Best Air Fryer Hot Dogs

Air Fryer hot dogs or chili dogs are the perfect quick dinner idea our whole family loves! Load your buns up with toppings & they come out nice & crispy. 

Hot Dogs in Air Fryer

If not you’ve come to the right place. We are all about easy family meals for those busy nights when you only have about 20 minutes to prepare and cook something. We started with making Instant Pot hot dogs which are great but not crispy at all.

When it comes to dogs we love them crispy on the outside, that’s the benefit of air fryers. Now that we have a Ninja Foodi we can pressure cook them if we want, and then use the air fryer to crisp them. For this recipe we are just using the air fryer function though.

Hot Dogs in Air Fryer No Bun

There is no need for the bread if you don’t want it. If you do you can toast them after the dogs are done, add chili on top with cheese and melt that too. So as simple as you want it to as loaded as others might this turns out incredibly well. We have even made hot dog burnt ends without the bread that are killer.

A bit forgetful and forgot to defrost them the night before? No problem really because we recently shared how to cook air fryer frozen hot dogs too! That is right, it just takes a few extra minutes but dinner can still be saved using this fail proof method.

Here’s some information before you get going on this:

Best tasting hot dogs

That is very subjective depending on the person When it comes to processed meats I prefer Boars Head hot dogs hands down I don’t always have them on hand though, thus the photo above which was what I found that day and what was on sale

Crispy Dogs in Air Fryer

The great thing about this machine is you can lift the lid and check as often as you’d like. Of course everyone is going to have a preference as to what texture is considered to be perfect for this food. You can take some out that have just a touch and leave the others in for a few more minutes.

Best hot dog buns

• Once again this is subjective
• For us we like Hawaiian hot dog buns which bring a bit of sweetness, salty-sweet is the best
• Fresh and soft is great because they will get crispy on the edges when making air fryer hot dogs

Best hot dog chili recipe

We use our 5 ingredient dump chili that can be made in the pressure cooker, crockpot or just thrown together and warmed on the stovetop.

How to cook hot dogs in the air fryer

You will need an air fryer basket, some like the Ninja Foodi have a removable basket and some are attached.

• Read this if you need to know how to cook frozen hot dogs
• Place hot dogs by themselves inside the basket, no need to pierce them.
• Close air fryer lid
• Turn machine on
• Press air crisp, or button on your machine to turn air fryer function on
• Set to 375 degrees
• You’ll be air frying for 6-8 minutes
  • timing depends on how crisp you like them on the outside
  • if you’re continuing on to make chili cheese dogs then set air fryer and cook for 6 minutes

Frozen Hot Dogs in Air Fryer

1. Preheat your machine to 350 degrees F for 5 minutes.
2. Lay separated dogs in your air fryer basket.
3. Cook for about 7 minutes or until they are as browned as you’d like.

If you want chili dogs, follow same directions above. Then after minute 6 pick up dogs and place into a bun. Put back into the basket. Spoon chili and cheese on top and continue cooking for another 2 minutes or so until it’s browned and warmed.

Hot Dogs in Air Fryer XL

Like I said, the brand doesn’t matter. We have quite a few and I haven’t found a difference other than the size of the basket. Larger is better for more people so you don’t have to make as many batches but other than that just go with whatever you have.

Best hot dog toppings

• Ketchup
• Relish
• Mustard
• Diced onions
• Chives
• Shredded cheese
• Chili

Best canned hot dog chili when making air fryer hot dogs into chili cheese dogs

• We could probably get into a debate on this one but for us we choose this canned chili over the others

Air Fryer chili cheese dogs

• Ours come out looking like this!

Seriously the slightly crispy hot dog underneath, with the edges of the buns toasted and smothered with chili and cheese. OH MY!!

Here are a few other air fryer recipes you’ll love:

• Our air fryer corn dogs are made by my girls often
• Air fryer french fries
• These air fryer kale chips are the bomb!

Want to make air fryer pigs in a blanket?? We’ve done that too!! Want a fun side dish? Make air fryer tater tots to go with this one on the side. Finger food meals are always a huge hit when you have kids so become the cool mom with this meal!

You can print recipe below and keep it on hand for all your holiday get togethers, or for an after school snack. Nutritional information such as saturated fat and calories will vary with brands.