Next time you're craving a restaurant-style hamburger, let your air fryer do the work! In less than 10 minutes you'll have juicy, flavorful Air Fryer Hamburgers cooked to perfection right in your very own kitchen!
Air Fryer Hamburgers are easy to make and take less than 10 minutes to cook! Instead of opting to choose fast food meat, imagine fresh, juicy hamburgers cooked to a mouthwatering finish in your air fryer with minimal effort!
Serve with some air fried french fries, and you'll have the perfect all-American diner-style meal!
The Best Air Fryer Hamburgers Recipe
It doesn't take much to make the best hamburgers in your air fryer!
All you need is a couple ground protein patties, a pair of hamburger buns, and whatever toppings you desire.
You can make beef, turkey, or chicken, or veggie burgers in your air fryer with ease!
Beyond Meat is a great plant-based option if you want to get the texture of a classic grilled hamburger.
Feel free to add seasonings or liquid smoke (my favorite!) to your protein to give it a little extra flavor if you like.
How do you make the perfect hamburger patty?
Making hamburgers in your air fryer is ridiculously easy! Here's what you'll need to do:
- First, you need a couple of nice thick burger patties. If you're making your own, start with your preferred ground protein and add whatever seasonings you desire. Using your hands, shape the ground meat into patties that are around ¾ to one inch thick.
- Next, place your patties in the bottom of your air fryer basket, making sure to leave an inch of space between them.
- Cook your air fryer hamburgers for 4 minutes at 350 degrees, then open the air fryer basket and use a spatula to flip them. Cook them for another 4 minutes until they're golden brown on the outside and cooked to a medium consistency on the inside.
- When your air fryer burgers are done cooking, you can then add a slice of cheese and cook for one additional minute before serving.
Got a FROZEN burger patty? No need to thaw it, just toss it in and cook.
How to Assemble the Perfect Burger
Assembling the perfect burger may seem like a science, but what it really boils down to is personal preference.
You can any toppings that you desire to your delicious, juicy air fryer burgers!
Here's how we like to do it:
- Start with a bun on a sturdy plate.
- Place the top part of the bun aside, and layer a couple of pieces of fresh leafy green lettuce on top of the bottom bun piece.
- Next, Place your cooked air fryer hamburger on top of the lettuce.
- Add a thick slice of fresh tomato on top of the burger.
- Next, layer on a few crunchy pickles. (You could also add onions and condiments at this point.)
- Finally, top the burger with the remaining half of the bun, then serve and enjoy!
Tips for Making Hamburgers in the Air Fryer
If you like your burger a little more well done, you can add up to 4 minutes to the air fryer time.
Keep in mind that this recipe is for patties that are around 1 inch thick, so if your patties are thinner, you'll want to reduce that time by a minute or two.
I recommend only cooking 2 burgers at a time so that they'll cook thoroughly - don't crowd the basket! You may find the more you cook with your air fryer you will want to buy a large air fryer!
When in doubt, use a meat thermometer to check doneness. Your air fryer hamburgers should reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees F before consuming.
If cooking beef burgers, your air fryer may smoke. You can add a little water to the basket of your air fryer to prevent smoking.
Always make sure to clean your air fryer well between uses, especially when cooking protein with a higher fat content.
Do you have any additional tips that you've learn from trying this recipe?
If so, leave them in the comments below. It will help future readers! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Can you cook frozen hamburgers in an air fryer?
Yes! Frozen hamburgers cook nicely in your air fryer.
Simply add a minute or two to the air frying time to make sure that the burgers reach a safe internal temperature.
Looking for more delicious restaurant-style air fryer recipes? Check these out!
We have so many air fryer recipes to choose from!
If you are having trouble figuring out which one to try next, we suggest: Air Fryer BBQ Chicken Wings, Hotdogs in the Air Fryer and Air Fryer Chicken Breast Or maybe you want to try an Apple Bacon Burger.
Love burgers, how about:
- Frozen Hamburger in Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Turkey Burgers
- Air Fryer Beyond Burger
- Air Fryer Frozen Burger
Pro Tips
- Use Any Air Fryer: This recipe can be made in an air fryer unit with a basket or an air fryer oven. If you're using an air fryer oven, place your food on the middle rack and select the "air fry" function.
- Check your food as it cooks! Since each air fryer runs differently, sometimes air frying is a trial and error process. When cooking a new recipe, be sure to check on your food often. This will help you avoid over or undercooking, and help you learn your air fryer's specific ways!
Have you made this recipe? Please leave a comment AND rating below! It helps other readers!
Be sure to tag @AirFryerEats on instagram, if you share a picture on the gram! Let's get social, you can follow me on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or join one of our Air Fryer Facebook Groups: Air Fryer Recipes, Air Fryer Recipes for Seniors and Gluten Free Air Fryer Recipes.
