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Looking for a quick way to cook up some hot dogs but don’t like the taste of microwaved dogs? Try air fryer hot dogs! Hot dogs cook up fast in the air fryer and they end up with more of a grilled taste instead of the rubbery microwave taste/texture.

Listen, I can’t help it: I really do enjoy a good hot dog. While I do limit the amount that I eat, nothing says summer picnic or baseball game to me like a hot dog topped in ketchup, mustard, and maybe some onions or relish. Yummm!! So the other day we had just finished up making some air fryer s’mores and I started brainstorming more easy air fryer foods.

We picked up a pack of hot dogs during a previous grocery trip and the next day, I settled on hot dogs for the kids’ lunch (okay, mine too). This was the perfect excuse to give cooking hot dogs in the air fryer a try! We have a Ninja air fryer, so the cooking experience below reflects this brand, though other brands should be similar.

Important to note: I actually tried two different brands. First, I cooked up some Bar S brand hot dogs, next I cooked some Ballpark hot dogs. So in the photos below, the lighter/thinner dogs are the Bar S brand. The darker/thicker variety is Ball Park.

How to Cook Hot Dogs in an Air Fryer

Print Recipe

Air Fryer Hot Dogs

Cook up some delicious hot dogs with zero effort in your air fryer.

Cook Time4

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: air fryer, hot dogs

Equipment

Air fryer

Ingredients

hot dogs
hot dog buns
ketchup, mustard, relish, onions optional toppings

Instructions

We have a Ninja Air Fryer. We used the metal rack that comes with this appliance to cook our hot dogs.
Place hot dogs on metal rack.
Cook for 4 minutes at 390 F. This is what the Bar S Hot Dogs looked like after 4 minutes.
This is what the Ball Park Hot Dogs looked like after 4 minutes.
If you like your hot dogs a little more well done than this, you can add time in 1 minute increments. For example, I added 1 more minute to my cook time, for a total of 5 minutes.
Top with your desired toppings and enjoy!

I have to say, I thought the hot dogs turned out really great after cooking them in the air fryer. It was an easy alternative to firing up the grill outside or boiling a pot of water. This method requires about the same effort at microwaving and I thought the taste was much better.

More Air Fryer Deliciousness

Make sure you check out the other air fryer recipes we have written:

And make sure you check out these EASY Air Fryer Donuts!!

Air fryers aren’t actually faster than a traditional oven

One thing to note – when talking to friends and family about their new air fryer, they are always surprised that they air fryer doesn’t really speed up cooking times. I think they are assuming that since people rave about the air fryer’s convenience, it must also be a time saver like say, the pressure cooker/Instant Pot. The air fryer won’t necessarily cook food faster. In my opinion, it simply cooks many foods… better. It locks in moisture and creates a crispy outside. The air fryer cooks food consistently, every time.

We started with a smaller air fryer and after about a year, we upgraded to a bigger model. In a typical week, we use our air fryer a minimum of 4 days out of 7, sometimes more than once a day. The air fryer has given many of our meals a healthy makeover without sacrificing the taste. (Actually, I’d be willing to bet that our meals are actually tastier now than they ever have been thanks to the consistent crispy cooking that we get with the air fryer.) If that’s not a plug to go buy an air fryer, I don’t know what is!

Do you have an air fryer? If so, how often do you use it?

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