Whip up a batch of air fryer hot dogs in eight minutes flat and feed your family faster than you can drive-thru a local restaurant. These delicious, perfectly cooked hot dogs will disappear faster than you can blink and satisfy every craving. A favorite for the big game!
🍽️ Why This Works
It’s fast. Nothing is more annoying than waiting for food that ought to be fast. Air frying a handful of hot dogs is the perfect answer to fast food at home. This easy air fryer hot dog recipe lets you have an entire meal ready and on the table in eight minutes or less.
It’s relatively mess-free. Using the air fryer for hot dogs makes clean-up easy as pie. Give the air fryer basket a quick rinse in hot soapy water, and you are good to go.
It’s not at all complicated. You can teach your tweens, teens, or babysitter to make a batch of hotdogs with little to no effort. No need to fire up the grill or grease up a skillet.
🌭 Ingredients
📝 Ingredient Notes
Nathan Hot Dogs – These all-beef hot dogs are a family favorite with that classic flavor from the original owner selling these on the streets of Coney Island. Hebrew National and Ballpark are other great brands but you can definitely use any other type you like.
Hot Dog Buns – You can get your favorite brand.
⏲️ Equipment and Tools
Air Fryer | When shopping for an air fryer, find one that will hold a decent amount of food and still circulate air. We use the Instant Vortex 7-in-1 (which heats higher) or our Ninja basket. Whenever you make something for the first time, remember that your air fryer may heat differently, and check your food early.
Tongs | Grabbing hot dogs with a fork is manageable, but a good pair of tongs makes the job easier.
🔥 Instructions
Step One: Remove hot dogs from the packaging. Using a sharp knife or SlotDog to create crisscross hatches or diagonal slits across the hot dogs. This is 100% OPTIONAL but the extra 2 minutes it takes is worth it to me. You will love how they turn out.
Step Two: Place the hot dogs in a single layer in the Air fryer, and cook for 6 minutes at 400 degrees F. Turn halfway through cooking time. If serving more than 4 dogs at a time, repeat for another 4 hot dogs. With such a fast cooking time, you can air fry hot dogs in as many batches as you need.
OPTIONAL: While the hot dogs are cooking in the Air Fryer, you can make toasted buns. Heat the oven up to 400°F degrees. Place the hot dog buns opened at the split on a cookie sheet, for about 5 minutes, just until the buns are a light golden brown. Remove, and set aside.
Step Three: Assemble and serve! You can set up a hot dog bar with all kinds of favorite toppings for a party, or just pile all the family favs on the dining table so that each can make his or her own.
❗ Recipe Tips and Tricks
To enjoy the best hot dogs, you’ll need a good, high-quality, all-beef hot dog. Cheap or generic hot dogs are inferior in quality and seasoning.
If your air fryer has fixed temperatures, go with a lower temperature rather than a higher temperature. You don’t want the hot dogs to overheat and bust open. With a lower temperature, you may need to add time to make sure the air fryer hot dogs are good and hot.
Make sure the hot dogs are not touching or crowded in the air fryer for best results. Remember that the air has to circulate around the food to cook most efficiently. We’re aiming for the best air fryer hot dogs that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Using air fryer liners, such as parchment sheets, will help even more to keep this meal mess-free. I use both versions and have linked the black silicone ones you see in the photos in the recipe card.
Using the Slot Dog tool will make the cross hatches come together in a skinny minute. If your family loves hot dogs (indoors or out on the grill) this is a must!
🧑🍳 Storage and Reheating
Keep leftover hot dogs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for four or five days.
Freeze leftover hot dogs if you know you won’t use them before they go bad. They can last in a freezer for several months if kept in an airtight container.
To reheat your air fryer hot dogs, throw them in the microwave, air fryer, or skillet for a very short time until heated through. The microwave will likely take less than thirty seconds and may make your hotdog pop a little bit.
🍱Meal Prep
Since hot dogs come pre-cooked, all you have to do is get them hot throughout and serve them warm. The air fryer makes it super easy to get hotdogs warmed up fast. If you are serving a crowd, cook eight at a time and place them in a warm crockpot with the lid on as people go through the line.
Save your leftover hot dogs to chop up and add to mac-and-cheese, fried potatoes, chili, or a different soup. If you are planning ahead for one of these meals, go ahead and dice the hot dogs and place them in freezer-quality plastic bags already portioned for your recipe.
Flatten the bags and remove all air so that the hot dogs don’t clump together until after they are frozen. These will be very handy to throw in your dish or thaw quickly in a skillet.
If you are serving hotdogs to a mass of people, you can prep all the toppings the day before – dice the onions and tomatoes, etc. This will save a lot of time on the day of the big event.
🌶️Additions and Substitutions
This is such a versatile air fryer recipe! Brush the buns lightly with butter before you toast them for additional flavor and a restaurant-quality touch. Do not add too much butter because you don’t want them greasy or soggy. I like to melt the butter in the microwave and then brush it on sparingly using a pastry brush.
