Air Fryer Sausage Rolls

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Air Fryer Sausage Rolls. Introducing you to the best homemade sausage rolls, made with shortcrust pastry and then cooked in the air fryer.

You will love how easy it is to make sausage rolls in the air fryer and how delicious they are. Perfect for picnics in the summer, buffets and of course, Christmas too.

This air fryer sausage rolls recipe is an updated post and was originally published in 2016, updated in 2020 and updated again for you now.

Sausage Rolls In Air Fryer

Can we talk about one of my favourite comfort foods of all time? One that started in childhood and that I wish was a zero calorie food. Because if I could eat it every day for the rest of my life, then I would!

If you haven’t guessed it is the sausage roll. Made famous by the British bakeries.

I remember having them from the local bakery when I was at work with my dad. He had a record shop in the 80’s and early 90’s and was only about 3 doors away from the local bakers.

He would take £10 out of the till, tell me what he wanted for lunch and tell me to get whatever I wanted.

I mean seriously £10 was a lot of money in those days and to send a 8 year old into a shop full of baked goods is asking for trouble.

I would come out with a sandwich for each of us, flapjacks, strawberry tarts and a big warm sausage roll.

I was quite surprised looking back at my discipline and the fact that I wasn’t so greedy that I spent the lot!

Yet now it is often blamed for the obesity in the UK because instead of just having the lovely local bakery you have chains that will sell you 5 sausage rolls for a special offer price rather than people going in and just having the one!

I also used to get them at school too. But they were never as nice. I remember that most of the time they were burnt, but as it was one of my favourite foods I didn’t really care.

In the Milner’s house sausage rolls tends to be a seasonal thing.

In the summer it is ideal for picnics on the beach and at Christmas its always our mid morning brunch.

Plus, as well as our free newsletter, we also have a free air fryer mini course. It is ideal for air fryer beginners or those that want to get more confident with their air fryer. The free course runs for 5 days with a new lesson delivered each day to your inbox.

What Is A Sausage Roll?

If you don’t live in the UK or Australia, then the chances are, that you will not have heard of the sausage roll.

A sausage roll is a sausage with the skin removed, that is wrapped in pastry. Very similar to our air fryer pigs in a blanket, but of course that uses mini hot dogs instead of sausage meat.

Can You Air Fry Sausage Rolls?

Yes, you can. The only thing you need to think about is the size of your sausage roll compared to the size of your air fryer. As some air fryers are really small and wont be able to handle multiple full sized sausage rolls.

If this is the case, you can always opt for making homemade party sausage rolls instead.

You can also chop up your sausage rolls into bite size and make mini sausage rolls in the air fryer instead.

Can You Make Sausage Rolls With Shortcrust Pastry?

Yes, you can. Shortcrust pastry sausage rolls are the BEST and I can not remember the last time I made sausage rolls with puff pastry.

I use my own homemade shortcrust pastry recipe, which in the US they would call an air fryer pie crust. It has just two main ingredients plus water to bind and I have a batch made in no time at all.

Do You Cook Sausages Before Making Sausage Rolls?

No, you don’t. The sausage meat in the middle of the sausage roll cooks at the same time the pastry cooks. Then there are all ready at the same time.

Sausage Rolls Air Fryer Ingredients

Meat – The best homemade sausage rolls starts with some quality sausage meat. I like to get mine from the butchers by the tube. The benefit of sausage meat from the butchers is that it carries less fat and doesn’t make your sausage rolls all greasy.

Flour – I recommend using either plain flour or self raising. If you want your sausage rolls to puff up a bit in a similar way to puff pastry sausage rolls then I recommend you use self raising.

Butter – If you bring your butter to room temperature prior to making the sausage rolls pastry, it will be so much easier to make.

Egg – You need the egg for your egg wash. I have found that you can spray with extra virgin olive oil, but you don’t get the same colour on the sausage rolls. Just mix an egg with a fork and use a pastry brush to smoother over the sausage roll pastry.

