryer basket forming a "basket" to hold the chips. This helps to easily remove the nachos once finished cooking.
    • Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Break it up into crumbles when cooking. Once cooked through, drain off excess grease. Stir in spices, water and beans. Stir to combine.
    • Place tortilla chips on top of foil. Top with half of the beef mixture and then top with around 1 cup of cheese.
    • Cook at 380 degrees F for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted.
    • Remove basket from air fryer. Carefully lift up foil and nachos to remove from basket.
    • Add your favorite toppings and serve.
    • Repeat the process to make a second batch of nachos or store the leftover beef and bean mixture in the refrigerator until ready to use.

    Video

    Notes

    The beef and bean mixture makes enough for 2 batches of nachos using a 5.8 quart air fryer. It’s enough for a crowd of 8 people. 
    If you would like to make one batch, enough for 2- 4 people, use 1/2 pound beef, 1/2 can refried beans, 1/2 spices and 1 cup cheese. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 514mg | Potassium: 236mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 216IU | Calcium: 212mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe?Follow me @foodlovinfamily or tag #foodlovinfamily!

    More Appetizer Recipes

    • Bowl of mashed rutabaga, diced rutabaga, and rutabaga soup.
      24 Delicious Rutabaga Recipes
    • Bacon wrapped water chestnuts, pinwheel, wontons, crab cakes.
      36 Best Hors D’Oeuvres Recipes
    • Bowl of salmon dip with sliced cucumbers, radish, and crackers.
      Canned Salmon Dip
    • Cheese fondue with bread, chocolate strawberry fondue, steak fondue.
      25 Best Fondue Recipes
    • Facebook

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hello and thank you for visiting Food Lovin’ Family! With 3 kids I know it can be hard getting food on the table. Here you will find easy and delicious recipes that the whole family will enjoy.

    More about me →

    Favorite Recipes

    • Candy, popcorn, chicken nuggets, and soft pretzel.
      28 Best Movie Snacks
    • Loaded cheese fries.
      21 Best Loaded Fries Recipes
    • Hand holding chip with cheese dip.
      Chili Cheese Dip
    • Plate of chicken wings and bowl of sauce.
      How Long To Bake Chicken Wings
    • Cinnamon rolls, sausage rolls, breakfast roll, and pigs in a blanket.
      31 Delicious Crescent Roll Recipes
    • Cream cheese dip, taco dip, cranberry dip, and sausage dip.
      35 Best Party Dip Recipes

    Sweets

    31 Easy Asian Desserts To Make At Home

    Purple ice cream, slice of cheesecake, sesame ball, and mochi.

    Coconut Sheet Cake

    Slice of coconut cake on a plate.

    30 Best Sheet Cake Recipes

    Plate of yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

    31 Best Ricotta Desserts

    Slice of cheesecake, cannoli, zeppoli, and ricotta cake.

    More Love →

    Drinks

    25 Delicious Breakfast Drinks

    Smoothie, hot chocolate, frappuccino, and mimosa.

    25 Delicious Apple Cider Cocktails

    Glass filled with ice and apple juice.

    25 Spooky Halloween Cocktails

    Orange martini, bloody mary, and green martini.

    30 Festive Christmas Cocktails

    Copper much with cranberries, blue drink, green drink, and a milky drink.

    More Love →

    Lunch

    Canned Salmon Salad

    Salmon salad on a lettuce leaf and wheat bread.

    24 Best Poke Bowls

    Tuna poke bowl, shrimp poke bowl, and tofu poke bowl.

    30 Best Fall Soup Recipes

    Four bowls of soup.

    30 Tortilla Wrap Recipes

    Chicken tortilla wrap, hap and cheese wrap, and chicken wrap.

    More Love →

    Breakfast

    Air Fryer Toaster Strudel

    Cooked strudel with frosting and a box of frozen strudel.

    Copycat McDonalds Sausage Egg McMuffin

    English muffin with sausage and cheese sandwich.

    Strawberry Muffins

    25 Delicious Breakfast Drinks

    Smoothie, hot chocolate, frappuccino, and mimosa.

    More Love →

    Appetizers

    24 Delicious Rutabaga Recipes

    Bowl of mashed rutabaga, diced rutabaga, and rutabaga soup.

    36 Best Hors D’Oeuvres Recipes

    Bacon wrapped water chestnuts, pinwheel, wontons, crab cakes.

    Canned Salmon Dip

    Bowl of salmon dip with sliced cucumbers, radish, and crackers.

    25 Best Fondue Recipes

    Cheese fondue with bread, chocolate strawberry fondue, steak fondue.

    More Love →

    Dinner

    31 Best Ground Turkey Recipes

    Rice casserole, meatballs, lettuce wraps, and stuffed pepper.

    What To Serve With Meatballs: 31 Side Dishes

    Macaroni and cheese, green pasta, spaghetti squash, and egg noodles.

    18 Best Turkey Kielbasa Recipes

    Turkey kielbasa soup, kielbasa cabbage, kielbasa and sausage.

    22 Best Ground Bison Recipes

    Burger, stuffed shells, gnocchi, and picadillo.

    More Love →

    Footer

    Collage of logos.

    Copyright © 2022 foodlovinfamily.com. All rights reserved. PRIVACY POLICY.