A Glug of Oil

Easy and delicious recipes including midweek dinner ideas, English and world cuisine

Air Fryer Scotch Eggs

 How to Make Scotch Eggs

Traditional scotch eggs are deep-fried, but using an air fryer is far cheaper; especially now as the price of cooking oil is sky high. 

Also, air frying is less messy and healthier too. Homemade is best!😉

Scotch egg cut in half pictured on an olive wood board with cheese, celery and pickled onions,
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I have included the deep fryer method in the printable recipe card below. 😉

Good sausages make the BEST scotch eggs!

Use the best quality sausage you can. I used free-range higher welfare pork sausages; they were on offer in Waitrose with 25% off, I'll take that!😉

Seriously though these sausages were already seasoned well and made all the difference to the finished scotch eggs. They were proper tasty! 😋

Scotch egg ingredients

  • good quality pork sausages 
  • black pepper (no need for salt as it's it'll already be in the sausages)
  • dried parsley
  • ground nutmeg
  • a small bunch of fresh sage 
  • rapeseed oil cooking spray - to coat the eggs before air frying
Scotch egg ingredients pictured on a board.

You will also need

  • plain flour
  • 2 more eggs 
  • sea salt - mix the salt into the breadcrumbs

First decide, how do you like your eggs?

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower in the eggs and cook for 5 minutes for a runny yolk, or 7 minutes for more of a jammy centre.

Lift out with a slotted spoon and immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice-cold water. Once cooled, carefully peel them and set aside.

If you don't put them in ice-cold water they will continue to cook. 

If I were serving these as a starter course I would prefer them a little on the runny side.

How to stop a black ring around boiled eggs 

It's important to cool boiled eggs very quickly after cooking, this will prevent that horrid black line from forming around the egg yolk. 😨

Let's make scotch eggs!

Start by boiling your eggs (as above). Then remove the sausages from their skins and put them into a bowl.

Season and add the chopped sage (see recipe card). There's no need to add salt as the sausages will already contain salt.

Sausage meat in a mixing bowl.

Then, give it all a good mix together and divide it into 4 balls.

Flatten one of the sausage balls into an oval-shaped patty.

Sausagemeat shaped into patties ready to wrap around the boiled eggs.

Very gently shape the meat evenly around the egg, moulding it with your hands until sealed.

Get 3 plates ready in a row: one with the flour, one with 2 lightly beaten eggs and a third plate with the panko breadcrumbs.

Now roll the meat-wrapped egg in the flour, shake off any excess, then dip into the beaten egg, followed by the breadcrumbs.

Making scotch eggs.

Give each egg a good spray with oil to coat all around.

Most air fryers don't require preheating, check your instructions if unsure. I used my Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone Air Fryer, it doesn't need to preheat before cooking.

Cook only as many eggs as will fit in your air fryer basket leaving space between them.

Set the temperature to 200°C/400°F and the time to 15 minutes turning them if you need to at halfway.

Check the temperature at 12 minutes, mine were fully cooked at 14 minutes.

Remember, the sausage meat needs to have reached a minimum of 71°C/340°F. 

Using a digital kitchen thermometer is the only way to know that the sausage meat is fully cooked and safe to eat.

Scotch eggs in the air fryer basket ready to cook.

You can eat scotch eggs hot or cold so dive right in!

Air fryer scotch eggs pictured on an olive wood board.

Another fine example of Clarence Court Eggs can be seen in my Bubble and Squeak recipe.

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

air fryer scotch eggs, how to make scotch eggs, scotch egg recipe,
snack, picnic,
British
Yield: 4
Author: Jan Bennett
Air Fryer Scotch Eggs

Air Fryer Scotch Eggs

Scotch eggs are cooked in the air fryer for 14-15 minutes. They are the perfect snack, for picnics or at any time.
Prep time: 7 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 22 Min

Ingredients

For the eggs
  • 4 medium-sized free-range eggs at room temperature (you need 6 eggs in total, see below)
  • 6 good quality pork sausages - skins removed
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper - no need to add salt as it will already be in the sausages
  • ½ teaspoon dried parsley
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • a small bunch of fresh sage - leaves only and finely chopped
  • rapeseed oil cooking spray - to coat the eggs before air frying
To coat the eggs
  • 60 g plain flour
  • 2 eggs - lightly beaten
  • 80 g panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt - mix the salt into the breadcrumbs to season

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower in the eggs and cook for 5 minutes for a runny yolk, or 7 minutes for more of a jammy centre.
  2. Lift out with a slotted spoon and immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice-cold water. Once cooled, carefully peel them and set aside.
  3. Remove the sausages from their skins and put them into a bowl. Add the black pepper, nutmeg, parsley, and sage to the sausage meat along with a good grating of nutmeg. Give it all a good mix together then divide the mixture into 4 balls.
  4. Get 3 plates ready in a row: one with the flour, one with 2 lightly beaten eggs and a third plate with the panko breadcrumbs.
  5. Start by flouring your hands, then flatten one of the sausage balls into an oval-shaped patty.
  6. Roll a peeled egg in flour, then pop it in the middle of the patty. Very gently shape the meat evenly around the egg, moulding it with your hands until sealed.
  7. Now, roll the meat-wrapped egg in the flour, shake off any excess, then dip it into the beaten egg, followed by the breadcrumbs. Roll in the egg and breadcrumbs again to get a good coating.
  8. Give each egg a good spray with oil to coat all around. *At this stage you can put them onto a plate, cover them with cling film, and refrigerate until you're ready to cook. Remove them from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
Air fry
  1. Most air fryers don't require preheating, check your instructions if unsure.
  2. Cook only as many eggs as comfortably fit into your air fryer basket leaving space between them.
  3. Set the temperature to 200°C/400°F and the time to 15 minutes, turn them at halfway if needed.
  4. Using an instant-read digital kitchen thermometer, check the temperature at 12 minutes, mine were fully cooked at 14 minutes. Remember, the sausage meat needs to have reached a minimum of 71°C/160°F.

Notes

Half-fill your deep fryer with vegetable oil and heat to 170°C /340°F or, until a crumb of bread sizzles and turns golden but does not burn when dropped in.

Cook the eggs a couple at a time, for 7 to 8 minutes, until crisp and golden, then drain on kitchen paper before serving.

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Jan