You can bacon wrap the hot dogs for an even more appealing look and taste. This will only add an extra 2-3 minutes of cooking time.
Make sure to have all of the classic hotdog toppings on hand. There are so many combinations that deliver amazing flavors.
Relish, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, and honey mustard are all standard options. If you have other favorite condiments, don’t be afraid to use them.
American cheese, raw red onions, and pickles are all great options to have on the table.
Switch things up when you heat up a can of Cincinnati chili and serve the hot dogs with freshly grated cheddar. Chili cheese dogs for the win!
Go for the upgrade when you offer heated chili, bacon bits, shredded cheddar cheese, baked beans, barbecue sauce, mac and cheese, or potato chips for topping the hot dogs.
Make a special hot dog sauce with a mixture of equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise and a dash of mustard. Stir it all together and use it on the bun or use it as a dipping sauce. This sauce also goes well with meatballs!
More great ideas for hot dog toppings: jalapenos, pickled peppers or pickled onions, avocado slices, cranberry sauce, homemade guacamole, spinach dip, ranch or blue cheese dressing, coleslaw, black bean and corn salsa, sauerkraut, or tomatoes.
🍽️Serving Suggestions
It’s fun to experiment with different side dishes to go with your air fryer hot dogs.
A simple approach is to go for a few more easy air fryer recipes. Make a batch of air fryer waffle fries or French fries to go with tradition, especially if you have more than one air fryer.
We also love pairing hot dogs with air fryer tater tots, air fryer blooming onion, air fryer sweet potato fries, air fryer frozen curly fries, and air fryer zucchini chips.
But you can also serve these with a big batch of smoked mac and cheese, potato salad, corn on the cob, a fresh green salad, or roasted cauliflower.
🥐More Air Fryer Appetizers & Snacks
The air fryer is the perfect appliance for making fast and delicious meals that are crispy while using less oil.
Air fryer mini corn dogs are another fast treat well-loved by kids and grownups and so are air fryer dino nuggets.
It’s so easy to whip up amazing appetizers in the air fryer! Recipes such as air fryer crab cakes, air fryer taquitos, air fryer bagel bites, air fryer chicken tenders, air fryer frozen jalapeno poppers, and air fryer pickles, can save you in a pinch!
These are also perfect for the holiday season when you’re already using the oven and stovetop for other recipes.
❓ Recipe FAQ
6 minutes at 400ºF. If your air fryer has set temperatures, go with a lower temperature and add a little more time. Check your hot dogs for doneness before time is up if you are cooking them in your air fryer for the first time.
Yes. The technique is basically the same, but you will have to add a little bit of time to get the hot dogs heated through. Try adding two or three minutes, and check frequently.
Start with eight minutes at 400ºF, and if the hot dogs aren’t quite ready, add thirty seconds at a time until they are finished. Since jumbo hot dogs are longer but not necessarily thicker, they will probably cook in about the same amount of time as regular hot dogs.
When hot dogs are cooked through, they might start to get a little sizzly. They will darken or brown on the outside. They may also start to make a whistling noise or start to crack open ever so slightly. You do not want them to fully bust open. The main thing is just to get them hot.
Both cooking methods will yield delicious hot dogs but the air fryer will give the hot dogs a crispier outside while keeping the inside juicy.
Yes, but they won’t turn out as crispy unless you use a separator to divide the two in the air fryer basket. This also means you’ll be able to cook a smaller batch of hot dogs and fries. Both cook fast so if crispiness is your main goal, cook them one at a time.
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Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also stay in touch with me through social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!
Air Fryer Hot Dogs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 Hot Dogs
- 4 Hot Dog Buns
Instructions
- Remove hot dogs from packaging. Using a sharp knife or SlotDog to create criss cross hatches across the hot dogs. This is 100% OPTIONAL but the extra 2 minutes it takes is worth it to me. You will love how they turn out.
- Place the hot dogs in the Air fryer, and cook for 6 minutes at 400°F degrees. Turn half way through cooking time. If serving more than 4 dogs at a time, repeat for another 4 hot dogs.
- OPTIONAL: While the hot dogs are cooking in the Air Fryer, heat the oven up to 400°F degrees. Place the hot dog buns on a cookie sheet the are open at the split, for about 5 minutes, just until the buns are a light golden brown. Remove, and set aside.
- You can either assemble the hot dogs, or place items on a hot dog buffet. Place the hot dogs in the hot dog buns, top with your preferred toppings, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Hi!
Ginny Collins is a passionate foodie and recipe creator of Savor and Savvy and Kitchenlaughter. Indoors she focuses on easy, quick recipes for busy families and kitchen basics. Outdoors, she focuses on backyard grilling and smoking to bring family and friends together. She is a lifelong learner who is always taking cooking classes on her travels overseas and stateside. Her work has been featured on MSN, Parade, Fox News, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and many local news outlets. She lives in Florida where you will find her outside on the water in her kayak, riding her bike on trails, and planning her next overseas adventure.
So yummy! The hot dogs came out crispy and delicious