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Can You Cook Corn Dogs in an Air Fryer?

Can You Cook Corn Dogs in an Air Fryer?

Last Updated on 22nd April 2022 by

Corn dogs are super unhealthy, but there are some kind of healthy ways to cook them. The oven is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of what to use to cook corn dogs in a healthy way, but that can take too long. How about the air fryer?

Can you cook corn dogs in an air fryer? Yes, you can, and I want to show you how quick and simple this cooking method is.

Corn dogs are a cookout staple and often found at state fairs and 4th of July celebrations. They definitely fall into the category of comfort food, and we all know that a hot dog sausage wrapped up in a fried piece of cornbread is not the healthiest food around. But it is so delicious, so it’s no wonder it’s a favourite of kids and adults alike.

I’ve seen kids devour half a dozen of these without ever starting to look full. They are so well liked among kids that they share the same status as pizza, mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. In other words, most kids will never get tired of corn dogs.

You may think that your kids would be bored of eating the same food over and over again, but they will probably never complain if you feed them corn dogs for lunch every day. It’s just one of those foods that is so simple and delicious that there is nothing there to complain about.

I like to think of corn dogs as a sandwich on a stick, and you can garnish them in a lot of different ways. Most people add just ketchup or mayonnaise to theirs, but you can add relish, cheese, honey, syrup and more to give your corn dogs a little flavour variety.

Let’s talk now about how to cook them up fast without adding all the grease and fat content that frying in oil gives them. If your kids are going to eat them for lunch every day, at least look for ways to make corn dogs just a bit healthier for them.

Cooking Corn Dogs in the Air Fryer

This is a quick and simple way to cook up frozen corn dogs using an air fryer. The good news is that you don’t need to thaw the corn dogs out, so if you are putting frozen mini corn dogs in air fryer or regular sized corn dogs in air fryer, you don’t need to wait at all. You can just put them straight in the fryer.

The air fryer cooks them evenly and all the way through, so you don’t end up with any cold parts. Preheat the fryer first. Then, just put your corn dogs in the air fryer basket and then heat for 7 minutes at 390 degrees Fahrenheit. They will come out crispy and tasty and not dripping with oil like they would be with other methods.

This is a very fast method for cooking your corndogs and while not the fastest, it is much faster than the 25 minutes or so you would need to cook them in the oven for. Corn dogs in the air fryer cook so much faster and taste every bit as good. In fact, we think they taste even better than oven baked corn dogs since they are not as dried out and tend to be moister and plumper.

Why Use the Air Fryer?

Making frozen corn dogs in air fryer instead of in the microwave may seem like the long way to cook them. Seven minutes is hardly any time at all. The advantage to using the air fryer over the microwave is that the corn dogs come out much nicer. If you cook your corn dogs in the microwave, they will cook much faster. It can take two to three minutes to cook them there. However, they will be all shrivelled up on the inside. The hot dog part will not be very appealing if it looks wrinkly and prune-y. It’s also really easy to burn your corn dogs on one side and then have them still partially frozen on the other.

The microwave works for making corn dogs edible, but it’s definitely the least tasty way to have them.

The deep dry or pan fried method works as well, but you have the problem of excess oil and fat in your corn dogs. Cooking mini corn dogs in air fryer compared to in a pot of oil gives you a very different consistency. Your corn dogs will be soaked in oil, especially if they are mini ones and you’re try cooking them in oil. That oil saturation is not only unhealthy for you, but it is also not very tasty. It can ruin the texture of the corn dogs, and no one want that.

This is why we suggest cooking your corn dog in the air fryer for the best texture and taste as well as for your health and the health of anyone else eating the corn dogs.

We know that not everyone has an air fryer, though it’s likely that you have one if you are here on this page. So, if you want a heathy way to cook your corn dogs, then the oven works, but you have to understand that this can be a time consuming way to cook them. You may be tempted to just heat them up in the microwave and save some time.

How Long to Cook Mini Corn Dogs in Air Fryer?

Regular corn dogs take anywhere from 7-10 minutes when you have 1-2 of them in the air fryer. Mini corns dogs are much smaller and will cook faster, so how long do you cook them for? You want to be sure they are fully cooked and heated through and through, but you also don’t want to burn them.

For mini corn dogs, you will be using a heat of 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cooking them for 7-9 minutes. How long you cook them for depends on how many of them you are cooking at once and how large they are.

To reheat the mini corn dogs after they have been cooked and placed into the refrigerator, you can just warm them up in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes. We recommend this method for reheating over the microwave as it will give you crispier corn dogs. The texture will be just right rather than soggy like what you get with the microwave.

Do Air Fryers Need to Be Preheated?

There is some confusion surrounding the idea that the air fryer might need to be preheated or not. Some people wonder if that is necessary or if it is just a waste of their time and electricity.

The answer is yes, you do need to preheat the air fryer before cooking your food in it. That’s especially important for corn dogs. If you try to cook them according to the instructions we have given you here but do not bother to preheat your air fryer, then you will end up with corn dogs that are partially cold. They won’t be warmed all the way through, and that won’t be pleasant to eat.

Just like the oven needs to be preheated before you cook anything in there, you need to warm up the air fryer before trying to cook corn dogs in it. That will give you a fully cooked and fully warmed corn dog that tastes right and that has the proper texture.

 

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Pauline Loughlin

I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!

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