Air frying brats are super quick and easy to do, you won't believe how fast you can cook your brats in an air fryer!
Cooking brats in air fryer is definitely the fastest cooking method out there. Cook them on their own or with peppers and onions in just 15 minutes. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
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Bratwurst in Air Fryer
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.
Serve the air fryer brats with sauteed peppers and onions, a cold broccoli salad, sauerkraut, or our bacon curry coleslaw.
If cooking bratwurst is on your regular meal plan like it is ours, then you'll also want to check out our recipes for instant pot brats and brats cooked in the oven.
Why you'll love this Brats Air Fryer recipe
- You can't cook bratwurst faster than making air fryer brats
- You get that grilled brats taste without pulling out the grill
- The only ingredient you need for the air fryer brats recipe is bratwurst!
- Brats in air fryer are low carb, gluten-free, paleo, and keto
Ingredients for Cooking Brats in Air Fryer
One reason we loved to eat air fryer brats is that you just need one ingredient....bratwurst!
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)
Equipment
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 Air Fryer
Quicker than you can preheat an oven or grill, your brats in air fryer recipe will be cooked through and ready to eat! To make brats 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 the air fryer bratwurst does!
Air Fryer Bratwurst Temperature
Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make sure they're in a single layer or else they won't brown, and be sure to leave a little room on all sides so that they'll cook evenly.
How long to cook Brats in Air Fryer
Air fryer 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 the brats 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.
Air Fryer 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 at home:
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 cooking with the brats in air fryer instructions!
How to serve Air Fryer Brats
Serve the air fryer brats German style with potatoes, sauerkraut, mustard, and beer, or go American style on a bun with hot dog toppings, sauerkraut, bell peppers, and onions.
How to store these Air Fry Brats
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.
Air Fry Brats Recipe Tips
- 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.
- Flipping the air fryer brats over is optional.
- 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. It’s super important to keep an eye on the temperature to get the hang of how long to cook these in your exact model.
Cooking Brats in Air Fryer FAQs
Can you cook raw brats in the air fryer?
Yes, you can cook raw brats in an air fryer. They turn out super tender and juicy by air frying them. You can also air fry pre-cooked bratwurst too.
Are brats better in oven or air fryer?
Whether or not brats are better in an oven or air fryer is a personal choice. We personally prefer air fryer bratwurst 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.
More Air Fryer Sausage Recipes
- 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
Please leave a review if you make our air fryer bratwurst recipe! We love feedback from readers, plus it helps others too.
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
BEST Air Fryer Brats
Air frying brats are super quick and easy to do, you won't believe how fast you can cook yours brats in an air fryer! Cook air fried bratwurst with peppers and onions or on their own.
Ingredients
- 1 pkg uncooked brats
- optional - peppers and onions, beer
Instructions
Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 360 F.
Place the bratwurst in the air fryer basket, making sure to spread them out.
Cook the sausage until the internal temperature reaches at least 160 F, in a Cosori air fryer, which will take 11-15 minutes to cook. Feel free to cook them longer to get them browned to your liking, brats stay juicy up until an internal temperature of 190 F.
Since brats are a quick-cooking recipe, there's no need to flip them over but you can if you prefer.
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.
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.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 287Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 13mgSodium 281mgCarbohydrates 3gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 3g
The nutrional information is just an estimate and was calculated by an automated calculator. If you're on a restricted health program please manually calculate this information using the brands of ingredients you have since brands can vary.
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!