Beer Brats are a super easy recipe for a great dinner or a get together. Your family is going to love this simple three ingredient recipe.
If you hosting a get together, Beer Brats are the perfect dish to feed a crowd! Made with just three simple ingredients and kept warm in the slow cooker, this is ideal party food.
This is a classic Wisconsin recipe. Though there are disagreements if you should grill before slow cooking or after, the consensus that beer brats are amazing remains.
I made these last night and they were great!
What are Beer Brats
Beer Brats are brats that are both grilled and cooked in beer. It creates a delicious and flavorful juicy brat that everyone raves over. Johnsonville makes the best brats, so use theirs for the best results!
How to Make Beer Brats
While you can find complicated Beer Brat recipes out there, there really is no need. This simple and delicious recipe gets the job done. For the full recipe with all of the measurements see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Grill the brats. Read below for ideas on how to make this recipe work in the winter.
- Combine the ingredients in a slow cooker. Add some onions to the bottom of your slow cooker. Then add in the brats and top with beer. Read my ideas on alternatives to a slow cooker below
- Let everything simmer together and enjoy. These need about 30 minutes in the slow cooker before they are ready to be enjoyed but you can certainly leave them in longer than that and let guests help themselves.
Grill or Soak First
There is a lot of argument over whether to boil the brats in the beer and then grill or to first grill and then let them warm in the beer and onion. After a lot of talking to Wisconsinites and research, I feel great about this method.
The added bonus of this method is that you can have everything done and ready before your guests come. Then you just enjoy yourself!
Alternatives to Grilling
If you are making this dish in the middle of winter and not able to use your grill, I have two alternatives for you. That being said, if you visit it Wisconsin, you can bet that there has been a path shoved to that grill.
- Indoor Grill Pan: We have two that we love. This one covers two burners on the stove top, so you would be able to grill many brats at once. This one is smaller, but works great.
- Cast Iron Skillet: We are really just giving the exterior a good searing before we add them to the slow cooker. So you could do this in a skillet as well. You won’t get those beautiful grill marks, but you will still get the job done.
Grill Pan
Alternatives to Slow Cooking
If you don’t have a slow cooker, I can give you a few alternatives to simmer these and keep them warm.
- Everything can be added to a baking dish. Then cover it and pop it into a warm oven (200 degrees Fahrenheit). It is not as convenient for serving, but will work great.
- Use a large dutch oven. Put everything into a large pot and keep it on a very low simmer on the stove while covered. This isn’t my favorite plan because someone should keep an eye on it and stir it occasionally.
- Grab a chafing dish and fuel can. These can set out with the rest of the food for guests to serve themselves.
Slow Cooker
Adding Butter
While I love this recipe exactly as it is written, there is a large portion of my home state that loves to throw in some butter. And out of loyalty to the whole state, it is my duty to tell you about this. When you start up your slow cooker you can throw in four tablespoons of butter. Cut up the butter and distribute it amongst the other ingredients.
Again, I don’t think that the butter is necessary in this recipe. But as a loyal Wisconsinite, I’m doing my due-diligence.
Beer for Beer Brats
When it comes to picking what beer to use to make beer brats, there really is no right answer. Or rather, the right answer is up to you. You should pick the beer that you like the most. The taste of alcohol intensifies when it is cooked, so you want to pick something you really enjoy. We love using a Pilsner because it is a light and mild flavor that even non-beer drinkers seem to enjoy.
Please keep in mind that these will not cook long enough for the alcohol to cook off completely. If you are serving someone who is sober, I would suggest coming up with an alternative for them. I have had readers use cider I this recipe with great results.
FAQ
Yes! They soften up in 30 minutes in the slow cooker. They do have a small bite to them still, but continue to soften the longer the brats soak.
We have only ever made these with beer. That being said, we have had readers tell us that they love this recipe with cider.
Not entirely, no. You need three hours to cook off alcohol.
What to Serve with Beer Brats
Some great recipes to put out with your brats are:
If you make these Beer Brats in celebration of Bratsgiving (or ever!) let me know what you think! Or drop me a comment and tell me your favorite brat recipe.
Beer Brats
Ingredients
- 10 Johnsonville Original flavor bratwursts
- 24 ounces beer (two 12 ounce cans)
- 1 large onion sliced thin
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to 350 degrees. Grill the bratwursts for 7 minutes on each side or until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Add the onions to the base of the slow cooker. Add the grilled bratwursts. Pour the beer over them and then add 2 cups of water. (Please note that the brats just need to be covered in liquid).
- Set the slow cooker to warm and let the flavors combine for 30 minutes. Then allow your guests to eat at their leisure, pulling out a Beer Brat and topping with with some of the onions in a bun.
Lynn Dike says
Beer and onion first and grilling second or grilling first and beer and onion second…can’t go wrong.
Kim says
Add some butter to this and you will find this amazing. It adds to the flavor and moisture/tenderness of the brats.
Roseann says
What if you don’t have a grill what do you do
You could pan fry them, or I highly recommend an indoor grill (this is the one I have). It doesn’t work quite the same because you aren’t covering them, but with going in the beer after for 30 minutes they will get fully cooked.
Kathy says
My crockpot has only 2 settings low or high. How long on low setting?
I would go with 30 minutes on low, and then just keep an eye on things so that they aren’t simmering. If that starts to happen, I would turn it off for a bit.
Pete DiGangi says
Use your broiler in your oven. It works great
Earlyne says
Some of the questions some of you ask …ie, no grill!?!? Got a stove, frypan? That’ll work.
Kim says
Add some butter to this and you will find this amazing. It adds to the flavor and moisture/tenderness of the brats.
Carla Erickson says
Always do beer & onions- MIL taught me 50 yrs ago!
Love Johnsonville brats too. I’m an IL gal now in MN.. Still close to WI Bratland. 😍
Diana says
Will try this, this weekend just had grilled brats yesterday. Just love them
I hope you love it, Diana!
KYM says
Have you tried.adding peppers.of any kind? Hot, green, pepperonconi etc????
I haven’t, but that sounds delicious!
Kelly D says
This is the order i cook them, but one major difference. I put sauerkraut in the bottom of the slow cooker instead of onions and add the beer and water. Delicious that way also!
Dori says
I just love all your recipes! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Paula says
Would not change anything. Delish. I did toss in deli sourkrout. Unfortunately no grill available, cast iron fry pan. Thank You Used stout dark beet
I’m so glad you liked it!