Cooking sausage in the air fryer is the fastest way to get links ready for dinner. Air Fryer sausage is perfectly cooked and ready in less time than it takes to heat up the grill.
“These are so delicious! I will most definitely be doing my sausages in the air fryer every time from now on. It's so easy! Thank you”
Recipe Overview
There are plenty of ways to cook sausage, including grilling, boiling, and sauteeing, but as always, the air fryer cooks sausage better!
I love cooking breakfast sausage patties and links in the air fryer. It saves me a lot of time and hassle in the mornings.
Making Italian Sausage (or your favorite type of fresh sausage) in the air fryer is perfect for lunch or dinner. Add sliced sausages to casseroles or simply enjoy them on a roll with peppers and onions.
Why You’ll Love Air Fryer Sausage
- It’s Easy – This is my favorite kind of air fryer recipe – the kind where you just toss the food in and hit some buttons! You don’t need any other ingredients to make delicious sausage in the air fryer.
- Less Mess – Cooking sausage in the air fryer means that any splatters or grease will be contained in the machine, rather than all over your kitchen.
- Works for all types of sausage – Try this with vegan sausage, pork sausage, chicken sausage, or even pre-cooked sausage. All of them come out hot, browned, and crisp from your favorite air fryer.
Ingredients
Sausage Links – This air fryer sausage recipe works for fresh sausage links such as Italian sausage, Polish sausage (kielbasa), andouille, bratwurst, or chorizo.
Steps to Make
- Let the sausage sit out at room temperature for 10 minutes. This helps take the chill off of them so that they will cook all the way through quickly.
- Add the sausages to the air fryer basket, being sure to leave room around and in between the links.
- Air fry at 380°F/190°C for 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through and cook until the sausage is browned and reaches an internal temperature of 160°F/74°C.
- Slice and serve, or enjoy on rolls.
What to Pair with air fryer sausage
Air Fryer Sausage makes for an easy dinner when you serve it with simple side dishes that everyone loves!
Air Fryer Corn on the Cob is a family favorite that is so simple to make in the air fryer. I love this for hot summer days when I don’t want to boil any water in the kitchen!
If I’m trying to make dinner incredibly easy, I can cook a bag of frozen broccoli in the air fryer too!
Make Air Fryer Tater Tots, or Air Fried Potato wedges from fresh potatoes to make a filling meal for your hungry family.
Toast rolls in the air fryer, and fill them with cooked Italian sausage and sauteed peppers and onions.
Try sliced air fryer sausage on top of Spaghetti or your favorite pasta dishes.
Or add cooked sausage to recipes, like this one for sausage, onion, and pepper pizza rolls.
Tips and Tricks 🪄
- It’s best to let the sausage come slightly closer to room temperature before you cook it, this will ensure that the center of the links cooks fully. Be sure not to let it sit out for more than 10 minutes for food safety reasons.
- To cook more than 5 or 6 sausages, you will want to cook them in batches. Do not overlap or crowd the sausages in the air fryer basket. The key to getting perfectly browned sausage is to allow lots of room for the hot air to circulate around them.
- This method can be used to heat pre-cooked sausages as well. Cook them for 8-10 minutes, or until the skin has crisped and the sausage is heated through.
- If you notice smoke from the air fryer, don’t worry! Pork sausages are high in fat and may smoke a bit as they cook. To avoid this, try putting a slice of white bread at the bottom of the air fryer to soak up the grease so that it won’t burn.
- Use an instant read thermometer to ensure that your sausages are fully cooked. You want pork sausage to have an internal temperature of at least 160°F/74°C.
More Air fryer recipes
We have so many delicious air fryer recipes here for you to try!
For dinner, I suggest Air Fryer Mahi Mahi, Air Fryer Meatloaf, or easy Air Fryer Chicken Breast.
If you like making snacks in the air fryer, you’ll love our instructions for making Frozen Popcorn Shrimp, Onion Rings, and Buffalo Cauliflower in the air fryer too.
FAQs
Yes! This recipe is perfect for cooking any type of raw, encased sausages in your air fryer. You’ll end up with perfectly cooked sausage with brown, crisp skins.
Patties of sausage need to be cooked in the air fryer a bit differently, since they are thinner than sausage links, and they don’t have a casing. See our Air Fryer Sausage Patties recipe for more information.
Sausage balls are just like meatballs, but made from ground bulk sausage. Follow the time and temperature guide in our Air Fryer Meatballs recipe to make these tasty bites!
Air frying sausage is a healthy way to cook it!
Sausages are made with quite a bit of fat inside of them, particularly pork sausages like Italian sausage or Kielbasa.
Cooking sausage in the air fryer allows the fat to drip off and away from your food, so you will end up actually eating less of it.
The general rule is that the sausages shoudn’t split if you cook them at the proper rate. What I mean is that you can’t cook sausage too fast, or the steam that builds up inside of the sausage will cause them to explode!
Cooking cold sausage is another reason why they could split open, which is why I suggest letting them sit out at room temperature for a few minutes before cooking.
Cooking sausage in the air fryer using this method shouldn’t leave you with split sausages. I purposely cook them at a slightly reduced temperature than I’ve seen others use, just for this reason!
If you do get a split or two, don’t worry about it. They’ll still taste delicious. Next time, reduce the heat on your air fryer by 10 degrees and try again.
There’s no need to preheat the air fryer when cooking sausages, unless your manufacturer specifically recommends it.
Air Fryer Sausage
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 1 – 1.5 pounds Italian sausage links (about 5-6 links)
Instructions
- Let the sausage sit out at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Place the sausages in the air fryer basket.
- Air fry at 380°F/190°C for 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Cook until the sausage is browned and reaches an internal temperature of 160°F/74°C.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
- It’s best to let the sausage come slightly closer to room temperature before you cook it, this will ensure that the center of the links cooks fully. Be sure not to let it sit out for more than 10 minutes for food safety reasons.
- To cook more than 5 or 6 sausages, you will want to cook them in batches. Do not overlap or crowd the sausages in the air fryer basket.
- This method can be used to heat pre-cooked sausages as well. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the skin has crisped and the sausage is heated through.
- Pro Tip: This recipe can be made in the air fryer unit with a basket or the air fryer oven. If you are using the air fryer oven, use the middle rack and select the “Air Fry” function.
- Pro Tip:Check your food as it cooks. Each air fryer runs a bit differently. Sometimes air frying is a trial and error process. Check your food as it cooks to learn your air fryer better! When cooking a new recipe or food items be sure to check your food often to help avoid over/under cooking.
Nutrition Information
These are so delicious!
I will most definitely be doing my sausages in the air fryer every time from now on. It’s so easy!
Thank you
There is no mention of preheating the air fryer??
Hi Audrey,
You shouldn’t need to preheat for these. Generally, you’ll only need to preheat if you’re cooking an actual cut of thawed meats – like pork chops or steak.