Enjoy your favorite sausage in no time with this Air Fryer Sausage recipe. It cooks quickly, is absolutely delicious, and provides a ton of versatility for whatever meal you are looking to complete.
How do you normally cook sausage? Sear it on the stove, then simmer it in sauce? Throw it on the grill? Bake it?
One of the biggest challenges that I have found in cooking sausage is it can be greasy. I won't get into the health aspect of it, but no one wants an oily dish. I personally like to grill sausage, but if time is a concern or the weather outside is inclement, I find myself pulling out my air fryer.
Air fryer sausages are less greasy but just as delicious. We also love this Air Fryer Chicken for an easy family dinner. Or these Air Fryer Sausage Balls as a party appetizer!
Why You Should Cook Sausage in an Air Fryer
The air fryer is quick, it sears the outside well to ensure that your final result is a juicy tender sausage. Cook time is quick and it is less than 15 minutes total time. It is low carb keto. and can be used with your favorite sausage whether it is pork, chicken, or turkey. I typically use links with my dinner dishes, but many times if we are doing breakfast I'll use sausage patties.
We love our Instant Pot air fryer lid and this is one of the best air fryer recipes we have tried. A close second is our Air Fryer Cheesecake.
Ingredients
Sausage - Use any type of raw sausage you enjoy. Turkey sausage, chicken sausage, pork sausage, beef sausage, venison sausage, they are all delicious with this easy air fryer recipe. Most sausage is naturally low carb and gluten free.
How to Make Air Fryer Sausage
There are so many other ways to use your air fryer, cooking sausage is one that might not come to mind first, but once you cook your sausage in the air fryer, it will make a tough case to ever cook it another way again. I hope you enjoy this how to air fry sausage guide.
Step one: Take your sausage out of the fridge and remove the packaging. If you have frozen sausage, be sure to thoroughly defrost it first so that it cooks thoroughly and evenly. If your links don't fit in your air fryer, you can cut them in half or thirds, whatever will let them fit in a single layer with room in between. If you have a rack you can do two layers of sausage at once.
Step two: Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray. Cook the sausage at 400 for 8 minutes. Flip it over and then cook for an additional 3-4 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 and the sausages are golden brown. Times can vary based on the size of your sausage links.
Step Three: Once the sausage is done cooking, remove it from the fryer and put it on a paper towel or parchment paper to rest, it will also help absorb any extra grease that is easing from the meat. Let rest for two minutes and then serve, or add to whatever dish you are preparing. Save leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Common Questions
What Types of Sausage can I use?
Our temp and time are for cooking raw sausage. Either pork sausage, turkey sausage, or chicken sausage works with this method as long as they are large links (about 4 oz per sausage link) and raw in a casing. Air fryer Italian sausages made with pork are our family's top choice.
If you would like to air fry a pre-cooked sausage reduce the time to just 5 minutes. You only need to crisp the outside and warm the inside.
What to Serve with Fried Sausage
I enjoy tasty well-cooked sausage with just a side salad. It makes for a healthy easy meal. The salad you see in the photos is our favorite simple salad. All it has is arugula tossed with a light vinaigrette and then topped with shaved parmesan. If we have grape tomatoes in the house or red onions those are nice additions.
Other side dish options for healthy recipes are steamed green beans or grilled broccoli, foil packet potatoes, or pasta with your favorite sauce.
You can even serve this for breakfast with a couple of fried eggs and a keto green smoothie.
Can I cook fully cooked sausage in the air fryer?
You can make fully cooked sausage in air fryer. You just need to heat it until it is hot. A total of 5-7 minutes should suffice.
Other ways to use Sausage
I love cooking breakfast. My kids love breakfast sandwiches. Having a big family, I tend to need several skillets on the stove at a time to cook all the elements of the breakfast sandwiches so that they are all done at the same time and ready to go.
I usually don't have enough "favorite skillets" to use and the pan can be tough to clean up after it has been cooking and building up thick grease for a while. The air fryer takes an item off the stovetop, reduces the grease in the meal, and is much easier to clean up than scrubbing and scrapping a pan.
You can even make easy air fryer sausage patties by forming sausage meat without a casing into patties and cooking that in the air fryer. Those generally cook for about 5 minutes at 400. They are one of our favorite air fryer breakfast recipes.
This method also works well when I am trying to cook sausages that I will then add to a skillet with peppers and onions. I can par-cook them in the air fryer and then remove the instant pot air fryer lid and cook the onions and peppers on the saute setting. Then I add back the sliced sausage. It helps the timing of the meal as well as reducing grease at the same time.
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400. Spray with cooking spray.
- Place the sausage in the basket or on the rack leaving space between the links.
- Cook the sausage for 8 minutes. Flip the sausage, and cook additional 3 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from the air fryer onto a paper towel lined plate to absorb any oil.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally Published June 24, 2021. Revised and Republished May 18, 2023.
Gina
Stupid question, are you supposed to poke the sausage or not? I was always told that a sausage could explode if you don’t poke holes.
Paul & Taryn
We did not poke holes and have never had it explode. Sometimes the casing will break open.
Aaron David Thomassie
I've tried it it's way better than putting grease in a pan and tried to fry it yes that's the way to go air fryer.
Gina
Did you poke holes in it before you cooked it if you remember?
Stu
Yes always poke the sausage. I poke with a fork all the way across in a line on both sides. This allows the grease to escape and makes the sausage slightly healthier. This will also keep the case from splitting.
Lisalia
Yum! Loved the texture and the outside was perfectly crisp all the way around. There's now no other way I can make sausage. SO so good.
Gina
Love this method, the sausage comes out perfectly every time. No burnt spots or explosions like on the grill!