How Long To Cook Brats In Ninja Foodi

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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! Using an air fryer is definitely the quickest method. 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.

Eating sausages for dinner is one of the easiest protein options, plus they work for gluten-free (if you skip the beer), low carb, paleo, and a keto diet too.

air fryer brats closeup photo cooked on a bed of bell peppers

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Brats in Air Fryer

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 This Recipe Works

You can't cook bratwurst faster than making brats in the air fryer
You get that grilled brats taste without pulling out the grill
The only ingredient you need for this recipe is bratwurst!
Brats in air fryer are low carb, gluten-free, paleo, and keto

Don't have an air fryer yet?? After tons of research, we decided to purchasean air fryer/toaster oven combo and it replaced our old countertop toaster oven. Instant Potsells another model through Walmart will most of the same features but for less.

Ingredients for Air Fryer Bratwurst

One reason we loved to eat air fryer brats is that you just need one ingredient….bratwurst!

How many other protein options do you just cook straight out of the package that doesn't need additional seasoning or oil? It's hard to come up with ideas, am I right?

Our personal favorite brand of brats is Johnsonville, but you can use whatever brand you prefer. The uncooked brats seem to come in a standard size regardless of brand.

1 pkg uncooked brats

air fry brats laying on a cooking sheet before cooking

How to Make Air Fry Brats

Since brats are already preseasoned and a higher fat content, you don't need to do any prep work for this recipe. I like to take the brats out of the fridge for 5-10 minutes before cooking.

Air Fryer Bratwurst Temperature

We cooked this recipe on 360F, while we're typically a fan of quicking cooking meats, lowering the bratwurst cooking temperature a bit helped to keep them plump without losing valuable juices.

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. 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.

Another advantage of making brats in air fryer is that it only takes a few minutes to heat up, so you don't even need to preheat your air fryer before putting the brats in.

Simply lay the brats on the air fryer rack and put them in at 360 F.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Bratwurst has a high-fat content and like bacon, COULD cause your air fryer to fill with white smoke. Make sure your drip tray is clean before cooking these if you have an air fryer oven model like we do. By starting with a clean air fryer, I did NOT get any smoke during cooking and everything worked perfectly.

I've also read tips from others who put perforated parchment pieces under the item they're cooking so that less grease drips during cooking.

Air Fry Bratwurst Cook Time

The total cooking time will take about 11-12 minutes but can vary based on your air fryer model. Cook the brats in an air fryer oven for 6 minutes and flip them over and continue cooking 5-6 more minutes, until done and the internal temperature is 160F.

Our air fryer bratwurst ended up taking 11 minutes to cook, but different types of air fryers might take a different amount of time. 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.

The key is making sure the internal temperature of the bratwurst is 160 F, that's when you know they're done.

Compare an 11-12 minute cook time with the oven?! 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 do!

Since brats are such a quick-cooking recipe you can even skip flipping them over; the total cook time would still be the same. The oven style air fryers in particular do a pretty good job of browning both sides for recipes with a short cooking time.

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!

We had leftover sauteed peppers and onions in the fridge and served that with the bratwurst sausages if you want to add something like sliced peppers or onions to the air fryer brats, season them and mix with oil, spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray, lay the veggies on the rack and put the bratwurst on top of the peppers before cooking.

bratwurst in air fryer that are cooked and on a bed of peppers

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's usually numerous pre-flavored bratwurst on the market these days.

That being said, if you have a favorite beer you love you'd rather cook your bratwurst in, here's what you do:

In a shallow smaller pan, add one can or bottle of beer.

Add the uncooked brats to the beer and marinate for 30 minutes. Remove the bratwurst after 30 mins and continue cooking with the brats in air fryer instructions. Whether you make pressure cooker beer brats or regular air fry bratwurst, both are delicious!

Some people prefer to soak their warm brats in beer AFTER cooking, this is a great way to serve brats to a big group of people and it also helps to keep them plump.

More Air Fryer Pork Recipes

Air Fryer Pork Chops Recipe
Air fryer Sausage
Air fryer kielbasa
Air fryer breakfast links

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Ingredients

1 pkg uncooked brats

Instructions

Since brats are already preseasoned and a higher fat content, you don't need to do any prep work for this recipe. I like to take the brats out of the fridge for 5-10 minutes before cooking.

Air Fryer Bratwurst Temperature

Cook on 360 F.

Lay the brats in a single layer on the air fryer basket, leaving room on all sides.

No need to preheat the air fryer, just lay the brats on the basket and put in at 360.

Air Fry Brats Cook Time

You'll be cooking the brats in an air fryer oven for a total of 11-12 minutes, cook them for 6 minutes on one side and then flip them over.

The key is making sure the internal temperature of the bratwurst is 160 F, that's when you know they're done.

Our air fryer bratwurst ended up taking 11 minutes to cook, but different types of air fryers might take a different amount of time.

Since brats are such a quick-cooking recipe we didn't even flip them over, we cooked the brats for 11 minutes on one side. Feel free to flip them half way if you prefer or if you model beeps at you and tells you to flip.

Remove the brats from the air fryer and let rest for 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.

Notes

IMPORTANT NOTE: Bratwurst have a high-fat content and like bacon, COULD cause your air fryer to fill with white smoke. Make sure your drip tray is clean before cooking these if you have an air fryer oven model like we do. By starting with a clean air fryer, I did NOT get any smoke during cooking and everything worked perfectly.

I've also read tips from others who put perforated parchment pieces under the item they're cooking so that less grease drips during cooking.

Since these cook fast, you can also skip flipping them, if desired.

Serve with peppers and onions (which can be cooked on the pan at the same time), sauerkraut, or serve them on a bun.

Nutrition Information

Yield 5 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 287 Total Fat 5g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 3g Cholesterol 13mg Sodium 147mg Carbohydrates 1g Net Carbohydrates 0g Fiber 0g Sugar 0g Sugar Alcohols 0g Protein 3g

easy air fryer bratwurst recipe Pinterest pin