Learn the secret to crispy, evenly cooked air fryer frozen sausages every time — no thawing required! Juicy and golden brown frozen sausage air fried in less than 20 minutes!
Whether you're trying to cook Italian sausages, brats, chicken sausage, or other types of raw frozen sausage links like breakfast sausages, we'll show you our foolproof method on how to air fry frozen sausage in no time.
"These turned out beautifully browned moist and tasty" ~ Cathie on Pinterest
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Why Cook Frozen Sausage Links in Air Fryer?
Maybe you didn't have time to defrost sausages overnight (or oops ~ you forgot!), you can still get perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside sausages when starting from frozen.
If you've ever tried to cook frozen sausages in a skillet or in the oven, it honestly doesn't work that great. You often get uneven cooking, the sausage doesn't turn crisp because of all of that moisture, and the texture is less than ideal.
Cooking frozen foods in the air fryer solves these issues since air frying evenly circulates the hot around the food and cooks it consistently throughout. No more undercooked or overcooked spots as compared to other cooking methods!
Why you’ll love cooking Frozen Sausage in Air Fryer!
- Saves time: Our frozen sausage in air fryer recipe is ready in under 15 minutes!
- We show you how to air fry frozen sausages whether you're starting with raw sausage, precooked, or even breakfast sausage links.
- Great when you forget to take something out for dinner.
- Healthier since the grease drips off of the meat.
- Use our air fryer frozen sausage recipe to make meals such as hoagies or sandwiches, in soups, with pasta, or for breakfast.
- No need to monitor during cooking like other methods
What you'll need to Air Fry Frozen Sausage Links
While we used raw frozen Italian sausage, any variety of sausages you're trying to cook here will work. Whether you're cooking raw Italian sausage, raw bratwurst, or raw chicken sausage, the cooking times will all be the same.
If you're trying to air fry frozen breakfast sausage links or perhaps precooked frozen chicken sausage, just take 2-3 minutes off of the cooking time!
- frozen raw sausages, Italian sausage, or brats - any flavor or variety including Johnsonville, Costco, Jimmy Dean, and Trader Joe's. Sausages typically come 4-5 to a pack unless you buy them from Costco or buy the breakfast variety.
- You can add in frozen peppers and onions if you want to make these a meal.
Equipment needed to Air Fry Frozen Sausage Links
An Air Fryer Basket or Oven- 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 Frozen Sausage Links in Air Fryer
Cooking Temperature
You are going to cook your air fryer frozen sausage links in a preheated 400F air fryer basket or air fryer oven. Preheat your air fryer for 5 minutes before you start cooking.
Cooking Time
Step 1: Place the frozen uncooked sausage into the air fryer basket. It's ok if they're in a solid block, a couple of ours broke apart when we removed them from the package.
Step 2: Air fry the sausages for about 12-14 minutes at 400F. We suggest checking on them after the first 2 minutes of cooking to separate any sausages that are stuck together.
Step 3: After a total of 6 minutes of cooking time, flip them over and continue cooking the Italian sausage (or brats) for 6-7 more minutes until they are browned and cooked through.
The internal temperature of the sausage should be at least 165 F (up to 190 F) when tested with a digital meat thermometer. Enjoy!
Frozen Breakfast Sausage Air Fryer
If you have frozen breakfast sausage links (and not the full size dinner links), here's how to air fry them:
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 F for 5 minutes.
- Add the frozen breakfast sausage links and cook them for 10-13 minutes, checking them after 2 minutes to break them apart in the air fryer.
- Flip them over after 5 minutes of cooking. Continue air frying the breakfast sausage links until they're browned on the outside and the internal temp reaches at least 160 F when checked with an instant-read meat thermometer.
Tips for the best Frozen Sausage in Air Fryer
- There is no need to thaw your frozen sausage before cooking as our frozen sausage in air fryer recipe is meant to be used with frozen sausages or brats.
- We do recommend that you separate your sausages after 2-3 minutes of cooking.
- Using a digital meat thermometer is highly recommended to make sure the internal temperature reaches the correct degree which is 160 F.
- This recipe will work for any type of raw frozen sausage whether you're making raw Italian sausage or brats or raw Italian chicken sausage. It will also work for precooked sausage like chicken but they'll take less time to cook.
- Standard size raw pork sausages were used to test this recipe, not the oversized meat counter sausage
- Add a little water to the bottom of the air fryer basket if it starts smoking from the grease.
What to serve with Air Fryer Frozen Sausage
You can serve your air fryer Italian sausages in a variety of ways including:
- on a bun with peppers and onions
- in a stir fry with vegetables
- with roasted, steamed, or air fried vegetables.
- with pasta
- with rice dishes
- crumbled like ground meat for a spaghetti sauce with meat.
How to Store Leftover Air Fry Frozen Sausage Links
Store: store leftover air fryer sausage links in the fridge for up to 4 days in an air right container.
Freeze: leftover cooked sausages can be frozen for up to 3 months well wrapped and stored in an airtight container or freezer bag.
Reheat: The best way to reheat leftover sausages is to air fry them. Reheat sausage in the air fryer for a few minutes at 360 F until warm and they reach an internal temperature of at least 165 F when tested with a digital meat thermometer.
Air Fryer Frozen Sausage Links FAQs
Yes, you can cook frozen Italian sausage in an air fryer! Simply preheat the unit to 400F and cook the sausages from frozen for 12-14 minutes, separating the links after 2-3 minutes and flipping them after 6 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to ensure you reach 165F. We were able to easily cook a 5-link package of Italian sausage links.
Whether you are looking to cook sausages from frozen for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the answer is yes you can cook your sausage links from frozen. Any cooking method will adapt to frozen sausages including in a pan on the stovetop, baked, grilled, or air fried.
To cook sausage from frozen just add a few additional minutes of cooking time to
the recipe and use a digital meat thermometer to ensure you have cooked your sausage to 165 F.
If you've been wondering how to cook frozen sausage or even if you can, it's actually super simple whether you use the oven, stovetop, or an air fryer.
Cooking sausage from frozen in the oven is a similar process as air frying. Preheat the oven to 400 F and cook the frozen sausage on a baking sheet for about 40-45 minutes until it’s cooked through with an internal temperature of at least 165 F.
You can also cook frozen sausage on the stovetop, however, the sausages won’t turn as brown because of all of the moisture in the pan. Air frying or baking sausage from frozen is the best method.
More Air Fryer Sausage Recipes
- Air fryer sausage (Italian sausage)
- Air fryer bratwurst
- Air fryer sausage links (breakfast sausage)
- Air fryer kielbasa
- Air fryer chicken sausage
- Air fryer sausage patties
- Frozen corn dogs in air fryer
✅ Get our FREE air fryer foods list here OR 🥘 Buy our Top 50 Air Fryer Recipes HERE
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📖 Recipe
Frozen Sausage Links in Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb package of frozen raw sausages Italian sausage or brats
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer on 400 F for 5 minutes.
- Place the frozen uncooked sausage into the air fryer basket. It's ok if they're in a solid block, a couple of ours broke apart when we removed them from the package.
- The sausages will take about 12-14 minutes to cook. We suggest checking on them after the first 2 minutes of cooking to separate any sausages that are stuck together.
- After a total of 6 minutes of cooking time, flip them over and continue cooking the Italian sausage (or brats) 6-7 more minutes until they are browned and cooked through. The internal temperature of the sausage should be at least 160 F when tested with a digital meat thermometer.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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