This Wisconsin Beer Brat Sauce is the perfect condiment for slathering on your Johnsonville brats at your Fourth of July cookout! It is robust, tangy, and sweet with the mellow flavor of beer carried throughout each bite!
I was going to start off this post with a joke about brats, but I changed my mind because it’s the wurst. *Rimshot!* I bet you never sausage a terrible pun!
Luckily, here in Wisconsin our bratwurst is better than our jokes. Brats are a big deal where I’m from; we eat them at Packer games, our family cookouts, heck you can even find hot bratwurst being grilled up at most grocery stores every weekend during the summer!
That’s why I am particularly excited to partner with Johnsonville for this post, they are a family owned company located just a few towns over from me and a brand I’ve grown up with my entire life! I’m grilling their Beer Brats to perfectly complement my Wisconsin Beer Brat Sauce recipe, though I’m dying to try their Firecracker Bratwurst and Green Hatch Chili Sausage as well!
Some purists will try to convince you brats should only be served with mustard; or perhaps even raw onions if they are feeling particularly wild that day. However, take heart, because even here in Wisconsin no one listens to them.
More commonly, Wisconsin brats are topped with any combination of ketchup, mustard, raw or grilled onions, and/or sauerkraut. However, for those who are true bratwurst aficionados, a brat sauce will be employed.
Brat Sauce
A brat sauce is the perfect sauce to highlight the flavor-packed bratwurst. It is more robust than a basic ketchup, and not quite as tangy as mustard. My Wisconsin Beer Brat Sauce recipe strikes a balance between sweetness and acidity, with just enough horseradish to wake up the taste buds.
Oh, and did I mention there is beer in it?
It may seem peculiar to some to put beer in a condiment, but it is actually the perfect finishing flavor for a sauce that is slathered on bratwurst. In Wisconsin, brats are often pre-boiled in a beer brat bath for added flavor or soaked in hot beer to keep warm after coming off the grill. The beer added to my Wisconsin Beer Brat Sauce helps carry that malty flavor through.
For your Fourth of July cookout, grab some Johnsonville brats, whip up a batch of this Wisconsin Beer Brat Sauce, and enjoy a bite of Wisconsin! After all, nothing quite says summer like the #1 brand of American brats!
Wisconsin Beer Brat Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup chili sauce (such as Heinz brand)
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup beer
- 2 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until sauce has thickened back into ketchup like consistency. Let cool slightly.
- Yields 2 cups.
- Serve on top of grilled bratwurst.
Notes
Nutritional Information
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville. The opinions and text are all mine.
Joe simons
I used 1.5 cups beer and added 1/2 cup mustard and some red pepper flakes and a little garlic. No need to sear but instead bring t a quick boil and then simmer very low for 2-3 hours.
Dan
Really good sauce. Even better hot tub. Lots more beer and 2 bottles chili sauce and no ketchup!! Thanks for this!
ronald J viney
I too am from Wisco and in my family considered the Brat master. I do them a few ways but my go to is grill and "chill" I sear them then into a bath VERY similar to your sauce. I let them soak for as long as needed or until they run out. When doing up 40 or 50 brats at a time for friends and family this works well. Never thought of using my base a a condiment what a great idea!!! Not sure what chili sauce you use ( probably sweet Thai???)
Fox Valley Foodie
I am referencing Heinz-style chili sauce.
Maryanne
What is chili sauce? Is this something like Franks Redhot? There are a lot of different chili sauces!
Fox Valley Foodie
Heinz makes a condiment labeled as Chili Sauce. It is near the ketchup, that is what you want to use.
Tori
Made this with Land Grant Brew Co. fruit ale w/mixed berries... added just the right amount of sweetness, and a very unique taste! Thanks for the recipe!
Mike
I will never put mustard on a brat again. This was fantastic thank you
Rio S.
Greetings from South Louisiana. I have long enjoyed brats, but always at someone else's party. Please don't judge me, but I've only had them slathered in BBQ sauce and grilled or smoked. They have always been yummy!
Tonight my husband and I grilled our own brats for the first time by using your recipes for Brat sauce and brat beer bath and using your directions for grilling brats. We are just realizing the phenomenal taste of the Brat! Holy smokes! Thank you for sharing your AMAZING recipes!
Cheers!
Tom
I never eat brats without brat sauce! This recipe is the real deal!