Destined to become a family-favorite, these tacos are simple, filling and restaurant-worthy. Best of all, cooking them in the air fryer means you skip heating up your oven—perfect for keeping your kitchen cool on a hot day. The ground beef can be swapped for ground chicken, turkey or refried black beans.
Air Fryer Beef Tacos
- 1 lb. ground beef (85% lean, 15% fat)
- ½ t. ground cumin
- ¼ t. paprika
- ¼ t. garlic powder
- ¼ t. onion powder
- 6 small flour tortillas (6 in. across)
- ¼ c. tomatoes, diced
- ¼ c. red onion, diced
- ⅓ c. Mexican-style cheese, reduced fat
- 1 t. avocado oil
- ½ c. romaine lettuce, chopped
For the sauce:
- 3 T. sour cream, light
- 1 t. jalapeño hot sauce
- ¼ t. ground cumin
Directions
- Bring a pan to medium-high heat, then brown the ground beef, breaking into crumbles as it cooks. This should take around 8-10 minutes. Drain fat from beef after browning, stir in seasonings, then remove from heat and set aside. Be careful not to overcook beef since it will also cook in the air fryer.
- Prepare tomatoes, onion and lettuce, and set aside.
- Blend sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. You can do steps 2 and 3 while you wait for the beef to brown.
- Lay flour tortillas flat on a cutting board (you’ll likely need two cutting boards to accommodate all 6 tortillas). Divide sauce over each tortilla.
- For 6 tacos, you’ll want to use about 10-12 ounces of the ground beef total. This is roughly ⅔ of the pound and gives you approximately 3 ½ tablespoons of beef in each taco. Refrigerate the remaining beef for leftovers.
- Top each taco with diced tomatoes and onions and sprinkle with cheese.
- Fold each taco in half, then place in air fryer basket and drizzle tacos with avocado oil.
- Place basket in air fryer, and cook at 350°F for 5-6 minutes.
- Remove basket from air fryer, add lettuce to tacos and enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Per Serving (using Carb Balance tortillas): 420 calories (215 from fat), 24 g total fat (8 g saturated fat), 57 mg cholesterol, 177 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 0 g sugar, 18 g protein. Exchanges: 1 starch, ½ vegetable, 2½ protein, 4 fat
Pro Tip: Remember to add lettuce to your tacos after the air fryer. Delicate leafy greens do not do well in the air fryer and will blow around and wilt.
For more recipes plus meal prep tips, a five-day meal plan and more, check out “TOPS Every Day, Volume 1: Nutrition & Meal Planning.”