Air Fryer Hamburgers Without Breadcrumbs

Name: Air Fryer Hamburgers Without Breadcrumbs
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 31 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 pound grass-fed ground beef (85% to 90% lean); 1 egg, beaten; 1 teaspoon ketchup; 1 teaspoon yellow mustard; ½ cup water

by Carrie Forrest, MPH in Nutrition on Nov 11, 2021 (updated: 2/12/22)

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This easy and delicious gluten-free Air Fryer Hamburger recipe made without breadcrumbs is perfect for a quick and easy dinner. This recipe is super fast and is full of flavor. Serve your burgers with all the fixings for a meal everyone loves.

I don’t know about you, but I’m too lazy to get the grill out on most nights. I much prefer to do the cooking in my kitchen where it’s temperature-controlled and comfortable.

It turns out, the air-fryer is perfect for making hamburgers that even have grill marks. This method is my new favorite way for cooking burgers. This is an easy recipe with great options for the whole family.

Contents hide

1 Why You Need This Recipe

2 Key Ingredients

3 Recipe Steps

4 Recipe Tips & Substitutions

5 Recipe FAQs

6 Other Easy Air Fryer Recipes You Might Like

7 Air Fryer Hamburgers Without Breadcrumbs

Why You Need This Recipe

This Air Fryer Burger recipe is:

easy to make,
gluten-free and dairy-free depending on what type of bun you use and whether or not you serve it with cheese,
and only takes 16 minutes cooking time.

I hope you’ll agree that on a hot evening, this air fryer version method for cooking hamburgers is the best way! I hope your family loves these juicy burgers as much as mine does.

Key Ingredients

photo with labeled ingredients for air fryer hamburgers

Ground beef makes the base of the burgers. Choose grass-fed ground beef for the healthier option over farm lot of grain-fed beef. I like 90% lean but you can choose whatever level of leanness you like.

Ketchup and mustard add flavor to the beef.

Egg holds the burger together with no need for breadcrumbs.

Recipe Steps

photo collage how to make air fryer hamburgers

Step One

The first step to making Air Fryer Hamburgers is to gather up your ingredients. I like to use grass-fed, grass-finished lean ground beef whenever I make burgers. But, you can use whatever type of ground meat you like.

If you want to use poultry, then don’t miss my Air Fryer Turkey Burgers recipe.

Since grass-fed meat tends to be more expensive than feedlot meat, I usually buy it online or from a local farmer. I have an extra freezer in my garage for my bulk orders. Just a tip!

Step Two

Next, make the burger patties by mixing the ground beef, mustard, ketchup and one egg in a bowl, and then using your hands to form the equal patties. If you don’t have ketchup, you can replace it with Worcestershire sauce.

One pound of ground meat can make 4 normal size burgers, or 6 sliders.

Forgot to defrost your meat? Check out my recipe for Air Fryer Frozen Hamburgers.

You’ll notice that I don’t use breadcrumbs in my clean eating hamburger recipe. I honestly don’t think you need them. The egg will help them stick together.

Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.

Step Three

Then, just set the cooking time to 360 degrees F and set the cook time to 16 minutes.

I sometimes flip them once during the cooking time, but it’s not an absolute necessity since the air-fryer does an excellent job of circulating the hot air.

Step Four

Serve your juicy hamburgers hot, on a bun or a salad, with your favorite toppings.

These Air Fryer Burgers go great with Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries or my Baked Japanese Sweet Potato Fries!

air fried hamburgers with all the fixings.

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

Add about 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of your air fryer to keep it from smoking when the excess oil from the meat drips to the bottom. If your air fryer doesn’t allow for this, then it’s okay not to do it.
Let the burgers rest for about 5 minutes after cooking before serving. This helps keep all the juices inside and keeps the burgers from drying out.
To ensure your burgers are cooked through, use an instant-read or meat thermometer inserted into the center of the burger. The internal temperature should read 160 degrees F.
Feel free to get creative with how you serve your air fryer burger. Instead of a bun, I often serve my beef burgers on top of a Romaine Salad with Simple Vinaigrette.
Look for gluten-free buns in the freezer aisle of your local health food store or grocery store.
If you want to make an Air Fryer Cheeseburger, just at a slice of cheese to the burger after you remove it from the air fryer.
Want to use frozen hamburger patties? Try my recipe for Air Fryer Frozen Hamburgers.

Recipe FAQs

What leanness of beef do you recommend?

It’s up to you. The farm where I buy my meat sells 90% lean beef. You can also use 85% lean meat for a super juicy burger.

What do you serve on top of a hamburger?

It’s traditional to serve a burger on a sliced and toasted bun with ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, sliced tomato, cheese (use dairy-free cheese if you’re on a dairy-free diet), and sometimes bacon. You can use any, all, or none of these toppings on your burger as it is really just personal preference.

In the United States, we often serve our burgers with a buffet of choices to allow everyone to pick their own toppings.

Other Easy Air Fryer Recipes You Might Like

Or, check out my entire index of Gluten-Free Air Fryer Recipes.

I hope you make this recipe! If you do, please leave a comment and a starred review below.

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