Another quick air fryer dinner idea for you: Air Fryer Kielbasa!
Pop kielbasa sausages into the air fryer for about 7-8 minutes. Once they're done, you can assemble them into delicious kielbasa sandwiches and enjoy! Or make sliced kielbasa bites as a snack or appetizer.
Either way, you'll love how easy it is to cook kielbasa in the air fryer and how juicy and flavorful it comes out!

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Air fryer kielbasa sausages
We're big fans of any kind of sausage, whether it's kielbasa, bratwurst, or Italian sausages. I've pan-fried them, roasted them, made soup with them—you name it and I've cooked it. And my favorite way to cook kielbasa is in the air fryer... by far!
The benefits of cooking kielbasa in an air fryer are:
- Super quick. 8 minutes!!
- Very hands-off—just flip the sausages sometime halfway through.
- You get the juiciest kielbasa!
- So much of the grease drips off as the kielbasa cooks. Not a health food by any means, but a little less fat is always a good thing.
- You can cook it as a whole sausage link or slice into small pieces first, or cook both at the same time, it's up to you!

More quick and easy air fryer snacks: Air Fryer Hot Pockets
What to make with kielbasa
Kielbasa is so versatile! We love eating whole kielbasa for dinner with side dishes (see ideas for what to serve with kielbasa below). But here are a few ways to use kielbasa in creative ways:
Kielbasa sauerkraut sandwiches
Get an Italian sub roll, smear some spicy brown mustard on the inside, add your cooked kielbasa, and a generous pinch of sauerkraut. Pop it in the air fryer and toast for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through. Enjoy!! If your sauerkraut is straight from the fridge, you'll want to heat it up a bit in the microwave otherwise it might not heat all the way through. This is kind of what I do with my air fryer Italian sausages—cook the sausage and then assemble it into a sandwich.

Kielbasa slices snack or appetizer
Air fryer kielbasa slices are amazing on their own, but you can make them even more irresistible by tossing them in this 2-ingredient sauce from my glazed kielbasa bites recipe. Enjoy the sweet & sour flavor combination!

More quick and easy air fryer snacks: Air Fryer Bagel Bites
Add kielbasa to a stir fry
This kielbasa and cabbage stir fry is AMAZING if you use air fried kielbasa slices. You can get some of the grease that drips out of the kielbasa and use that to cook the onion and cabbage. So good!!
More sausage stir fry ideas: Chicken Sausage Stir Fry with Veggies
Kielbasa soup
Add chopped kielbasa to a soup. It would pair really well with a soup that has potatoes, cabbage, noodles, or beans. Add some greens, such as kale, spinach, or sorrel. Yum!

Add kielbasa to breakfast dishes
Add finely diced cooked kielbasa to mini quiches, frittatas, omelets, or scrambled eggs. The salty, savory kielbasa flavor goes so well with eggs!
Kielbasa fried rice
Add finely diced cooked kielbasa to your fried rice! For kielbasa fried rice, I use diced onions, frozen veggies (corn, peas, carrots), and a splash of soy sauce (not too much, since kielbasa is fairly salty).

Air fryer instructions
Step 1: Decide if you want to cook a whole kielbasa or slice it up into ½-inch pieces. You can do also both at the same time, just arrange them on one pan! If cooking a whole kielbasa, pierce a few holes in it with a fork to prevent it from bursting. It will still split as it cooks, but won't explode.

Step 2: Preheat air fryer to 375F.
Step 3: Place the kielbasa (whole or sliced, or both) in your air fryer tray or basket. Air fry at 375F for 7-8 minutes, or until cooked to your liking, flipping halfway through. Serve warm.

More Polish and Slavic-inspired recipes to try: Stuffed Cabbage
What to serve with kielbasa
I gave you a bunch of ideas for how to use kielbasa in other dishes, but if you want to enjoy kielbasa as the main dish, try this:
- Grab some dill pickles and a bit of sauerkraut, as well as some spicy mustard.
- Pair it with some potatoes. Any of these canned potato side dishes would be great! Potatoes + Slavic food go hand in hand.
- Slice a few fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and season them with salt, add a few slices or raw onion if you are daring.
Dig in!
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Air Fryer Kielbasa
Ingredients
- 1 lb kielbasa - or however much you want to cook
- sandwich ingredients - (sub rolls, mustard, sauerkraut—see notes for tips)
Special equipment
Instructions
- Decide if you want to cook a whole kielbasa or slice it up into ½-inch pieces. You can cook both at the same time! If cooking a whole kielbasa, pierce a few holes in it with a fork to prevent it from bursting. It will still split as it cooks, but won't explode.
- Preheat air fryer to 375F.
- Place the kielbasa (whole, sliced, or both) in your air fryer tray or basket. Air fry at 375F for 7-8 minutes, or until cooked to your liking, flipping halfway through. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.
jessica
Tuesday 20th of June 2023
What kind of kielbasa is your favorite for this recipe? Thanks
Kate
Monday 26th of June 2023
We are lucky to have a lot of Polish delis in my town so I get mine from there. But I've gotten Hillshire Farm and we've devoured that kielbasa too :)