Air-Fried Sausage Sandwich

This air-fried sausage sandwich is the kind of sandwich you can really sink your teeth into... and then it drips down your chin and wrists and gives you that oh-so-satisfying feeling.

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This is the kind of sandwich you don’t put down halfway through. You keep it in your hands for a few reasons – you’re holding it together and you fear that if you let go it will fall apart; you’re worried that if you do put it down, someone else might pick it up and then you’d fall apart; and you just don’t want to stop eating it. All good reasons.

Using the air fryer for this traditional sandwich make this much easier to make than if you were to cook the sausage in a pan, sauté the vegetables in a skillet, toast the bun in the oven and then broil everything to melt the cheese. In the air fryer, you do make the sandwich in stages, but you get to use the one appliance and not have multiple vessels to clean up at the end.

Ingredients for sausage sandwiches on a wooden board - buns, cheese, sausages, peppers, onion and jarred marinara sauce.

As with most recipes, the key to this being the perfect sausage sandwich rests with the quality of the sausage that you get. I have a market nearby that makes excellent sausages and that’s where I would choose to go. You might have a favorite brand of sausage, might prefer chicken or turkey to pork, or have a penchant for hot Italian sausage over sweet. It’s all up to you, but make sure you are getting sausages that you like because they are carrying most of the flavor in this recipe. 

Sausages, onions and peppers in an air fryer basket.

The next most important ingredient is the crusty rolls. The rolls need to be sturdy enough to hold the sausage, vegetables, sauce and cheese and not get too soggy. They also need to be easy to bite into, however, so you have to find that fine line. Also, make sure you get the right sized roll for the sausages you buy. No-one really wants more bun than sausage, so plan accordingly.

Two sausage sandwiches on an aluminum foil sling in an air fryer basket.

The rest is easy. Melting the cheese in the roll gives the sausage a nice bed to lie in. Then more cheese on top sort of seals everything together. Using the foil sling to lower the sandwiches into the air fryer as well as pull them out is not 100% necessary, but it makes it a lot easier, and easier is what we’re all about with this recipe. And once it’s easily done, I promise you… you won’t want to put it down. 

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Air-Fried Sausage Sandwiches

  • Prep Time: 10 m
  • Cook Time: 30 m
  • Total Time: 40 m
  • Servings:
    6

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ pounds Italian sausage 6 links
  • 1 onion sliced
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 bell peppers red, yellow and green, sliced
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 cup marinara sauce
  • 18 slices provolone cheese
  • 6 long crusty rolls

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the air fryer to 400°F. Place the sausages in the basket and air-fry for 12 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking process.
  2. Transfer the sausages to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Place the onions in the air fryer basket and drizzle with a little olive oil (or the fat from the sausages in the bottom of the air fryer drawer). Season with salt and pepper, toss to evenly coat onions and air-fry at 400°F for 5 minutes, tossing halfway through the cooking process.
  3. Add the peppers, garlic and Italian seasoning to the onions and toss everything together. Air-fry at 400°F for an additional 10 minutes, tossing a couple of times during the cooking process.
  4. When there are 3 minutes left on the timer, return the sausages to the basket and nestle them into the vegetables. Continue to air-fry to make sure the sausage is warmed through. Transfer everything to a platter and wipe out the basket.
  5. Slice the rolls three quarters of the way open and place a slice of provolone cheese in each roll. Add a sausage link to each roll and top with some of the onions and peppers. Spoon some marinara sauce over the top, and place two more slices of provolone cheese over the layer of sauce. Press the cheese lightly into the sauce so the cheese does not blow off during air-frying (or use some toothpicks to hold the cheese down).
  6. Make an aluminum foil sling: Fold a piece of aluminum foil into a strip about 6-inches wide by 18-inches long. Depending on the size of your air fryer, place two or three of the sandwiches in the middle of the foil and use the ends of the foil to lower the sandwiches into the air fryer. Air-fry at 350°F for about 3 minutes until the cheese has melted.
  7. Using the sides of the aluminum foil, carefully remove the sausage sandwiches from the basket and serve immediately.
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Comments (4)Post a Reply

  1. 5 stars
    Just bought a KitchenAid Mixer with most of the attachments. So my first try with the sausage maker was chicken sausage. I didn’t know how to cook it or with what to cook with it. Low and behold, your email. So I tried it and it came out great. I didn.t have provolone so I used swiss. Every time in the past when I cook peppers, I over cook them they are soggy and limp. So thank you for the recipe.

  2. 5 stars
    Loved cooking everything in the air fryer in stages.
    I think next time I make this recipe I’ll cook the onions and peppers a few minutes longer.
    I’ll definitely make this again.

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