Making air fryer Italian sausage is a quick and easy way to make perfect juicy sausages every single time. Whether you serve them with peppers and onions, or alongside pasta sauce and pasta, air-fried sausages make the best simple dinner in just 10 minutes!
Make quick and easy sausage in an air fryer!
When you don't know what to make for dinner, let your air fryer do the work. This is literally our family favorite meal we eat almost weekly.
Learn how to make juicy and golden brown Italian sausage in the air fryer whether you're cooking just the links or making them with healthy veggies like peppers and onions. Our time tested recipe works great in either an air fryer basket or an air fryer oven.
We show you how to get the easiest simple high protein dinner in less than 10 minutes! Perfectly cooked sausage every time that turns out even better than pan frying or baking.
Love sausage like we do? Try our other air fryer sausage recipes like breakfast sausage links, bratwurst, kielbasa, or precooked chicken sausages.
Italian sausage recipe ingredients
- 1 pkg uncooked Italian pork link sausage (mild Italian sausage or hot Italian sausage)- ours came 5 to a pack. Raw Italian chicken sausage would be great too.
- Optional- feel free to add sliced peppers or onions alongside the uncooked sausages. They cook in the same amount of time.
Our favorite brands
- We used the Trader Joe's brand uncooked Italian sausage (called Sweet Italian sausage), your favorite brand will work great too as long as they're the standard size uncooked sausages. (the deli counter sausages are larger and take longer to cook).
- Johnsonville sausage in an air fryer - This is another brand we love if we aren't shopping at TJ's. If you have Johnsonville brand sausage, just follow the same recipe instructions since they're sold as a standard size.
Kitchen tools
An air fryer - either a basket style or toaster oven style will work, we have both! The recipe cooks in the same amount of time.
How to air fry sausage
This is just a brief overview, for full instructions please read the recipe card at the bottom!
Temperature
Preheat your air fryer to 360 F for 3-5 minutes. Lay the sausage on the air fryer rack or basket in a single layer.
Cook time
Cook the Italian sausage for a total of 10-12 minutes at 360 F, flip them over halfway through cooking. Air fry until the internal temperature is at least 160 F. We highly recommend an instant read thermometer to check the temperature.
Let the Italian sausages rest for 5 minutes before serving to let the juices distribute throughout the meat. Serve with peppers and onions on the side or even on a hot dog bun. Enjoy!
Jenni's tips
- Add peppers and onions: Toss sliced bell peppers and onions with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place them under the sausages in the air fryer basket for an easy one-pan meal.
- Italian sausage is fully cooked at 160°F, but it may not be browned yet. Keep cooking until it's golden and crisp - thanks to the higher fat content, it stays juicy even up to 190°F.
- If you have precooked sausages, you can fry them at 400 F for 8-10 minutes.
- Serve these with bell peppers and onions, or on a bun covered with marinara sauce and cheese. You could even stuff them with string cheese.
Storage & reheating leftover sausage
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 2-3 months in an airtight container or a freezer Ziplock bag.
Reheat sausages in an air fryer: When you're ready to eat them again, preheat your air fryer to 360 F and then cook them for 3-5 minutes, or until heated through.
Recipe Questions
Yes, you can totally cook air fryer sausages from frozen, there's no need to thaw them first! They do take a few minutes longer to cook but they turn out just as delicious as fresh.
Preheat your air fryer basket for 5 minutes at 400 F. Cook the frozen Italian sausage in the air fryer for 12-14 minutes, flipping halfway. We highly recommend using a digital meat thermometer to make sure they're at least 160 F internally.
We used raw Italian pork sausage for this recipe. You can use other types of raw sausages like bratwurst too or even raw beef sausages. Raw chicken sausage will also work well, just be mindful that chicken seems to cook faster than pork. If you have precooked sausages, you can still follow our cooking times and temperature, but they won't take as long to air fry.
No, you should not poke holes in the Italian sausages before air frying. This releases valuable juices.
More Italian Sausage Recipes
Looking for even more Italian sausage recipes?
