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Short-Order Kitchen

Taco Bell-Style Chalupas, Lighter

By Wes Ellis2 min read
Folded crispy tacos topped with shredded lettuce, crumbled cheese and radish slices, with lime wedges on a blue patterned plate.
Recipe card
Servings
1 (2 chalupas)
Prep
10 minutes, plus cooking the chicken if it isn't already
Cook
5 minutes
Method
Air fryer
Heat
400°F air fryer
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 1 of the thread Drive-thru copycats, lightened up

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • Fill one side of a pita with chicken and cheese, fold, spray, air fry.
  • 400°F for 5 minutes, flipping halfway.
  • Greek yogurt stands in for sour cream on top.
  • Eat them right away. The shell is the whole point.
THE RECIPE · TACO BELL-STYLE CHALUPAS, LIGHTER

Ingredients

Toppings (optional)

You'll need

  • Air fryer
  • Bowl
  • Measuring spoons or a kitchen scale

Directions

  1. If the chicken isn't cooked yet, cook it first. Toss the cooked chicken with the taco seasoning.
  2. Heat the air fryer to 400°F.
  3. Put half the cheese and half the chicken on one side of each pita, then fold it over.
  4. Spray both sides lightly and air fry 5 minutes, flipping halfway, until crisp and golden.
  5. Open each one slightly and add lettuce, tomato, onion or a spoonful of Greek yogurt.
  6. Serve immediately.
Notes These don't keep well assembled. Store the chicken and toppings separately and re-crisp the shell in the air fryer before filling it again. Roughly 425 calories and 40 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/lighter-chalupas-at-home/

Nobody's going to mistake a folded pita for the real fried shell. But a pita that's had five minutes in a hot air fryer gets surprisingly close: puffy, crackly at the edges and sturdy enough to hold a handful of cold toppings.

The pita is the recipe

In most wraps the bread is just a delivery system. Here it becomes the shell, so the kind you pick matters. A thin, pocketless pita folds without cracking and crisps all the way through. Thick, bready ones stay soft in the middle and turn chewy instead of crunchy.

The cheese does double duty. It melts against the inside of the fold and glues everything shut, so you're not chasing chicken around the basket when you flip.

Tip

Use chicken that's already cooked. Leftover grilled breast or a store rotisserie bird turns this into a ten-minute lunch instead of a half-hour project.

Toppings go on last

Air fry the chalupas with just the chicken and cheese inside, then add the cold stuff after. Lettuce and tomato don't survive 400°F, and yogurt goes weird. Pry the fold open a little and stuff it right before you eat.

If you like the fold-and-crisp trick, the Crunchwrap Burger does the same thing with a skillet and a lavashA big, thin, soft flatbread, usually sold in rectangular sheets. It's thinner than a tortilla and crisps up more like a cracker in the air fryer.More: Air Fryer Lavash Pizza Pockets. And if you'd rather skip the shell entirely, the One Pan Burrito Bowl hits the same flavors with a fork.

Heads up

Every air fryer runs a little different. Check at four minutes. You want golden, not dark brown at the corners.

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