Easy recipe for air fryer sausage and pepper sandwiches. Perfectly cooked Italian sausages, nestled in a bun with roasted bell peppers and onions. Serve with chips and your favorite mustard for an awesome gameday treat or a quick weeknight meal to satisfy any hungry appetite!
Air fryers do so much more than simply make breaded dishes, and the talents of the air fryer are never more evident than with a recipe such as this one. Let’s take a look at how we make these classic sausage and pepper “sandwiches”.
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What is sausage and peppers?
Simply put, they are Italian sausages with roasted bell peppers and onions served on a bun. Do you call this delicious meal a sandwich? I’m sure you could, but would you call a hot dog a sandwich? That’s all a debate for another day. For now, we’ll call our air fryer sausage and peppers a delicious meal.
Why use an air fryer?
With the air fryer, we get sausages that are nice and browned, like on a grill. as well as peppers and onions that are roasted to perfection, without using the stovetop or griddle. In fact, these sausages and peppers all cook together in the air fryer for the same amount of time. Yep, it’s that easy!
Simple Ingredients
Perhaps more of a “how-to” rather than an actual recipe, this dish comes together with ease using just a few simple ingredients. Naturally, we’ll need Italian sausages. The usually come in mild or hot, but some brands can have all sorts of varieties so feel free to choose whichever kind you like. Then of course, we have the peppers. I like to use 3 bell peppers – one green, one yellow and one red. Like a traffic signal. A sliced onion is also a big part of the show. We round out the ingredients with just a pinch of salt, pepper and oregano. Oh, and a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
Simple Prep
Preparing this “delicious dish” is SO simple… slice the peppers, slice the onions. I mean really, that’s about it. Slice them thick, especially the onion. They all like to shrink during cooking and we want nice big and juicy pieces to go on the sausages. Once the peppers and onions are sliced, toss them with the vegetable oil add a pinch each of salt, pepper and oregano, and get them all nice and coated.
Pre-heat and air fry
Start by preheating the air fryer at 400°(F) for 5 minutes. Now we’re ready for the air fryer to do it’s magic. Once the preheat is complete, simply place the onion and peppers in the air fryer basket (or on the tray for tray style air fryers)and nestle the sausages in amongst them. Close it up and set to “air fry” at 400°(F) for 15 minutes. During the cooking process, open the air fryer and stir the veggies a bit and turn the sausages so they get a nice and even char. Times can vary a bit from air fryer to air fryer, so after the 15 minutes are up, if they need to be done a bit more, do another 5 minutes. We want the internal temperature of the sausages to be 160°(F).
Make your buns count
Everyone likes good buns. And for our sausage and peppers, we’ll need good sized buns that are strong and hold up. While you can sometimes get away with using hot dog buns, the small size will be frustrating. Get a good package of sausage or brat buns. And if you can find large sized brioche buns, go for it! Small sandwich or sub buns work well too. The point is, a good bun will really make this meal as good as it can possibly be.
Ready to serve!
After our cooking time is complete, we’re ready to serve! As mentioned above, get a good bun and start loading up with a few of the veggies first, then the sausage. Then some more veggies and onions to your liking. Now, what else can you put on your sausage sandwich? Mustard of course! Regular mustard will always do, but for a dish such as this, I like to bust out the premium mustards. A good Dijon mustard or whole grain mustard is amazing with sausage and peppers.
Other kinds of sausage?
Standard Italian sausage is made from a variety of pork. But there’s lot of other sausages out there and you’re certainly free to use any of them! I particularly like some of the chicken sausages found in supermarkets. Polish sausage will work, bratwurst will work, even some of the vegan sausages are excellent. Feel free to experiment with different kinds.
Leftovers and storage
Leftover sausage and peppers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Usually 1 minute in the microwave if enough to get them good and warmed up.
PrintRecipe
Best Damn Air Fryer Sausage and Peppers
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 sausages
Description
Perfectly cooked Italian sausages with roasted bell peppers and onions, all made in your air fryer at the same time. Perfect for a quick weeknight meal or a gameday feast!
Ingredients
- 4–6 Italian sausages, mild or hot
- 3–4 bell peppers (green, red, yellow)
- 1 onion, large
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
- Pinch of salt, pepper, oregano
Instructions
- Slice peppers and onions into thick strips, toss with vegetable oil, salt, pepper and oregano.
- Preheat air fryer to 400°(F) for 5 minutes.
- Add peppers and onions to air fryer basket or tray and nestle the sausages on top of the veggies.
- Set air fryer to “air fry” at 400° for 15-20 minutes, stirring veggies and turning sausages every 5 minutes.
- Serve sausages on large buns with peppers and onions.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
John says
Made the sausage & peppers tonight. Came out great. So easy.
C Kersting says
Super quick & tasty weeknight meal! Onions and peppers came out perfect. Great recipe. Thank you!
Beth says
Great recipe! I love Gilbert’s sausages — precooked (sous vide), many flavors, no chemicals, links wrapped individually, antibiotic free chicken. They have a neat website with recipes too. I just pop them in later than the other ingredients. Oh, and I cut them into pieces. (No affiliation with Gilberts)