Making air fryer kielbasa is a fast and simple method to create Polish sausage, whether you’re eating it as an appetizer or as a major meal for dinner.
In less than 5 minutes you may have properly cooked kielbasa in the air fryer without having to monitor it continually on the stove or cook it with superfluous oil.
Cooking kielbasa in an air fryer is a terrific supper idea, and it may also be gluten-free, low carb, and keto friendly, depending on which brand you select.
If you’re air fryer crazy like we are, then you’ll want to also prepare our other air-fried sausage recipes for bratwurst, Italian sausages, and breakfast sausage.
Serve the kielbasa air fryer sausages with a side of mustard to enjoy as an appetizer or how about as a main meal with pirogies and cabbage.
Polish Sausage in Air Fryer (Kielbasa)
Did you know that Polish sausage and smoked kielbasa are the same thing?? When you hear someone referring to Polish sausage, they’re referring to kielbasa, which is essentially simply the Polish term for sausage.
When we speak about cooking kielbasa in the air fryer, we’ll be using that word interchangeably with air fryer Polish sausage because people sometimes refer to it in various ways.
We ate A LOT of kielbasa growing up as my grandma’s family hailed from Poland. Typically we ate it as a fast skillet meal blended with a creamy cabbage sauce like this one pan skillet kielbasa recipe.
Why This Recipe Works
Air Fryer Kielbasa cooks in less time than cooking it in a skillet
Cutting it into little pieces means it may be either the right size as an appetizer or dinner
Air fryer Polish sausage is properly cooked in less than 5 minutes
You may simply replace out higher fat kielbasa and cook turkey kielbasa instead Ingredients
Polish sausage in an air fryer is really a one-ingredient recipe as kielbasa is pre-seasoned, pre-smoked, and rich in fat, no further oil or ingredients are required to cook this.
1 packet of kielbasa (10 oz-12 oz), depending on the brand
How does Polska Kielbasa vary from other brands of store-bought Polish sausage? It doesn’t! Polska Kielbasa is what the popular Hillshire Farms labels their brand of Polish sausage. So if you’ve been wondering how to air fry Polska Kielbasa, it would be the same procedure as any other national or regional brand of sausage.
How to Make Prep and Preheat
Preheat an air fryer for 3-4 minutes on 380F.
While your unit is heating, prep the sausage by cutting the rope into 1-1.5 inch pieces.
Add the Polish sausage to the basket, allowing space in between each portion. We used our tiny Farberware air fryer for this recipe and the full package of the sliced sausage was able to fit into the basket with space on all sides.
How Long to Air Fryer Kielbasa Air fried the kielbasa sausage for 4 mins on one side, shake the basket and continue frying it for 3-4 more minutes till browned.
As you can see in the shot, within 4 minutes they’re already beginning to turn brown. Polish sausage comes pre-cooked so all you need to do is simply heat it up and brown it a little bit.
The kielbasa air fryer recipe is officially done when the internal temperature of the Polish sausage hits 160F. If you prefer your kielbasa golden and crispy you may just add a few more minutes to the cooking time.
Serve the air fryer kielbasa sausage with mustard and toothpicks if you’re serving them as an appetizer, or serve them as the main meal with your favorite side dishes.
Recipe Tips
Other methods to serve kielbasa are to cut them into thinner slices if you wish to combine them with sliced onions and peppers.
You may also split them in half and then lengthwise and serve with a side of roasted potatoes and Brussel sprouts. Kielbasa is excellent as it’s adaptable and may be served as an appetizer or as part of your supper.
We got Polish sausage at our grocery store from a local firm that manufactures kielbasa, but any national brand would work, or even turkey kielbasa too.
Spread the pieces out in the air fryer basket, we used our tiny air fryer and it was still able to handle a whole package of kielbasa with room around each sausage. As much as possible, you want to leave room in between portions as you’re cooking to aid with browning.
And there’s no need to add any oil or spice as kielbasa comes pre-seasoned, plus it’s a fatty meat, which means no more oil is required.
If you’re worried about white smoke in your air fryer, you may either place a piece of old bread in the bottom to collect the oil or add 1 tablespoon of water to the bottom of the pan. That being said, we had no difficulties with our machine smoking and it might be because kielbasa doesn’t drop as much fat as opposed to recipes like air fryer bacon.
What to Serve with Kielbasa
If you’re wondering what to serve with air fryer Polish sausage, it can depend on whether you want to eat them as an appetizer or a main meal. Here’s a selection of our favorite side dishes to pair with kielbasa.
German Potato Salad Coleslaw Fried Cabbage Pierogies
Spicy Mustard Beer
More appetizers!
More Air Fryer Sausage Recipes
And be sure to bookmark the recipe for later on Pinterest so you can quickly go back to it!
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Yield: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Air fryer kielbasa cooks in about 5 minutes and provides a simple meal or appetizer in a hurry.
Ingredients
1 box of kielbasa (10 oz-12 oz)
Instructions
Preheat an air fryer for 3-4 minutes on 380F.
While your unit is heating, prep the sausage by cutting the rope into 1-1.5 inch pieces.
Add the Polish sausage to the basket, allowing space in between each portion.
Air fried the kielbasa sausage for 4 mins on one side, shake the basket and continue frying it for 3-4 more minutes till golden.
The kielbasa air fryer recipe is officially done when the internal temperature of the Polish sausage hits 160F. If you prefer your kielbasa golden and crispy you may just add a few more minutes to the cooking time.
Serve the air fryer kielbasa sausage with mustard and toothpicks if you’re serving them as an appetizer, or serve them as the main meal with your favorite side dishes.
Notes Substitute turkey kielbasa when you want Polish sausage flavour with less fat.
Leave room in between the sausage slices to aid with browning.
No further seasoning or oil is required with kielbasa because it’s already pre-seasoned and smoked (pre-cooked).
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