Frozen Sausage in Air Fryer

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!

Frozen sausage links in the air fryer are so good!

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.

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. They only take 15 minutes!!

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!

What you'll need to Air Fry Frozen Sausages

While we used raw frozen Italian sausage, any variety of sausages you're trying to cook here will work. Whether you're cooking Italian sausages, 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

An Air Fryer Basket or Oven- We have a Cosori XL basket style air fryer, but any basket style or oven style unit will work!

How to cook

Preheat your air fryer at 400 F for 5 minutes before you start cooking.

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 on 400 F for about 12-14 minutes at 400F.

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!

Cooking frozen breakfast sausages

If you have frozen breakfast sausage links (and not the full size dinner links), here's how to air fry them:

1. Preheat your air fryer to 400 F for 5 minutes.
2. 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.
3. Flip them over after 5 minutes of cooking. Continue air frying the 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.

Recipe notes

• 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.
• You can use our method for air frying pre-cooked frozen sausages too, you might just need to take 1-3 minutes off of the cooking time.
• 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.

Serving ideas

• They're terrific on a bun with peppers and onions
• We like to slice them and add them in a stir fry with vegetables
• With roasted, steamed, or air fried vegetables.
• Served with pasta or rice dishes
• Crumbled like ground meat for a spaghetti sauce with meat.

Storage and leftovers

Store: store leftover sausage links in the fridge for up to 4 days in an air right container.
Freeze: leftovers 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.

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

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Recipe

Frozen Sausage Links in Air Fryer

Jen @ Whole Lotta Yum

Cooking frozen sausage in an air fryer is super easy! Whether you want to cook air fryer frozen Italian sausage or bratwurst from raw, get your sausages to turn out perfectly every time in an air fryer basket or oven.

5 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 13 minutes mins

Total Time 18 minutes mins

Course Air Fryer

Cuisine American

Servings 5

Calories 150 kcal

Equipment

• Air fryer
• Instant read meat thermometer

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 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

Standard size raw pork sausages were used to test this recipe, not the oversized meat counter sausage. Brands we commonly cook with are Johnsonville, Costco, and Trader Joe's. Sausages typically come 5 to a pack.

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 approximately 2 minutes less to cook.

Using a digital meat thermometer is highly recommended to make sure the internal temperature reaches the correct degree which is 160 F.

A Cosori 5.8 QT air fryer was used for recipe testing, which is 1600 watts. If your air fryer has either lower watts or higher watts, the recipe could take longer or less time time to cook.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 150kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 7gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 368mg

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