Seasoning – Then for the seasoning, I love salt, pepper, and some oregano in my pastry. But you can mix it up a bit with some sage or some thyme.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this sausage roll recipe, it has just been our Air Fryer. We have this one and its wonderful for many types of air fryer recipes and perfect for quickly cooking baked goods.

How To Cook Sausage Rolls In Air Fryer?

• Prep. Start by making your shortcrust pastry for your sausage rolls. Place flour and butter into a bowl and rub the fat into the flour until it almost resembles breadcrumbs. Add a little water at a time and mix with your hands until you have a pastry dough.
• Roll. Next roll out the pastry, add a layer of sausage meat and then wrap up in a roll until you have something that resembles a HUGE sausage roll. Cut into mini sausage rolls or into medium sized sausage rolls.
• Wash. Add egg wash over your pastry and then load into the air fryer basket.
• Cook. Air fry for 10 minutes at 200c/400f before serving.

How To Make Pastry For Sausage Rolls?

The secret to perfect pastry for sausage rolls is to limit the water that you use. I will add the flour, butter and seasonings to the bowl and rub the fat into the flour.

Then gradually add the water a little at a time.

BUT by using slightly less water the dough is very dry and this results in better pastry for sausage rolls. It then gives a much better crisp in a similar way to what puff pastry does.

How To Roll Sausage Rolls?

For rolling sausage rolls I find the easiest way is to roll out the pastry like you would normally roll it.

Then like you see below roll the pastry into a perfect rectangle shape.

Then add the sausage meat to the pastry.

Then roll it up and you have a perfect long sausage roll ready for air frying.

What About Party Sausage Rolls?

When making party sausage rolls, or mini sausage rolls as you might call them, the process is the same as regular homemade sausage rolls.

The big difference is that you are cutting up the sausage rolls before air frying them into smaller sizes.

For example, these are our sausage rolls with both the regular ones and the mini ones:

And here they are about to be cooked in the air fryer.

And here ate the party rolls fully cooked on a plate ready for serving:

How Long Do You Cook Sausage Rolls In Air Fryer?

The sausage rolls cooking time is JUST 10 minutes. Just think it will take you about 5 minutes to make your own homemade pastry for your sausage rolls, a couple of minutes to roll and egg wash and the just 10 minutes to air fry.

What Temperature To Cook Sausage Rolls?

The recommended temperature for sausage rolls in the air fryer is 200c/400f. This is because you want that golden gorgeous looking, brown colour on your sausage rolls and for them to look like ones from the British bakery.

If you went cooler, they would cook of course, but wont look the part.

How Long Do Homemade Sausage Rolls Last?

Homemade sausage rolls, if chilled in the fridge will last up to 3 days. But of course, since when did anyone still have sausage rolls left after 3 days??? I am like one hour max when it comes to these best ever sausage rolls!

Can You Reheat Sausage Rolls?

Yes, you sure can. We do this a LOT especially when we have bought some sausage rolls and have brought them home and want them nice and warm again.

To reheat sausage rolls in the air fryer, cook for 5 minutes at 160c/320f. This will make sure it is piping hot again.

What us Milner’s do is reheat the leftovers and serve them with air fryer fries and gravy and then it’s like we are having Cooplands in the air fryer.

Can You Freeze Sausage Rolls?

Absolutely. But you need to make sure they are cool first and that they have not already been reheated.

You can freeze sausage rolls uncooked or cooked.

Listen To Air Fryer Homemade Sausage Rolls

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What To Do With Leftover Sausage Meat?

My favourite use for leftover sausage meat is to make air fryer sausage balls aka air fryer stuffing balls. Note, it is the same sausage meat used in making sausage rolls as it is for stuffing.

Plus, one batch of stuffing balls is the same as half a pack of sausage meat. Therefore, you can use half for sausage rolls and then half for stuffing.

Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!