Smoked Brats With Beer and Onion Recipe
For an easy and crowd-pleasing dish at your next backyard BBQ party, you can't go wrong with these very best smoked brats with beer and onion! After simmering in a beer braise, these brats are then smoked until they're perfectly juicy and flavorful.
How to Make the Best Smoked Brats With Beer and Onion
There’s nothing quite like perfectly smoked bratwurst to elevate your next backyard BBQ party. These smoked brats with beer and onion combine the rich flavors of German bratwurst with a beer-based braise that keeps them incredibly juicy and tender throughout the smoking process. The onions add a subtle sweetness that complements both the beer and the smoky flavors.
The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity—with just a few minutes of prep time, you scatter some onions and beer in a cast-iron skillet, nestle in your bratwurst, and let the smoker do all the heavy lifting. The brats spend time simmering in the beer bath before graduating to direct smoke, creating a perfectly cooked sausage with an incredible flavor profile that will have your guests coming back for seconds.
Serve these smoked brats on toasted buns with your favorite toppings—whether that’s tangy mustard, traditional sauerkraut, or any of your other preferred condiments. The combination of the beer braise and wood smoke creates a depth of flavor that makes these brats worthy of any special occasion, yet simple enough for a casual weeknight dinner.
Smoked Brats With Beer and Onion
For an easy and crowd-pleasing dish at your next backyard BBQ party, you can't go wrong with these very best smoked brats with beer and onion! After simmering in a beer braise, these brats are then smoked until they're perfectly juicy and flavorful.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Instructions
Smoking the Brats
- Heat the smoker to 225 degrees F. Meanwhile, scatter the onion slices around a 12-inch cast-iron skillet and pour in the beer. Nestle the brats in the beer bath so that the beer comes up about halfway up the brats. Bring to a simmer — not a boil — over medium heat.
- Once the beer simmers, move the skillet to the smoker and close the lid. Smoke the brats for 15 minutes, and then flip them and smoke for another 15 minutes.
- Leave the beer bath in the smoker but remove the brats from the liquid and place them directly on the grill grates. Continue to smoke the brats until they reach an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees F, about another 30-45 minutes.
- Remove from the smoker. Allow the brats to rest for about five minutes. Serve on buns with your favorite condiments. Enjoy!
Notes
- These brats only require a few minutes of prep time, and then the smoker takes care of the rest.
- Internal temperature should reach 160-165 degrees F for food safety.