Easy Beer Brats Recipe

These are our favorite beer brats! Perfectly browned and juicy bratwurst sausages simmered in a rich, flavorful beer and onion gravy, all done on the stove. Perfect for serving on buns or enjoying all by itself!

If there’s one dish that’s guaranteed to make Adam smile, it’s these beer brats! The method is simple, but it’s perfected with a few clever tricks from Chef Richard, who makes the best beer brats ever (I’m absolutely convinced on this one!).

The magic of this recipe comes down to two things: the beer you choose (yes, you can choose incorrectly, so check my tips!) and making sure you slowly brown your sausages to build incredible flavor before simmering them in our delicious onion beer gravy. By the way, if you love the pork and onion combination, we also have this pork tenderloin with peppers and onions!

Key Ingredients

• Bratwurst: These German-style sausages are typically made with pork and seasoned with milder spices, such as marjoram, coriander, nutmeg, and pepper. Known affectionately as “brats” across the US, their mild flavor makes them perfect for a variety of dishes. For this recipe, we will brown them on the outside and then simmer in beer. Thanks to the fat added to the sausages and the moist cooking environment, they remain incredibly juicy inside. If you can’t find bratwurst, try mild Italian sausage instead.
• Beer: For the best flavor, use a malty lager or pale lager. Nothing hoppy, as it will make the onion gravy bitter. A standard American lager like Budweiser works in a pinch, but we prefer to steer clear of light beers for this one (they won’t have enough flavor).
• Onions and Peppers: We love sweet onions (think Walla Walla or Vidalia) and red bell peppers, but yellow onions or other peppers are just fine (or you can leave the peppers out if that’s more your style).
• Buns: Look for something soft and not too big (you don’t want it to dwarf the sausage). I love a simple hoagie-style roll, brioche-style buns, or a good-quality potato roll.
• Extras: Some people love a grainy mustard with beer brats and I’ll never turn down a side of sauerkraut! Here’s our quick fresh sauerkraut (not fermented, but delicious) as well as our fermented sauerkraut!

Use medium heat to brown your sausages (don’t sear them on high heat). Our goal is to slowly develop a rich, golden-brown crust before simmering them with the beer.

The gravy simmers for 10 to 15 minutes, which means it will reduce by about half. This is why we are so specific with the best beer to use. If you were to use a hoppy or bitter beer, you would be reducing and intensifying that flavor when you simmer, making your gravy bitter.