- Sausage and peppers with marinara sauce
- Instant pot sausage and peppers
- Stuffed Italian sausage with cheese inside
- Sweet Italian sausage bake
- Italian chicken sausage and peppers
- Sausage tortellini soup
Recipe
Air Fryer Sausage (Italian, Links, Uncooked)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pkg uncooked Italian sausage mild, sweet, or hot
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 360 F for 3-5 minutes.
- Lay the sausage in a single layer on the air fryer basket, leaving room on all sides.
- Cook the Italian sausages in an air fryer basket or air fryer oven for about 10-12 minutes at 360 F, or until the internal temperature is at least 160 F when checked with a meat thermometer. The cooking time can vary based on the air fryer model you're using.
- Remove the Italian sausages from the air fryer and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- The air fryer sausage recipe works with Italian sausages, brats, turkey sausage, or any uncooked dinner sausage.
- You can add sliced bell peppers and onions to the air fryer basket at the time time. Just toss them in a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, and place the sausages right on top of them in the air fryer.
Joyce D Feltz says
I love Italian sausage with peppers and onions, and that is, in my opinion, the best way to serve them. But honestly I really want to have Italian sausage even when I don't have the onions and peppers, or even an Italian bun. I can attest to the fact that an air fried Italian sausage can be a real treat, served on a flour tortilla with lots of mustard. I have had to improvise, and oh my goodness. an Italian sausage on a flour tortilla, with lots of mustard is such a taste treat. I may sautee some onions but believe, this is such a wonderful way to serve Italian sausage.
WholeLottaYum says
Thank ypu Joyce! Yes, sausage with peppers and onions is super good! I'm glad you loved the recipe. You can add peppers and onions to the air fryer too!
Jelena says
Yummy. I used Johnsonville hot and spicy sausages and I did add 1 sliced small onion and half a red pepper and 1 jalapeño and followed the recipe as written. The temperature was good and all was so very very delicious and I wrapped it in a warm tortillas spicy cheese sour cream and salsa (like a fajita?) . The onion and peppers I added the olive oil and a good heaping tablespoon of taco seasoning and mixed that together before I continued with the recipe as again written.. my husband loved this meal and it was easy and quick to make with very little clean up, just my thing. I give this recipe thumbs up..
Thank you
Abbey says
This cooking time and temp worked great for my sweet italian sausage links. Thanks!
Prescill says
Works out well. Thank you for the recipe!
Antonio says
Jezuz. It takes longer to read this article than to cook the dang sausages!
WholeLottaYum says
Feel free to click the jump to recipe button at the very top to get right to the recipe card! The post is written for readers who like to read extra tips and tricks for using an air fryer or perhaps are new to cooking or air frying.
Moni says
I love Jesus too! Thank you for adding the extra tips, tricks and details! I enjoy blogs so much better than cookbooks. Thank you for all of the work that you do to make our lives easier!
Tara says
Do you poke holes in your sausage? I didn’t see anything about that.
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Tara, You do NOT need to poke holes in the sausages. That actually causes valuable juices to leak out and reduces moisture. Thanks for asking! Jen
Trish says
We just made them and they were delicious!
Fruity says
Awesome recipe
Thanks
Marty Miller says
Just made some today. Time and temp were perfect. Thanks.
Ryan says
This was the longest article for simple instructions. Why is it so long and the useful information is buried?
WholeLottaYum says
The jump to recipe button is at the top to take you right to the recipe steps. The instructions are long because they're written for brand new air fryer users who might need extra tips and tricks to get it to turn out 🙂 Enjoy!
Jersey says
He’s a whiner
Jim Fregoli says
You have to endlessly scroll to get to the recipe not user friendly site. Also Ive tried several times with more than 1 air fryer and Italian sausages do not cook in 11 minutes. Not even close.
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Jim,
There's a jump to recipe button at the top you can use. The body content is written for people who are newer cooks or new to air frying so it gives lots of extra tips and help. All air fryers can vary, that's why we suggest using a digital meat thermometer ($10 on Amazon) and keeping an eye on the temp.
wesley chapleau says
large sauaage 25 min
WholeLottaYum says
Good to know! Thanks for adding that for others.