Dyeing hard-boiled eggs for Easter looks great (and it’s fun!), but I have a better decoration for your eggs this year: sausage. The Scotch egg is quite possibly the most scrumptious of boiled egg preparations. While normally deep fried to keep its plump shape, now you can do it with less oil and less mess in the air fryer. Here’s my recipe for crispy, juicy air fryer Scotch eggs.
What is a Scotch egg?
Scotch eggs are conceptually simple: It’s a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage. Then the hefty orb gets a bread crumb coating, and it’s fried to cook the sausage through. The lucky eater gets to crack into the salty, meaty exterior and uncover a beautiful egg surprise. It’s a whole breakfast ball.
Outside of the basics, you can modify it to make it your own. Season the sausage with spices and fresh herbs you enjoy. Add bacon, onions, or chopped ham to the mix. Season the bread-crumb coating with cayenne pepper or sesame seeds. You can have fun with it, or keep it simple to let the sausage and eggs shine.
In this recipe, I ditch the deep fry in a pan altogether and go for a simple air frying method. The preparation is largely the same, but whenever I can make something work well in the petite countertop convection machine, I do. It’s a hands-off cooking process, leads to less used oil, leaves me with a quicker cleanup, and keeps my one bedroom apartment from smelling like a diner.
If you’re in the market for an air fryer:
How to make Scotch eggs
1. Boil your eggs
However you like to boil your eggs will be the best way to do it. I usually steam my eggs for 12 minutes which leads to a soft-boiled, jammy yolk. The eggs will cook further in the air fryer so undercooking the yolk slightly means you’ll have a perfectly hard-cooked egg at the end. Cool the eggs and peel them.
2. Prepare the sausage mixture
I like to add hydrated bread chunks to my mixture so the sausage shell doesn’t become tough. I added two tablespoons of seasoned stuffing mix (Stove Top stuffing, in my case) to a large bowl and mixed in two tablespoons of hot water to hydrate it. Add ground sausage, sweet or hot is up to you. Add salt and seasonings and mix it until well combined.
3. Wrap the eggs
Add some flour to a bowl, about a half cup. Roll each egg in the flour to get a light coating. This helps the sausage cling to the egg. (I like to keep a wire cooling rack on a sheet tray nearby for this whole process, so the eggs have a home base while they wait for the next step.) I split the sausage mixture into four, but you could probably get five eggs covered with thinner sausage layers.
Lay out a sheet of plastic cling wrap. Put one of the sausage portions on the wrap and place another sheet on top. Smash the sausage out into a six-inch patty. It doesn’t have to be perfect; eggs are oblong anyway. Peel off the top layer and place a floured egg in the center. Lift up the edges of the plastic wrap to help encase the egg in sausage. Use your fingers (outside the plastic wrap) to work the sausage over any uncovered areas and pinch the seam shut with the cling wrap.
Unwrap the egg and roll it onto the wire rack to hang out while you repeat this method to cover the other eggs.
4. Coat the outside in breadcrumbs
You should have excess flour in one bowl already from initially coating the eggs. Beat a raw egg in another bowl. Add breadcrumbs to a third bowl. Season the breadcrumbs with salt and any other herbs or spices you like. Working one egg at a time, coat it completely in flour, then egg, and finally in bread crumbs. Return the egg to the wire rack and repeat the breading with the remaining eggs. (You can do this entire process up to this point a day ahead of time and leave them covered in the fridge until you’re ready to cook the eggs.) Preheat the air fryer on the “air fry” setting to 350°F, and let the breading dry slightly during this time, about five minutes.
5. Air fry the Scotch eggs
Using an oil sprayer, coat the eggs with a layer of cooking oil, flipping them gently as needed to coat the bottom. If you don’t have an oil spritzer, you can gently daub oil on with a pastry brush. Put the eggs in the air fryer for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping them over in the last five minutes.
You can use a thermometer to test the sausage layer for doneness. Mine were up to temperature, 160°F for pork, after 20 minutes. (Check here for the temperature depending on the sausage meat.) Cool the Scotch eggs on a clean wire cooling rack for a few minutes before cracking in.
This recipe makes a fierce Scotch egg. I particularly enjoy pork sausage mixtures that include fennel seeds, but you should use whichever speaks to you. Enjoy as-is, with toast, or even with a squeeze of ketchup. Finally—an Easter egg to get stoked about. Maybe don’t hide these in the lawn though.
Air fryer scotch eggs recipe
What you’ll need:
- 5 eggs, 4 are boiled and peeled
- 2 tablespoons stuffing mix (I used Stove Top stuffing)
- 1 strip raw bacon, minced
- 1 pound ground sausage
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs (like parsley, sage, or crushed rosemary)
- 1/2 cup flour
- ¼ cup fine bread crumbs, canned or fresh
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Neutral cooking oil for spraying the eggs
Directions:
1. Hydrate the stuffing with 2 tablespoons of hot water in a large bowl. Add the minced bacon, sausage, salt, and dried herbs. Mix until well combined.
2. Add the flour to a bowl. Roll each egg in the flour to get a light coating. Place the eggs on a wire cooling rack on top of a sheet tray nearby. Keep the bowl of extra flour.
3. Split the sausage mixture into four. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap. Put one of the sausage portions on the wrap and place another sheet on top. Smash the sausage out into a six-inch patty. Peel off the top layer and place a floured egg in the center. Use the plastic wrap to help encase the egg in sausage. Make sure to pinch the sausage seam shut. Return the egg to the wire rack. Repeat with all of the eggs.
4. Flour is already in one bowl from earlier. Beat a raw egg in another bowl. Add breadcrumbs and the second half-teaspoon of salt to a third bowl. One egg at a time, coat it completely in flour, then egg, and finally in bread crumbs. Return the egg to the wire rack. Repeat the with the remaining eggs. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F on the “air fry” setting, and let the breading dry during this time, about five minutes.
5. Using an oil sprayer, coat the eggs completely with a layer of cooking oil. Put the eggs in the air fryer for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping them over in the last five minutes. Cool on a clean wire rack for a few minutes before serving.
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