Air frying brats are super quick and easy to do, get tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked bratwurst every time.
Cook them on their own or add peppers and onions, either way they're a Whole Lotta Yum!
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Bratwurst in the air fryer are so good!
No need to wait until warmer days to enjoy grilled brats, learning how to air fry bratwurst means you can enjoy them any day of any month.
We show you how to cook the raw sausages at the perfect temperature and cooking time so they turn out juicy, flavorful, and browned on the outside.
We love serving the brats with sauteed peppers and onions, a cold broccoli salad, sauerkraut, or our bacon curry coleslaw.
Ingredients you'll need
Our personal favorite brand of brats is Johnsonville, but you can use whatever brand you prefer, the Costco ones are great too. The uncooked brats seem to come in a standard size regardless of brand.
- 1 pkg uncooked brats - standard size
- optional ingredients - sliced red or green bell peppers, beer to make air fryer beer brats (see cooking note below)
Kitchen tools
An Air Fryer- We have a Cosori XL basket style air fryer, an Omni Plus oven style air fryer, and a small 3.2L Farberware basket style air fryer. The Cosori was used in this recipe.
How to cook brats in the air fryer
Quicker than you can preheat an oven or grill, these brats will be cooked through and ready to eat. To make bratwurst in the oven, by the time you heat up your oven for 10-15 minutes and bake them for 20-25 minutes, that method takes more than double air frying does!
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the uncooked sausages in a single layer, making sure to leave a little room on all sides so that they'll cook evenly.
- The brats will take between 11-15 minutes until they're cooked through and the internal temperature reaches at least 160 F, we highly recommend using a digital meat thermometer to test this. Because of the fat content, brats do well cooked up to 190 F.
- There's no need to flip the brats halfway through cooking, but you can if you prefer.
- Remove them from the air fryer and let rest for 3-5 minutes before serving. It takes at least 5 minutes for the juices to redistribute evenly throughout the meat and make every bite juicy and moist. Enjoy!
Adding peppers and onions
Slice 1 bell pepper and half of an onion. Mix them in a medium-size bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.
Add the bratwurst, peppers, and onions to the air fryer spreading the veggies around the sausages. Continue with the remaining recipe steps above.
Making beer brats
If you want to make air fryer beer brats, it's super simple to do. One option is to buy beer brats that are already marinated in beer, there is usually numerous pre-flavored bratwurst on the market these days.
To marinate in beer: In a shallow dish, add one can or bottle of beer.
Add the uncooked brats to the beer and marinate them for 30 minutes. Remove the bratwurst after 30 mins and continue with the recipe instructions.
Serving ideas
Serve the sausages German style with potatoes, sauerkraut, mustard, and beer, or go American style on a bun with hot dog toppings, sauerkraut, bell peppers, and onions.
Storage and leftovers
Store: Store leftover bratwurst in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
Freeze: You can freeze any leftovers for up to 3 months in an air-tight container or wrap them in plastic wrap and then foil.
Reheat: To reheat brats in an air fryer, preheat your air fryer basket or oven to 350 F. Add the brats and air fry them for 3-4 minutes or until heated through.
Recipe notes
- We cooked the air fryer brats at 360 F, while we're typically a fan of quick air frying meats, lowering the bratwurst cooking temperature a bit helped to keep them plump without losing valuable juices. Air frying brats at higher temps make them shrivel.
- Most uncooked bratwurst brands come with 5 brats in the package, depending on what model of air fryer you have will determine how many brats you can cook at one time.
- If you buy the larger deli size brats they'll take longer to cook than the times mentioned in the recipe card.
- The internal temp of brats is done at 160 F but they won't be all the way browned yet. Continue cooking them until they're browned to your liking.
- Our air fryer bratwurst ended up taking 11 minutes to cook, but different types of air fryers might take a different amount of time so assume they'll take between 11-15 minutes.
Are bratwurst better in the oven or air fryer?
Whether or not brats are better in an oven or air fryer is a personal choice. We personally prefer air frying them since they cook quickly, stay juicy, and still turn brown.