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Air Fryer Hamburgers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 4 oz burger patties Or Plant Based Alternative
- 2 hamburger buns
- cheese or other toppings if desired
Instructions
- Place your hamburger patty into the basket of your air fryer.
- Cook your air fryer burger for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F. At the 4 minute mark (halfway through cooking your hamburger), flip the patty over to ensure that it will cook evenly.
- When the air fryer is done cooking, you can add a slice of cheese and continue cooking for 1 minutes at 350 degrees F to melt the cheese.
- Remove the hamburger from the air fryer basket and place onto bun.
- Add desired toppings, and enjoy!
Notes
- This timing works great with Beyond Burgers
- If you are making your burgers from scratch, be sure to shape the patties into sizes that fit into your air fryer basket.
- If you are using a frozen burger, add a few extra minutes to the cook time, to ensure that the burger patty cooks all the way through.
- If you are making a beef or turkey burger, make sure to test the burger with a meat thermometer. For optimal safety, hamburger patties should reach a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees F before consuming.
- You can add spices to your burger patties if shaping them from scratch! I love adding liquid smoke to my burgers to give them a fresh grilled taste.
- If using beef, you can place a little water on the inside of the basket to help prevent smoking. When the fat drains into the basket and sizzles it sometimes smokes a little.
Nutrition
Air Fryers can vary greatly. Please take the time to learn your specific air fryer. You may need to adjust times and temperatures based upon your air fryer. All though this website attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, the information should only be considered an estimate. Varying factors such as different product types, different brands, etc. can change nutritional information. It is your responsibility as a consumer to read all labels to make sure the ingredients fit your dietary needs as well as calculate your own nutritional information as a double check.
Have you ever wondered if you can put foil in your air fryer? You can! But you need to do it a specific way! Be sure to check out our post about: Can you put aluminum foil in an air fryer So you can get all the details you need to be successful!
If you are looking for more recipes for your air fryer, we have got you covered! Some of our favorites and our readers favorites are: Mozzarella sticks air fryer, Frozen chicken nuggets in air fryer, Frozen chicken tenders in air fryer, Air fryer scallops and Air Fryer Burger.
Toni
This was so good! My husband really loved it!
Cindy
So glad he loved our Air Fryer Hamburgers, Toni!
Jen
I never knew you could make burgers in the air fryer. I've been a little nervous to use mine and have only made fries and nuggets, haha. Thanks for all the tips to give me the confidence to branch out and try it. Looks fantastic!
Cindy
You are so welcome Jen! These air fryer hamburgers are delicious!
Courtney | Love & Good Stuff
Looks delicious! I love a good hamburger!
Cindy
Thank you Courtney!
Jacque Hastert
These are on the menu for tonight! I can't wait to try them in our new air fryer. I bet they are just as delicious as they look in the photos.
Cindy
That is great Jacque! Be sure to come back and let us know how your air fryer hamburgers turned out!
SHANIKA
I love using my Air-Fryer but never made a burger recipes from it! Definitely trying this out soon!
Cindy
Thanks for stopping and checking it out, be sure to come back and let me know how your air fryer hamburgers turned out!
Jody
I love your recipes! I didn't even know you could do hamburgers in the airfryer! I am pinning for later!
Cindy
Thank you so much Jody! I really appreciate your compliment 🙂 . Hamburgers in the air fryer are super good!!
Nana Esi
I'm definitely tryinb this recipe at home.
Love from Ghana
Cindy
Thanks so much! I hope that you love our air fryer hamburgers!
Debbie
Holy cow! I made these today for lunch and they were absolutely delicious. I’m never grilling a hamburger again.
Cindy
Hi Debbie! That's great, I am so glad you found a new way to cook hamburgers. We love them in the air fryer too! Thanks for coming back and letting me know!
Sam
Made these tonight for my family. We cooked four at a time from frozen. Just added a couple extra minutes. Perfect!
Cindy
Yay Sam! Thanks for coming back and letting me know how they turned out!
Sarah
Made this after seeing it in the Facebook group! I’ll never grill hamburgers again!
Cindy
Thank you for being a part of our FB group! Thanks for coming and checking out the recipe and making it! Oh yes and for coming back to rate and comment, we really appreciate that!
Margaret
Saw your post in the air fryer seniors Facebook group. My husband and I tried these burgers and loved them.
Cindy
Hi Margaret, so glad you and your husband liked the air fryer burgers!
Quinn
So glad I googled this. I will never grill a burger again. This air fryer hamburger is delish!!
Cindy
So glad you liked the burgers!
Jenny
You can’t go wrong with this one! The directions are perfect and make the best burger
Cindy
Agreed Jenny! I love burgers in the AF!
