Little smokies are bite-sized cocktail sausages. They are primarily pre-cooked and can be ready within 10 minutes in the air fryer. You can enjoy them as an appetizer as well as a snack. It’s an excellent meal for a backyard barbecue or a small get-together.
Little smokies go well with burgers, fries, and mashed potatoes. They are incredibly yummy and easy to make with only three ingredients. To make this perfect snack, you’ll need:
Brown sugar, bbq sauce, and bite-sized sausages. That’s all!
It’s an incredible recipe when you’re in a hurry! Let’s get to the process.
Cooking Instructions
To make small air-fried smokies, do the following:
- Step 1: Firstly, prepare the air fryer by preheating it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 minutes.
- Step 2: Place a greased pan in the air fryer basket. Then, add the smokies to the pan. Cook at the same temperature for 6 minutes. Toss it halfway through the cooking.
- Step 3: Brush the sausages with bbq sauce and cover them with brown sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes until the sugar caramelizes.
Finally, take it out and serve it with your favorite dipping sauce.
Check the video tutorial below on how to grill smoked sausages in an air fryer:
Nutritional Content
Air-fried smokies contain almost 248 kcal in total. There are a lot of nutrients in it. I’ve listed some of them here:
| Nutrients | Amount (g/mg) |
| Carbohydrates | 12g |
| Proteins | 9g |
| Fat | 2g |
| Cholesterol | 44mg |
| Fiber | 1g |
| Sugar | 10g |
| Iron | 1mg |
| Calcium | 16mg |
Little Smokies with Bacon in the Air Fryer
Ingredients
Lil’ Smokies: You can find them near the hot dogs in the refrigerator section of your nearby supermarket. I prefer to use sliced bacon with it. Thick-cut bacon is not advised because it takes longer to cook.
Brown Sugar: This provides a lovely sweet counter taste to the meat’s saltiness.
Grounded black pepper & salt: This gives the smokies a distinctive flavor. You can use sea salt as a replacement.
Cooking Instructions:
- Step 1: Start wrapping the cooking sheet with aluminum foil and apply the cooking spray.
- Step 2: Slice the bacon into three smaller pieces for your wrap. Encircle a smokie with a little piece of bacon with a toothpick.
- Step 3: Mix brown sugar, black pepper, and garlic salt in a medium bowl. Then add smokies and coat them with the mixture.
- Step 4: Place them on the cooking sheet, being careful not to stack anything on top of one another. Put in the air fryer and cook for 5 minutes at 390°F. Flip the bacon-wrapped smokies halfway and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until crispy.
Once they are cooked, serve them on a plate with your favorite dip.
Tips
- You can wrap it with thick bacon. However, it’ll be difficult for it to crisp up.
- Avoid stacking items to ensure that your meal cooks evenly and that hot air can flow.
- You can marinate the sausages in the spice and sugar mixture and store them in the refrigerator for 5-6 days. Heat the frozen bacon-wrapped smokies in an air fryer whenever you crave them. Also, preheating the air fryer will give better results.
Dipping Sauces For Little Smokies
I’ll share the recipes for dipping sauces you can try with a plate of smokies. They are very easy, with just 2 or 3 ingredients each. You can vary the servings and sizes of ingredients based on your tastes and preferences.
1. Sweet & Sour Chutney: To make this sauce, you’ll need; mango chutney, 1/4 cup & 1/2 cup whole-wheat mustard.
Combine the measured quantity of mango chutney and whole wheat mustard in a small bowl. Whisk carefully until they get the tendency of gravy.
2. Creamy Horseradish Dip: Gather these ingredients; 1/4 cup of Mayonnaise, 1.5 teaspoons horseradish, or to taste, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 kosher salt and pepper, and an ounce of sugar.
Mix the mayonnaise, horseradish, cider vinegar, sugar, and salt. Increase the quantity of horseradish as desired.
3. Spicy Hot Buffalo Sauce: A serving of blue cheese, 1/2 cup of cubed butter, and 1/2 tbsp hot sauce is required to make this sauce.
The butter and hot sauce must be mixed in a microwaveable bowl. Cover the dish and microwave for about 2 minutes when the butter has melted. Stir till it is smooth.
Once ready, Serve the blue cheese dressing in a separate bowl.
4. Orange barbecue sauce: It takes 1 cup of Mayer’s sauce and 1/4 cup of marmalade to make this delicious dip.
Once you have collected these ingredients, Combine the orange marmalade and BBQ sauce in a bowl with the lid on and microwave. Once heated, remove the lid and microwave at high for 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Chinese Dipping Sauce: You need a 7-ounce jar of hoisin sauce & 7-ounce jar of plum sauce.
