How To Cook Toad In The Hole In Air Fryer

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Toad in the hole in an air fryer sounds unlikely, but the circulating heat actually puffs the Yorkshire batter around the sausages quite well. If you want to know how to cook toad in the hole in air fryer, the trick is getting the oil screaming hot before you pour in the batter. This guide walks you through the whole process, from picking the right dish to getting that crisp, golden rise every time.

Most people think you need a blazing hot oven for a proper Yorkshire pudding. An air fryer gets close enough, and it does it in less time with far less energy. The key differences are the size of your basket and how fast the air moves.

What You Need Before You Start

You can’t just toss batter into any air fryer basket. A few bits of kit make the difference between a soggy mess and a proper dinner.

  • A small round or oval baking dish that fits your air fryer basket with a little gap around the sides
  • An air fryer with a decent depth, ideally 5 litres or more
  • Tongs for turning sausages
  • A whisk or fork for the batter
  • Oven gloves, because that dish gets very hot

If your air fryer is the small two litre kind, this recipe will be tight. You may need to halve the batter and use two sausages instead of four.

How To Cook Toad In The Hole In Air Fryer

Here is the full method. Read it through once before you begin, because the timing matters more than you’d think.

Ingredients For Two To Three People

  • 4 good quality pork sausages
  • 100g plain flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 120ml semi skimmed milk
  • 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • A pinch of mustard powder, optional but nice
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Step 1: Make The Batter First

Batter needs to rest. If you mix it and cook it straight away, it won’t rise as well and the texture turns rubbery.

  1. Tip the flour into a bowl and add a pinch of salt and the mustard powder if using.
  2. Crack in the eggs and whisk until you have a thick paste.
  3. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking constantly, until the batter is smooth and runny like single cream.
  4. Cover and leave it on the counter for at least 30 minutes. An hour is better.

You can make it the night before and keep it in the fridge. Just bring it back to room temp before cooking.

Step 2: Pre Heat The Air Fryer And The Dish

This is the part people skip, and it’s why their toad in the hole sticks or stays flat.

  1. Put your empty baking dish into the air fryer basket.
  2. Set the air fryer to 200C and run it for 5 minutes.
  3. Carefully pull out the basket and add the oil to the hot dish.
  4. Return it and heat for another 3 minutes until the oil is shimmering.

The oil must be hot enough to sizzle the moment batter touches it. If it isn’t, the pudding won’t climb the sides of the sausages.

Step 3: Brown The Sausages

Raw sausages won’t cook through in the time the batter needs. Give them a head start.

  1. Prick each sausage once or twice with a fork.
  2. Place them in the hot dish with the oil and cook at 190C for 6 to 8 minutes.
  3. Turn them once halfway so they colour on both sides.
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They should look pale gold, not fully cooked. They’ll finish in the batter.

Step 4: Add The Batter And Cook

Work quickly here. The dish loses heat fast once the basket is open.

  1. Pull out the basket and space the sausages evenly in the dish.
  2. Pour the batter around them, not over the top. Fill to about two thirds up the sides.
  3. Slide the basket back in and set the air fryer to 180C.
  4. Cook for 18 to 22 minutes without opening the basket.

Do not peek. Every time you open the drawer, the temperature drops and the rise stalls. Around the 18 minute mark you can check through the glass if your model has a window.

Step 5: Check And Serve

The toad is done when the batter is deep golden, puffed, and firm to a gentle touch. If the top is browning too fast, drop the heat to 160C for the last few minutes.

Serve straight away with onion gravy and some greens. It deflates as it cools, so don’t hang about.

Tips For A Better Rise

  • Room temperature eggs and milk blend into a smoother batter.
  • Don’t over whisk once the milk is in. A few small lumps are fine.
  • Use a dish that’s roughly the same size as your basket. Too big and the air can’t circulate.
  • If your air fryer runs hot, drop every temperature by 10C.
  • Never use olive oil for the base. It smokes at these temps. Sunflower or rapeseed is safer.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

Most failed attempts come down to one of these four things.

  1. Cold oil. If the oil isn’t hot, the batter sits and turns greasy.
  2. Thin batter. If it’s watery, it won’t hold structure. Aim for single cream thickness.
  3. Overcrowding. Four sausages is the max for a standard basket.
  4. Opening the drawer. Leave it shut until the timer goes.
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If the middle comes out doughy, your batter was too deep in the dish. Next time use less batter or a wider dish.

Can You Reheat Leftovers

Yes, but the texture changes. The batter goes soft and a bit chewy. Reheat at 160C for 5 to 6 minutes. It won’t come back to its first rise, but it still eats fine with gravy.

Don’t microwave it. You’ll end up with a rubbery slab.

Final Thoughts On Air Fryer Toad In The Hole

Once you get the oil temperature and batter rest right, this becomes a quick weeknight dinner rather than a weekend project. The air fryer won’t match a fan oven for sheer height, but it gets you 90 percent of the way there in half the time. Practice once or twice and you’ll have the timings for your own machine dialled in.

Start with the recipe as written, then adjust. Every air fryer behaves a bit differently, and yours will tell you what it wants after a couple of tries.