Baking brats also have great results, but they don’t turn as brown unless you broil them after cooking, plus they take more than double the cooking time.
How do you know if brats are cooked through?
The best way to know whether or not your brats are cooked through is to use an inexpensive digital meat thermometer and to cook them until the sausage reaches at least 160 F.
Recipes for sausage
- Air fryer Sausage
- Air fryer kielbasa
- Air fryer breakfast links
- Frozen corn dogs in air fryer
- Frozen sausage in air fryer
- Air fryer chicken sausage
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Recipe
Easy Air Fryer Bratwurst
Equipment
- Powlaken Meat Food Thermometer optional but highly recommended
Ingredients
- 1 package uncooked brats
- optional - peppers and onions, beer
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 360 F.
- Air fry the bratwurst for 11-15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 160 F, which will take 11-15 minutes to cook. Flip them halfway through cooking. Feel free to cook them longer to get them browned to your liking, brats stay juicy up until an internal temperature of 190 F.
Adding peppers and onions (optional)
- Slice 1 bell pepper and half of an onion. Mix them in a medium-size bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Add the bratwurst, peppers, and onions to the air fryer spreading the veggies around the sausages. Continue with the remaining recipe steps above. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you don't preheat the air fryer, they'll take a little longer to cook.
- Cooking times can vary based on the air fryer model you have. We recommend using a digital meat thermometer to test for doneness.
- Bratwurst are considered done when the internal temperature reaches 160 F, however, the sausage most likely won't be fully browned on the outside at that point. Due to the high-fat content brats can be cooked up to 190 F and will still be plump and juicy.
- Serve the brats German style with potatoes, sauerkraut, mustard, and beer, or go American style on a bun with hot dog toppings, sauerkraut, or bell peppers, and onions.
Tom says
I did!
They turned out perfectly; I now have brats to go with scrambled eggs for the next two mornings. 🙂
Sheila says
Do you preheat fryer?
Can you cook frozen?
Margaret A Carmen says
Cooking brats in the air fryer sounds like a super quick and easy idea. I think they would be great with sauerkraut. Any other suggestions for a delicious side?
WholeLottaYum says
You can cook the sauerkraut right in with the brats, just add a jar right to the pot 🙂 Other good sides are potatoes, large soft pretzels, mustard, potato salad, and beer!
douglat says
sorry to laugh about stressing to clean air fryer so no white smoke.. do you not clean your air fryer everytime you use it?
WholeLottaYum says
I tryyy to haha. I have one air fryer that’s hard to clean that’s an oven style and tbh the whole unit doesn’t get cleaned every time other than the drip pan. My basket style is easy to clean and does get cleaned every time.
Richard Bui says
What if I boiled my brats beforehand? At what temp and time should I air fry them for?
WholeLottaYum says
If they're pre-boiled I would still do the same temp but just try a few minutes for the cooking time. Tbh if you're preboiling them they'll be easier to get browned sauting them in a pan for a few minutes instead of using the air fryer.
daniel says
The nutritional data shows nothing for saturated fat. That seems odd to me as most brats have 5 to 10 gram of saturated (an unhealthy) fat since saturated fat originates from animal meat.
WholeLottaYum says
They're just estimates from a calculator and might not include all of the data. Refer to the back of the package you purchase for exact nutritional info.
Suzanne says
I cooked for 15 and still pink. I would boil mine first. Did that the last time I air fried and it cooked through while still making kinda crisp with the air fryer. Thought I’d try this way this time.
Robin says
Thank you for stressing "not ever model cooker is the same" this recipe actually worked for me. I did check my brats after about 3 mins, since i have tried so many recipes from different sites. I'll be trying yours again.
Joann says
Put a few tbsp. Of water in bottom of air fryer. Have a Phillip's and luckily read that hint after a few smoke filled efforts. None since.
Stacy says
It calls for a can/bottle of beer but I don't see instructions for that??
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Stacy! The beer is an optional add-on, there's tips on how to add beer within the post--maybe it isn't on the recipe card? I'll go fix that! All you do is soak the brats in beer for 30 mins before air frying, don't soak longer than that because you won't want soggy brats! Enjoy!