Oven baked brats and and sauerkraut become irresistible when caramelized with brown sugar. And served over fluffy mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort food meal. An Autumn dinner that you’ll fall in love with.
Fall wouldn’t be “Fall” without brats and kraut. It’s the ultimate Autumn comfort food coup. This recipe is inspired from my grandmother, who passed along her obsession with for mashed potatoes topped with about anything. And her love for sauerkraut.
If you love sauerkraut, I probably don’t need to convince you to try this oven baked brats recipe.
What we love about this recipe is that bratwurst sausage is oven roasted on a sheet pan before assembling the rest of the recipe.
Roasting an already fatty piece of meat, rather than pan frying, eliminates some of the fat calories. I also like the texture of the sausage better when oven roasted.
Onions are then pan fried until golden and then simmered in beer.
The dish is then assembled in a casserole by layering the onion mix, oven baked brats and topped with sauerkraut.
The true deliciousness gets even better by sprinkling the sauerkraut with brown sugar before baking.
Sauerkraut and brats in the oven never had it so good.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- 6 uncooked bratwurst sausage
- Onion
- Olive Oil
- Beer, preferably German ale
- Brown Sugar
- Canned Sauerkraut
Ingredient Substitutions
- Pork Bratwurst Sausage: For a lighter and leaner option, substitute Chicken Bratwurst for the pork brats. Whole Foods offers a good chicken brat in their meat department.
- Sauerkraut: I always grab canned sauerkraut. Use your favorite brand of jarred or canned.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
- Step 1: For the oven baked brats: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place bratwurst sausages on a sheet pan fitted with a wire rack. Spray the sausages with avocado oil or cooking spray. Roast for 30 minutes turning the sausages once after 15 minutes.
- Step 2: Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large fry pan. Add onion and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Cook, stirring often until onions are starting to turn golden. About 15 – 20 minutes.
- Step 3: Add beer or chicken broth and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will reduce the liquid a bit and intensify the flavor.
- Step 4: Place contents of the of the fry pan into an oven safe casserole dish.
- Step 5: Place the oven baked brats on top of the onions and liquid.
- Step 6: Place the canned sauerkraut over the brats and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar.
- Step 7: Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until sauerkraut is starting to caramelize and turning golden in color. Serve immediately over mashed potatoes.
Use a instant digital read meat thermometer. Press the probe into the middle of one of the bratwurst. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees. And when cut, the meat should be white and firm with little or not pink.
Yes. There are come commercially packaged brats and are already cooked or smoked. Check the package carefully and make sure it indicates “fully cooked”. To use fully cooked brats in this recipe, just skip the oven roasting instructions, and start with cooking the onions.
Texture, texture, texture. Oven baked brats are a crispier product. Crispy on the inside and tender on the inside. I find boiling brats to be a bit of a flabby experience. But you most certainly can boil them if you want.
If you simply don’t like sauerkraut, simply bake the brats in the oven and then proceed with the beer and onion steps of this recipe. Place the onion and beer mixture in an oven safe casserole and nestle the cooked brats on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake. Serve over mashed potatoes.
Leftovers and Storage
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for 4 days. To reheat, just place on a microwave safe plate and reheat using 50% power. The lower power setting will heat leftovers at a slower more gentler speed. Which means no exploding brats. Length of time depends on the amount on the plate. I like to use 30 second increments.
Variations
Serve oven baked brats and kraut in a hoagie bun or hot dog bun. Just place one of the cooked brats in a bun and top with some sauerkraut.
Recipe for Oven Baked Brats and Kraut
I hope you give this baked bratwurst and sauerkraut method a try. I think you’ll be very pleased with the process and the end flavor result.
Serve this over mashed potatoes for a memorable brats and kraut meal.
Related Recipes
- Sausage Stuffed Italian Frying Peppers
- Chicken Sausage Hotdogs
- Sauerkraut Soup with Sausage and Potatoes
- Curried Butternut Squash Sausage Soup
And don’t miss my Pork category, you’ll find lots of great recipe ideas. Including the most popular on my site for Campfire Ribs.
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Oven Baked Brats and Sauerkraut
Ingredients
- 6 Bratwurst sausage uncooked. Use either regular brats or chicken bratwurst.
- Avocado oil cooking spray or olive oil cooking spray, or PAM
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion or two medium onions, peeled and sliced
- 6 Tablespoons brown sugar divided
- 1 1/2 cups beer or chicken broth
- 29 ounces sauerkraut canned, 2-14 1/2 ounce cans, undrained
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place bratwurst sausages on a sheet pan fitted with a wire rack. Spray the sausages with avocado oil or cooking spray. Roast for 30 minutes turning the sausages once after 15 minutes.
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large fry pan. Add onion and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Cook, stirring often until onions are starting to turn golden. About 15 – 20 minutes.
- Add beer or chicken broth and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. This will reduce the liquid a bit and intensify the flavor.
- Place contents of the of the fry pan into an oven safe casserole dish. Place the roasted brats on top of the onions and liquid.
- Place the canned sauerkraut over the brats and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until sauerkraut is starting to caramelize and turning golden in color.
- Serve the bratwursts and sauerkraut over bed of mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Use an instant digital read meat thermometer to make sure brats are fully cooked. Press the probe into the middle of one of the bratwurst. The internal temperature should read 165 degrees. And when cut, the meat should be white and firm with little or not pink.
Nutrition
Oven Baked Brats and Sauerkraut …It’s what’s for Dinner.
great recipe
Hi Mary Lou. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you liked the recipe.
Thanks so much Mary Lou. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know.
Set a place for me, Lea Ann!
Done! 🙂
Love me some brats, I’ll have to give these a shot.
Thanks Chris.
I love this simple German dish, especially the way you made it.
Thanks Larry.