Benny
I’m saying goodbye to grilling after tasting this air fryer hamburger! This was so good
Cindy
Hi Benny! Yay for air fryer hamburgers, so glad you like them!
Gwen
I keep seeing this in the air prayer group so I thought I should give it a try. It is definitely as good as everybody says it is
Cindy
Hi Gwen, glad you are in our air fryer group on facebook! We love it too! Glad you like these hamburgers!
Kevin
I cannot believe how easy and delicious it is to make hamburgers in my air fryer. I’m so glad I found your recipe weeks ago I’ve been making them several times a week since then
Cindy
Hi Kevin, it is totally easy, right!? So glad you liked our directions on how to cook air fryer hamburgers!
Bob Wise
My grand kids sent me an air fryer recently. They wanted to make it easier for me to cook. Hamburgers are one of my favorite foods. I like the way they cook in the air fryer. Thank you.
Cindy
Hi Bob! That was very nice of your grand kids! Glad you liked our air fryer hamburgers!
Tony McAllister
I cooked one burger (about 6oz) frozen. It never stopped bleeding. I cooked on one side about 8 to 10 minutes before flipping. It was still bubbling blood when I flipped it. I cooked the that side about 8 minutes, checked and flipped it again because blood was still bubbling to top of burger. By the time it stopped bleeding it was like a hockey puck . I cooked the burger on 380 degrees as recommended in a google recipe. Any recommendations? Best luck has been with a George Foreman Grill really like them better than burgers grilled on gas grill.
Cindy
Hi Tony, thanks for checking in and asking.I am wondering if the google recipe was for a smaller burger. When I do fresh 4 oz or 1/4 lb burgers, I typically do 10-12 minutes when fresh and that gives me a medium well burger. If its frozen I end up cooking the same for 18-20 and it comes out juicy. I also do a temp of 350F. It sounds like your burger was maybe a bit too big and the temp was too high 🙂
Linda Soucy
I'm confused with your answer Cindy. The recipe says 8 minutes, but your response to Tony says you typically do 10 - 12 minutes for 4 oz....which is correct?
Cindy
Hi Linda, thanks for asking and sorry that my answer was confusing. I "personally" prefer my burgers at 10-12 minutes. That is my personal preference. It gives me more of a medium well burger. I have found and readers have reported to confirm that about 8 minutes typically gives you a medium. However, all air fryers run a bit different, so yours might way a minute or two especially if you are using an air fryer oven vs an air fryer with a basket. Another factor that may change things is the size and thickness of your burger. The time and temp are a jumping off point of where to start. A meat thermometer will tell you exactly when its done. I am honestly not sure what happened in Tony's case. 🙂
Mannie
Not going to lie, I was a skeptic, but man this is good!
Cindy
Hi Mannie, skeptics are allowed, I used to be one too when it came to hamburgers! :). YUMMM
Bon
I will literally never grill a hamburger again. This was so good!
Cindy
ha! I agree! We LOVE hamburgers in the air fryer!
Daniel
This literally requires minimal effort on my part. Hands down the best way to make burgers. Thank you for this post, it sure helps this old guy out.
Cindy
You are so welcome Daniel! Glad it worked well for you!
Allan
Hamburgers cook up so great in the air fryer. So glad I found your recipe!
Cindy
Hi Allan, so glad you liked the air fryer hamburgers, thanks for letting me know! I am glad you found the recipe too!
Jan
These were great. I’ve made several times!
Cindy
Great to hear Jan!
patty-anne Lea
I use my bread machine and make my own big buns . I use the dough setting. I I also my ow n pizza them let them rise, and cook them in my air fryers . My bread machine and air fryer are good work mates.
I make Yorkshire puddings, gravy. I have not use the oven on my range since I got my air fryer.
Cindy
It sure does sound like they are good work mates and sounds like you are cooking up some super yummy things!
Traveler
I guess I am in the minority here, but I didn’t love it. It was just OK. I cooked it well done (as I like hamburgers) but it still doesn’t look as appealing as when it it fried or grilled and the taste wasn’t quite right for me. I like a nice crust and this just didn’t do it.
One thing good, though. The shrinkage of the meat was minuscule as compared to grilling or frying. Virtually none.
Cindy
No worries at all! I am glad you tried it, we all have different likes and dislikes. That is what makes cooking fun is we can tailor it to our tastes and likes :). The key is to keep trying things, you never know if you find something that you'd love making with the air fryer vs other cooking methods 🙂 That's great you didn't see any shrinkage of the burger 🙂
Janet
In living alone, lots of things aren't easy to make but with all the air fryer helps, I am cooking for me and enjoying it...thank you so much!!!!
Cindy
You are very welcome! Glad you are loving how easy it makes things 🙂