Mix hoisin sauce and prune sauce in a microwave-safe bowl with a lid. When heated to the end, remove the lid and microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes.
7. Creamy Mustard Dip: Combine 1 cup hot brown mustard & a quarter cup sour cream with 2 tbsp of horseradish to make this sauce.
8. Muddle Sauce: Take 1 cup of ketchup, sugar, and 1 tbsp of Hungarian paprika, along with 3 tbsp of spicy sauce, white vinegar, and 3 tbsp of water.
Combine all these ingredients in a bowl, and give them a thorough mix. Put it in the pot and heat over low heat until it starts to boil. Continue to stir.
Let it cool down, and serve it with your smokies. You can add or minimize any ingredient to get your favorite flavor.
FAQs
Are little smokies the same as hot dogs?
Hot dogs are essentially food items made of ground meat and seasoning. It is packed in a part of the animal’s intestine or a similarly cylindrical-shaped synthetic casing.
On the other hand, smokies are a sort of smoked sausage that is frequently used for hot dogs.
How long are sausages air-fried?
Sausages are air fried at 350 F for 10 minutes. Flip them after 5 minutes to ensure thorough cooking.
You can check if the meat has reached a safe internal temperature of 75 C with the help of an instant thermometer.
Can we air fry cheddar smokies?
You can easily air-fry cheddar smokies. To make them, preheat your air fryer first. Do not overcrowd the basket. Make room to allow proper airflow between the sausages.
Cook the smokies following the above-mentioned recipe at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Once the sausages are cooked, add the cheddar slice on top and let them cook for another 3 minutes. Avoid overcooking, as it will result in a cheesy mess.
How can I store the leftover smokies?
Any leftovers should be stored in an airtight container after cooling to room temperature. These remain fresh for 2-3 days and have no change in taste.
Put them back into the air fryer basket and reheat them for a few minutes at 350 degrees F.
What can I serve with small air-fried smokies?
Orzo bake, sweet potato wedges, and mashed potatoes are ideal for serving alongside air-fried smokies. If you’re making them for a party, serve them with pretzel pieces and meatballs.
You can also roast butternut squash and Brussels sprouts to have tasty alternatives.
How to steam precooked sausage?
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Turn off the heat underneath the pan. Let it sit for 5–10 minutes with the lid on. Then add the pre-cooked sausages.
Never add sausages to boiling water as they start to crack due to vapor caused by pressure buildup. Coat the steamed sausage in the spice mixture and put it in the air fryer.
Add a cheese slice on top and cook for 2 minutes or until the cheese melts.
Do sausages need to be defrosted before air frying?
Frozen sausages take more time to cook. It is safe to defrost before air frying for even cooking.
How long should we cook frozen sausages in the air fryer?
Put the frozen sausages into the air fryer basket when it is ready. Depending on the thickness of the sausage, preheat the air fryer.
If your sausage is thick, set the air fryer at 390°F (200°C), and if they are thin, then preheat to 360°F (180°C). Once heated, set the temperature to 370 °F (185 °C) and cook for 12-14 minutes.
How Do You Season Sausage?
If you want to add some spice to these sausages, try mixing cayenne pepper into the BBQ sauce mixture, using a spicy BBQ sauce, or adding sriracha.
After deciding on the spices and seasonings to use, sauté some sausage in a pan, taste it, and adjust. Some spices become hotter or stronger after a while in the sausage and have had a chance to dissolve into the fat, so use caution when working with extremely spicy spices like curry, chipotle, red pepper flakes, and mustard.
Is It Necessary To Line The Air Fryer Basket With Foil?
I recommend placing these bacon-wrapped mini smokies in the air fryer basket without lining it so the bacon oil may drain through the basket’s perforations.
The temperatures at which an air fryer operates are comparable to those of standard ovens. Just be careful not to obstruct the airflow of your air fryer too much. Lining the basket of your air fryer with foil, for example, may result in poor performance while crisping foods.
Final Thoughts
- To conclude, I’d like to say that smoked air-fried sausages are perfect as appetizers or snacks at various family get-togethers.
- They’re cooked at 350 degrees F for 10–12 minutes. You can have them with mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, and burgers.
- There are plenty of dipping sauces that you can make at home to get a perfect blend of taste and spice. Tango sauce, creamy mustard sauce, and buffalo sauce are hot picks.
- Before trying out this recipe, preheat the air fryer to get the best results.