Get breakfast on the table in just 14 minutes with this no-mess air fryer sausage recipe! The best part is, you can use this recipe for your Italian sausages, bratwurst, or any kind of link sausage, without having to add any oil!
While these air fryer sausages are perfect for breakfast, you can also pair them with some Jamaican cabbage salad or some smothered cabbage for a complete dinner or lunch.
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Why you will love this recipe
- Delicious - sausages with crispy and browned exteriors which still remain juicy on the inside!
- Easy - this is an easy hands-free recipe; you do not need to do any frying up on the stovetop. All you need to do is place the sausages into the basket and the fryer then does all the work. Exactly why these are the best air fryer breakfast sausages, you can save loads of time during busy weekdays.
- Family-friendly -even the little picky eaters love sausages!
- Energy and time-effecient - compared to using the oven, this method is certainly more energy-effiecient. Think about heating this small gadget, compared to the amount of time you would need to heat up your oven. Plus, they only require a short amount of time to cook (14 minutes, to be precise for fresh sausages)!
- Adaptable -all you need to do is keep an eye on the ingredient list to make it diet friendly (keto, low-carb, gluten-free or even whole 30).
Ingredients
- Sausage - use any type of link sausages, from pork, bratwurst, kielbasa, to Italian sausage and more! Just feel free to use what you like.
That's basically it! You do not need anything else; no oil, salt, or seasoning!
How to Make
Here is how to cook fresh sausage in the air fryer:
- To start with, place sausages in a single layer in the basket. Set the temperature to 180°C (350°F), close the fryer, and cook for 14 minutes or until properly browned and cooked through. Make sure to flip the sausages halfway through cooking using a pair of cooking tongs.
- Serve air fryer sausages with potatoes, eggs, toast or your preferred accompaniment.
How do I Make Air Fryer Frozen Sausage Links?
Use your air fryer to slightly thaw them and kick-start the cooking process. When cooking sausages from frozen in the air fryer, you do not want to start them on very high heat as this will only turn the skins tough.
- Based on the thickness of the sausages, use the following cooking times as a guide for this:-
- ¼ inch (0.6 cm) thick - 7 to 8 minutes at 320°F (160°C).
- ½ inch (1.2 cm) thick - 8 to 12 minutes at 320°F (160°C).
- 1 inch thick (2.5 cm) thick - 10 to 15 minutes at 320°F (160°C).
- Place the frozen sausage links into the basket and set the temperature to 160 degrees Celcius or 320 degrees Fahrenheit (you do not need to cut them up, bang them on your kitchen countertop or soak them for hours in water. Air fry them for 8 minutes to kickstart the defrosting and cooking process.
- Once the fryer beeps, flip them and cook using an increased temperature of 180°C (approximately 350°F) for a further 7 minutes or until the sausages brown up and attain an internal temperature of at least 160°F.
- Serve and enjoy or use the keep warm function of your air fryer if you want to serve them later.
Useful Tips
These tips come in handy when making air fryer breakfast sausages:
- You do not need to spray or grease your air fryer basket. This is because sausages already have a high fat content and will release some fat during cooking.
- Increase the cooking time by 2-3 minutes for thicker sausages, and make sure to check on them mid cooking.
- It is fine for the sausages to touch, just make sure they are lying in a single layer in the basket.
- I recommend piercing the skin a few times before air frying, reason being this will make them cook properly, without looking so shriveled up in the end. You only need to poke a few holes (3-4 on each end), poke too much and the juices will run out.
- Place a piece of parchment paper, aluminum foil or a few pieces of bread at the bottom of the basket, to help catch the grease and prevent smoking.
Common Questions
The time it takes to cook fresh (unfrozen) sausages in the air fryer will depend on the size and thickness. Using a cooking temperature of 350°F and without preheating the air-fryer, you can use the following cooking times as a guide. Always flip the sausages halfway through cooking.
- Thin to medium-sized sausages will require 8 to 12 minutes, cooked at a temperature of 350°F (approximately 180°C).
- Thick-sized sausages will need14 to 20 minutes, cooked at a temperature of 350°F (approximately 180°C).
Air fry unfrozen and unfrozen sausages until they attain an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C).
The answer is yes you can. Set temperature at 375F and the timer to 25 minutes. Place the chips (fries) in the basket and cook for 10 minutes then add the sausages and cook for the remaining time. As always, check on them midway through cooking, and feel free to add a few more minutes (3-5) to the cooking time, should they not be done.
More Tasty Air Fryer Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Breakfast Sausages from Fresh or Frozen
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 sausage links (such as chicken, kielbasa, bratwurst or Italian)
COOKING FROM FROZEN
- 5 frozen sausages (any link sausage)
Instructions
COOK UNFROZEN (FRESH) SAUSAGES
- Place sausages in a single layer in the basket. Set the temperature to 180°C (350°F), close the fryer, and cook for 14 minutes or until properly browned on and cooked through (minimum internal temperature 160°F). Make sure to flip the sausages halfway through cooking using a pair of cooking tongs.
- Serve your air fryer breakfast sausages with eggs, toast or your preferred accompaniment.
COOK FROZEN SAUSAGE LINKS IN THE AIR FRYER
- Program the air fryer at 160°C or 320°F. Place the frozen sausage links into the air fryer basket (you do not need to cut them up) and cook for 8 minutes to kickstart the defrosting and cooking process.
- Once the air fryer beeps, flip the sausages and now air fry at the increased temperature of 180°C (approximately 350°F) for a further 7 minutes to enable the sausages to brown up and attain an internal temperature of at least 160°F. Make sure to check on them halfway through cooking.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- First, defrost the frozen breakfast sausage links in the air fryer using the following cooking times as a guide:-
- ¼ inch thick - 7 to 8 minutes at 320°F (160°C).
- ½ inch thick - 8 to 12 minutes at 320°F(160°C).
- 1 inch thick - 10 to 15 minutes at 320°F(160°C).
- Once slightly defrosted, flip and cook using an increased temperature of 180°C or 350°F for a further 7 minutes or until the sausages brown up and attain an internal temperature of at least 160°F (71°C).
- The cooking time has only been calculated for fresh sausages, in this recipe card.
- Increase the cooking time by 2-3 minutes for thicker sausages, and make sure to check on them halfway through air frying.
- I recommend piercing the skin a few times before air frying, to prevent them from shriveling in the end. You only need to poke a few holes (3-4 on each end); poke too much and the juices will run out.
- Place a piece of parchment paper, aluminum foil, or a few pieces of bread at the bottom of the basket, to help catch the grease and prevent smoking.
- Only use the nutritional information as a rough estimate. Nutritional information is based on 1 serving size of one sausage and will vary depending on the type of product you are using.
Nutrition
Let's keep the conversation going, let me know in the comments section below how your air fryer sausages turned out. Perhaps you have tips to share? We are a community and I absolutely love hearing from you!!
Mahy
Oh wow - such a quick breakfast option - gotta keep this recipe handy!
Kate Hahnel
Very easy too!
Luci Petlack
Oh my gosh, getting breakfast on the table is always so much work. Thank you so much for this easy "hack!"
Kate Hahnel
the air fryer makes life so easy!
Jill
I love using the air fryer to help fixing my breakfast. It gives the sausages such a nice browned "finish". So good.
AISilva
My kids have been loving more elaborate breakfast meals lately, so I can't wait to try these air fryer breakfast sausages. Thank you!
Kate Hahnel
I hope you get to make them soon!
MJ
My family loves breakfast sausages and your tips cooking them in the air fryer from frozen were so helpful. They turned out great!
Kate Hahnel
Thank you! Glad you tried!