Craving juicy hamburgers but hate the process of cooking them? Air fryer hamburgers are the way to go!
With a simple meat-spice blend, a bun, and your favorite toppings, these burgers serve perfectly with fresh homemade fries and a side salad – but you can choose whichever sides you like!
Recipe Tips/Substitutions
Before you make air fryer burgers, have a read through these recipe tips and substitutions. This way, you know exactly what you’re doing and you make the best burgers!
- There are lots of different spices you can add to the meat blend. We like to keep it simple with salt, pepper, and garlic powder – but you can modify this to suit your preferences. Just remember that you can always add more – but it’s impossible to remove spices once they are mixed into the meat!
- Some people add egg to their meat blend as a binding agent to help the burgers stay together. We don’t typically do that since our burgers stay together quite well, but if you have trouble with yours, try adding an egg.
- When you form your patties, remember that they will shrink up in size when you cook them so size up your bun and your air fryer tray and shape accordingly.
- If you want to make air fryer cheeseburgers, add a slice of melty cheese to your burgers once they are done cooking but still in the air fryer (with the air fryer turned off). The residual heat should be enough to melt the cheese!
- When making burgers it’s important to clean the air fryer tray after it’s cooled down a bit. Don’t let the grease cool to complete hardness or else it’s hard to get the air fryer really clean again.
- If you’re already thinking making burgers from scratch isn’t for you, frozen hamburgers also turn out really nicely in the air fryer!
We use this air fryer for our recipes and it has been great.
Step by Step Instructions
To see how we make burgers in the air fryer, have a look at the recipe process photos in this section.
You can also skip ahead to the recipe card at the bottom of this post if you’re feeling confident about your air fryer and burger-making abilities!
First, add the ground beef, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to a bowl. Mix with your hands until the spices are evenly distributed.
Form 4 burger patties out of the meat. The raw patties should be slightly larger than your buns since they will shrink and get a bit thicker in the air fryer.
The patties should also have the same thickness (ours are typically approximately 1/4 inches) to allow for even cooking.
Preheat the air fryer to 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the air fryer is hot, add the meat. Make sure it fits in one layer in the tray and doesn’t overlap.
Cook the burgers for a total of 8-10 minutes depending on their thickness and your preferred level of doneness. Flip after 5 to 6 minutes.
Our patties are usually fully cooked (no pink in the center) after 9 minutes.
Optional: If you want to add cheese, place it on top of the burgers as soon as they are done cooking in the air fryer.
If you want to cheese to melt more, close the air fryer again for a few seconds – with it turned off at this point – so that the remaining heat can melt the cheese.
Once done, remove the patties from the tray and assemble your burger. We like adding lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and pickles. Don’t forget about creamy condiments!
Storage Tips
You can store leftover hamburger patties made in the air fryer in a sealed container in the fridge. Since they are cooked meat, try to eat them sooner rather than later. Consume them within 3 days.
To reheat these burgers, you can pop them in the microwave, pan fry them, or toss them back in the air fryer until heated through.
What to Serve Air Fryer Hamburgers With
You can top these hamburgers however you like and serve them with whatever you like. We usually top our burgers with lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, and then a number of condiments (mainly ketchup and mayonnaise).
If you want your bun to be slightly crispy, you can also place it in the air fryer for a couple of minutes.
As for sides to serve the hamburgers with, there are so many things you can make. We’re fans of freshly-made French fries but have also done frozen fries, frozen onion rings, tater tots or even sweet potato fries.
Don’t forget about balancing out a classic “burger and fries” meal with a nice garden salad.
Related Recipes
For other air fryer meat recipes, have a look at these for inspiration:
Air Fryer Hamburgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 slices of cheese, optional
- 4 burger buns
- vegetables and condiments, as desired
Instructions
- Add the ground beef, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to a bowl. Mix with your hands until the spices are evenly distributed.
- Form 4 burger patties out of the meat. The raw patties should be slightly larger than your buns since they will shrink and get a bit thicker in the air fryer. The patties should also have the same thickness (ours are typically approximately 1/4 inches – depends on the size of the bun) to allow for even cooking.
- Preheat the air fryer to 370 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once the air fryer is hot, add the meat. Make sure it fits in one layer in the tray and doesn’t overlap. Cook the burgers for a total of 8-10 minutes depending on their thickness and your preferred level of doneness. Flip after 5 to 6 minutes. Our patties are usually fully cooked (no pink in the center) after 9 minutes.
- Optional: If you want to add cheese, place it on top of the burgers as soon as they are done cooking in the air fryer. If you want to cheese to melt more, close the air fryer again for a few seconds – with it turned off at this point – so that the remaining heat can melt the cheese.
- Once done, remove the patties from the tray and assemble your burger. We like adding lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and pickles. Don’t forget about creamy condiments!
Notes
- The burgers will shrink when they cook so keep that and the size of your buns in mind when you form patties.
- Some people add egg to their meat mixture. Egg acts as a binding agent to help the meat stay intact when cooked. We don’t use egg since our burgers stay together well on their own but it is an option.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
