Air fryer chicken chimichangas
Crunchy, golden chimichangas stuffed with cheesy chicken and beans, with all the crunch of the fried kind from one spoonful of oil.
- 40 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.83 a serving
- 660 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1 can diced green chiles
- 1½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- 8 flour tortillas
- 1 cup refried beans
- ½ cup salsa
- ½ cup sour cream (optional)
- ½ cup guacamole (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 660 calories, 39 g protein, 56 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $2.83 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No flour tortillas? Whole wheat tortillas work.
- No salsa? Pico de gallo works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No guacamole? Avocados work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the chicken and mix it in a bowl with the green chiles, cumin, chili powder and cheese.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
Stack the tortillas, wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave 30 seconds, so they roll without cracking.
Spread 2 tablespoons of refried beans across the middle of a tortilla, leaving a border, and top with a ⅓ cup of the chicken mixture.
Heaping. Heaping means a rounded mound piled above the rim of the spoon or cup, not leveled off. It’s a little more than the measure, on purpose.
How you’ll know: The pile sits above the edge of the spoon, and you leave it there instead of scraping it flat.
Fold the bottom edge up over the filling, fold in both sides, then roll it up tightly. Set it seam side down and repeat with the others.
Dolly’s tip: Rolling them tight is the whole trick. Loose ones unroll in the basket.the air fryer to 400°F for 3 minutes.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Timer: 3 min
Brush the chimichangas all over with the oil and set 4 of them in the basket, seam side down and not touching.
Cook 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway, until they’re deep and all over and hot in the middle.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Pale spots missed the oil. Dab on a little more and give them another minute.Food safety: Rotisserie chicken, deli meat, canned tuna and cooked shrimp are already cooked. Keep them cold until you use them, and heat them until steaming hot if the recipe warms them.
Cook the second batch the same way, then serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.
Timer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: To freeze, wrap the uncooked chimichangas one by one. Cook them from frozen for 14 to 16 minutes.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
