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Cooking brats in the oven is a quick and easy way to cook bratwurst and you don't even have to go outside. Bake them on their own or we also show you how to cook them with peppers and onions on the side. They're a Whole Lotta Yum!
These baked brats are delicious!
- Get plump, golden, and juicy brats in less than 20 minutes
- You still get a nice char line you're used to from grilling them outdoors.
- This method means it's easy to enjoy brats year-round, regardless of the weather
- It's an easy method to cook vegetables like roasted peppers and onions in the same pan
If you're used to grilling brats you might even be wondering how baking them compares. My husband is of German heritage and eating brats is a common menu item in our home so we've basically tried every method out there.
These are so similar to the look and taste you'd get from grilled brats without having to leave your cozy kitchen. I love baking them when I need to make quite a few, using a large sheet pan makes it easy to cook how every many you need.
We love to serve these with our authentic warm German potato salad!
Ingredients needed
- 1 pkg uncooked bratwurst (5 brats)
- Optional toppings- red or green bell peppers, onions, sauerkraut, pickles, or stone ground mustard
- Optional Beer - for soaking the brats before cooking
Cooking Johnsonville brats in the oven is one of our go-to brands (and no we were not paid to say that), there's just something about their seasoning that makes them our go-to brand just about every time we want to cook brats in the oven. We also love to buy the Costco pack to serve a crowd.
A standard-sized package of uncooked brats comes with 5 sausages, feel free to double the recipe and get two packages. They make great leftovers!
NOTE: If you buy the larger deli size, they will take longer to cook than our recipe states. We used standard size.
Infusing with beer
You can buy beer brats from the store or we show you how to make your own. This is totally optional and isn't required for the overall recipe.
Optional idea!
In a shallow smaller pan, add one can or bottle of beer. Add the raw bratwurst to the beer and marinate for 30 minutes.
Remove the bratwurst after 30 mins and continue cooking with the bratwurst in the oven instructions. You can also make beer boiled brats and then give them a quick broil to finish cooking them through.
How to Cook Brats in the Oven
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- Lay the uncooked fresh bratwurst on a baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet, making sure to spread the sausages out and give them plenty of space.
- Bake them on one side for 10 minutes.
- Flip the sausages over with a spatula or tongs, and continue cooking for 8-10 more minutes until they're cooked through and have an internal temperature of at least 160 F.
- If the bratwursts aren't yet browned to your liking but are cooked on the inside, you can broil them for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!
With peppers and onions
This is totally optional but a nice touch
- Thinly slice 1-2 bell peppers and one onion. Lay on the large baking sheet that the bratwurst will also be cooked on.
- Drizzle with 1+ tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt (or garlic salt) and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix the peppers and onions together in the pan.
- Lay the sausages on the pan with the vegetables. After the brats get cooked in the oven for 10 minutes and get flipped, you'll also stir the vegetables in the pan.
- The vegetables should be done at the same time as the sausage. Sometimes we like to drizzle a little balsamic glaze over the peppers to add an extra punch of flavor.
Serving ideas
If you're wondering what to serve with brats, we're sharing our favorite classics and German-inspired ideas. Many people serve bratwurst on a bun like a fancy hot dog, but it's also often served as the main dish without a bun and a variety of sides.
- A bun
- cooked peppers and onions
- Fried cabbage
- Sauerkraut
- Roasted vegetables like broccoli or Brussels sprouts
- Cucumber salad
- German potato salad
- Potato pancakes
- Mustard
- Corn on the Cob
- And beer of course!
Storing and reheating
Store: Store cooked and baked brats in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
Freeze: You can freeze bratwurst for up to 3 months, wrap them in plastic wrap first and then in foil or put them in a Ziplock freezer bag.
Reheat: The quickest way to reheat them is in a skillet for a couple minutes per side or you can air fry them on 370 F until heated through.
Reader questions
Should you poke holes in brats before cooking?
You should not poke holes in bratwurst before baking them, to do so causes valuable moisture loss.
People often believed that if you don’t poke holes in brats they can burst or split during cooking, but as long as you don’t overcook the sausages, they’ll stay whole.
How do you know when brats are done?
The best way to know when brats are done is to use a digital meat thermometer. According to the USDA cook the bratwurst to an internal temperature of at least 160 F. Brats won’t be fully browned at 160 F but you can cook them up to 200 F and still have them be juicy inside or you can broil them for 1-2 minutes to get that just grilled look.
More pork recipes
- Crockpot Italian sausage and peppers
- air fryer brats
- instant pot brats
- air fryer boneless pork chops
- instant pot country style ribs
- baby back ribs in the oven
- crock pot bratwurst with sauerkraut
- 21 best sausage casseroles
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Recipe
Baking Brats in the Oven
Jen @ Whole Lotta Yum
Cooking brats in the oven is a quick and easy way to cook sausages when you don't want to grill but want to cook quite a few at a time.
4.55 from 35 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 15 minutes mins
Total Time 20 minutes mins
Course Sausage
Cuisine German
Servings 5 servings
Calories 283 kcal
Equipment
1 Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 5 uncooked bratwurst 1 pkg- standard size
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lay the uncooked bratwurst on a baking sheet or in a cast-iron skillet, making sure to spread the sausages out and give them plenty of space.
Bake the bratwurst on one side for 10 minutes. Flip the sausages over with a spatula or tongs, and continue cooking for 8-10 more minutes until the oven-baked brats have an internal temperature of 160 F+ when checked with a digital meat thermometer.
If you want the brats a little more brown, just pop them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, with the heating element 4" away from the sausages.
Adding peppers and onions (optional)
Thinly slice 1-2 bell peppers and one onion. Place them on a baking sheet.
Drizzle with 1+ tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt (or garlic salt) and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Combine it all right on the pan.
Place the bratwurst on the pan with the veggies. After the brats cook in the oven for 10 minutes and get flipped, also stir the vegetables.
Cook until the sausage is browned, which could take 20-25 minutes. The more veggies you're cooking on the pan with the bratwurst, the longer it will take for them to brown due to the increased moisture content.
Notes
- To make beer-infused baked brats, marinate the uncooked sausage in one can or bottle of beer for 30 minutes before cooking. Don't marinate longer than that since they could turn mushy.
- The sausges are cooked through at 160 F when you test the internal temperature with a meat thermometer, but they might not be perfectly golden brown on the outside yet. Continue cooking until they're brown or broil them to finish if you're in a hurry. Brats stay juicy up until about 185-190 F so it's perfectly fine to cook them past 160 F.
- If you add vegetables to the pan, they could take longer to brown. 15+ minutes if cooked alone, 20-25 if cooked with other veggies.
- Don't overcrowd the sausage and/or veggies, it'll take them longer to cook and they won't brown.
- Serve with sauerkraut, mustard, and beer for a classic German-style meal.
- The recipe uses standard size brats, if you buy the jumbo meat counter variety they'll take longer to cook.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 283kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 12gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 719mg
Keyword baked, bratwurst recipes, German, how to cook bratwurst, oven, with peppers, with sauerkraut
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