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Air Fryer Hamburgers

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These air fryer hamburgers are perfect for when you can’t get out to the barbecue! ! My ground beef, seasonings, bacon and cheese burger patties really are the best, I’ve perfected this recipe over the years.

Air fried burgers are so much better than pan-fried and sure hit the spot when I wasn’t able to BBQ in -40 °C weather!

Table of Contents
  1. Air Fryer Hamburgers
  2. Air Fryer Hamburger Ingredients
  3. Step by Step Directions
  4. Frozen Burgers in the Air Fryer
  5. PIN THIS RECIPE to your Air Fryer Boards and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!
  6. Air Fryer Hamburgers Recipe
Air Fryer Hamburgers on a wood cutting board with tomatoes, onion, cheese and lettuce.
Air Fryer Hamburgers

If you like these, be sure to try out some of our other Air Fryer Recipes such as our Air Fryer Buffalo Wings or Air Fryer Kale Chips!

Air Fryer Hamburgers

We all know that nothing beats the taste of a classic homemade burger fresh off the BBQ, but there’s some weather that even we tough Canadians can’t BBQ in. Sure, we pull the BBQ close up to the deck door when it’s cold out and keep on going, but this past -40 Arctic cold front we just had was too much.

So it was time to try burgers in the air fryer.

Air Fryer Hamburger Ingredients

(for full instructions and measurements, see the printable recipe card below, this is just a quick summary.)

You will need:

  • Ground Beef
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Uncooked Bacon
  • Onion Powder
  • Egg

Step by Step Directions

Combine the ingredients together in a bowl by hand. The trick here is to loosely handle the beef without overworking it. If you overdo it, the beef becomes more mushy and it doesn’t cook up as nice or fall apart in your mouth. Texture wise, try to do this with as little pressure as you can on the meat.

Once the ingredients are mixed together, split the beef up into equal portions. I find that it’s really easy to use a small Tupperware container (or something patty sized) and place one portion of the burger mixture inside.

Pressing down the burger mixture into a container to form a patty.
Pressing down the burger mixture into a container to form a patty.

I then use a potato masher to press the meat into patty form (remember to do this lightly.. don’t smash it into a patty).

Pressing down the burger mixture into a container to form a patty

Then simply flip it over and give it a tap and the formed patty should fall out. Notice how nice and shaped they are? This trick works beautifully and I’ve been doing it this way non-stop since I first tried it out.

Flip the container and pop out the patty
Flip the container and pop out the patty

Now place the burger patties into the air fryer basket, evenly spaced.

Burger patties in an air fryer basket

Now cook them in the air fryer using the directions set forth in the recipe card below and when done, open the air fryer, check to ensure they are at the correct temperature. I like to use an instant read thermometer to determine if they are cooked properly.

Here’s how they look when fully cooked:

Air Fryer Hamburgers - Cooked
Air Fryer Hamburgers – Cooked

Now it’s time to serve them up!

Frozen Burgers in the Air Fryer

While you can certainly do frozen burgers in the air fryer, I can guarantee you that they won’t taste as good as these homemade ones. However, some people don’t have time to hand make burgers so in that case, if you really need to use frozen, here’s how you do it.

To cook frozen, you’ll need to place the patties in and cook for about 10 minutes per side at around 380 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping in mind that this temperature can vary depending on a number of factors such as the type of air fryer, the size of the burgers, etc but it’s a reasonable starting point. Cook for 10 minutes, check the temperature and flip. Stop cooking when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, which is considered safe for ground beef.

I hope you like these burgers, I make them regularly now in the air fryer given how easy it is to clean and since I can’t quite get to my barbecue yet (snow on the deck impedes me!).

Enjoy!

Mike

For more Air Fryer recipes, try these:

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Air Fryer Hamburgers

Quick and easy air fryer burgers using a recipe that I've developed over a number of years.
5 from 10 votes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
26 minutes
Course
Dinner
Cuisine
American
Servings
4 people
Calories
488
Equipment
air fryer
Author
Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 cup cheese shredded
  • 3 slices bacon uncooked and chopped finely
  • 1 egg

Instructions
 

  • Chop 3 slices of bacon into small size and place in a medium sized bowl.
  • Add 1 cup of shredded cheese, 1 egg, 1 tsp of onion powder and 1 pound of thawed ground beef to the bowl.
  • Gently work the mixture together with your hands. The key here is to do so loosely without turning the beef into mush.
  • Form two evenly sized logs with the beef mixture and then cut each in half. Take these halves and roll into loose balls (these will be your patties).
  • In a small tupperware container or something similarly sized, put one ball of ground beef. Using a potato masher, form the beef to the patty sized container (again, do so loosely).
  • Flip the container and push out the patty onto a baking sheet. Repeat the process until you have four 1/4 pound patties formed.
  • Place each patty in the air fryer basket, with space between each.
  • Start the air fryer at 370 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 12 minutes. When complete, flip the patties and cook for another 12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Remove, add to bun, add toppings and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

All air fryers are a little bit different, yours may require you to cook for more or less time than we specify so be sure to keep an eye on your burger every 5 minutes or so to see how it’s progressing. If 12 minutes per side isn’t enough, give it another 2 minutes until you reach the right temperature. As long as you make sure it reaches minimum safe cooking temperature, you are good to go!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 488kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 30g, Fat: 40g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 162mg, Sodium: 377mg, Potassium: 387mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 349IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 233mg, Iron: 3mg

All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

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Hey everyone! I'm Mike (Mr. Kitchen Magpie). When I'm not sharing cocktail recipes here and on my Instagram (@mrkitchenmagpie), I'm enjoying a nice bottle of scotch in a vintage glass from my barware collection.

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