Smoked Brats with Beer Onions (Pellet Smoker Recipe)
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Smoked Brats are an outrageously delicious cookout or game day meal! Juicy, succulent sausages with the perfect combination of salty, smokey, and slightly spicy flavors. Plus, smoking brats is so easy — after just a couple of hours, you’ll have a family-sized serving of mouthwatering, bratwurst ready to serve!
Table of Contents
Smoked Brats
If you’re bored with the usual hamburgers and hot dogs, it’s the perfect time to break out the bratwursts!
Smoked brats is one of my favorite recipes for a backyard party and really does give the best flavor.
Under a pile of toppings or plated on its own with a side of smoked red potatoes or grilled corn, a filling and satisfying meal is guaranteed.
Each bite gives you a burst of juicy, peppery flavor that will keep you coming back for more. The only thing left to do is decide which topping you’re going to choose!
If you’re plagued by brat cravings during the colder winter months while your smoker is closed and packed away, try this crockpot beer brats recipe.
And whether you’re making brats on the Traeger or in your slow cooker, you can fix ‘em up southwestern style in this recipe, inspired by my trip to New Orleans!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Bratwurst – These sausages are most often made from ground pork or a blend of pork and beef.
Select ones with a good ratio of fat or marbling to keep them juicy and flavorful. - Yellow Onion & Bell Peppers – These are the basic veggies to start with, but you can always jazz things up with a variety of sweet or spicy peppers and onions.
Jalapeños and banana peppers would add a nice kick of spice too! - Beer – Any beer will work for smoking brats, but I recommend using a pale ale. Blue Moon and Allagash White are a few of my favorites!
- Garlic Powder – It’s easiest to use powdered seasoning, but you can use freshly minced garlic if you’d like.
Since the meat will be resting in a bath of beer, veggies, and seasoning, it’ll take in all of the flavors just as well, if not better! - Paprika – I love using this fruity, peppery spice for Traeger bratwurst! Cayenne or New Mexico chili powder would add a bit more heat if that’s what you’re after.
Tips and Tricks to Make Perfect Smoked Bratwurst
- Choose the right wood chips.
Maple, oak, hickory, cherry, and pecan are my top recommendations. Keep in mind that each has its own flavor and scent!
Cherry and pecan are milder and sweeter, while hickory and oak boast a more traditional, smokier taste.
If you’ve never made smoked brats before, I encourage you to try out a few before deciding on your favorite.
- Don’t skip the preheat.
Set your Traeger (or other pellet smoker) to 225°F before adding the sausages to ensure they cook evenly and soak up all of that yummy smoky flavor.
I often get asked how long to smoke brats at 225°F — it will take about 2 hours when your equipment is properly preheated!
- Let the brats rest before serving.
5 minutes is really all you need to let the juices redistribute! This keeps the bratwurst juicy and prevents them from drying out when you dig in.
- Bring out the best toppings.
All of our hot dog classics are on the table! Or should be, at least.
Ketchup and mustard are a must, and it never hurts to have relish and onions on the side. Peppers and cheese are also uniquely delicious on Traeger bratwurst!
Prep Ahead
- Preheat the smoker to 225°F
- Slice the onion and peppers
Kitchen Tools You Will Need
- Quality Knives and a big solid Cutting Board make prepping a breeze and are well worth the investment.
- Smoker – Wood pellet varieties allow extra flavor to be infused into whatever you’re smoking.
- Your Favorite Flavor Wood Chips – I love this blend and use it for just about everything.
- Aluminum Foil Pan
- Tongs – I love this set of 3, and I use every pair of them. They are so handy and grip amazingly well!
Serving Suggestions
A great brat is hot and juicy inside, with an outer layer that literally pops as you bite into it. The smoker does most of the work for you.
Top it with some spicy brown mustard, yellow mustard, or BBQ sauce, and you have a good option to enjoy during the hot summer days. Let the flavor of the brats stand out!
And while you can’t go wrong just serving them up on a hot dog bun, try slicing them longways and serving them on a sandwich with onions and peppers.
Sliced and diced, smoked brats will add a ton of flavor to any soup or stew. The same goes for pasta or rice dishes!
Storing and Reheating Traeger Bratwurst
Once they’re cool, store leftover bratwurst in an airtight container in the fridge. They will keep for up to 4 days there, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
To reheat (and keep a bit of texture and crispiness to the exterior), throw them on the stovetop on medium heat — and keep them moving so they don’t burn and stick!
Otherwise, pop them in a 350°F oven on a sheet pan until warmed through the center. Or, simply microwave in short bursts.
PRO TIP: Poke a couple of holes in the bratwurst casing so they don’t explode in the microwave.
Smoked Brats FAQ
Not quite! Smoked bratwurst is a type of smoked sausage, but not all smoked sausages are bratwurst.
Brats have a softer texture, mild seasoning, and are usually fresh before smoking. Smoked sausages feature a variety of seasonings, textures, and curing methods.
Brats tend to be juicier, while smoked sausage is usually firmer and saltier. Now you know!
It takes about 2 hours to smoke brats at 225°F. I say “about” because it’ll vary depending on the thickness of your sausages, the model of your smoker, and the kind of wood chips you use.
The magic number is 160°F — that’s the temp your digital thermometer needs to read before your sausages are done cooking.
No. You want the entire cooking process to happen in the smoker.
That way, all of the cooked meat absorbs the flavors of the beer, vegetables, seasonings, and smoking wood chips.
Boiling beforehand prevents all of that good stuff from soaking into the brats!
Nope! If you do, you’ll allow the juices and fat inside the sealed sausage to escape. And that’s the last thing we want!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Smoker Recipes
Slow Cooker Beer Brats Recipe with Onions + Video
Ingredients
- 5 brats, uncooked
- 1 yellow onion, cut into slices, ¼-inch thick
- 3 bell peppers, cut into slices, ¼-inch thick
- 24 ounces beer, see Notes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Preheat the smoker to 225°F.
- Add the brats to an aluminum foil pan. Top with sliced onions and peppers.
- Sprinkle seasonings over vegetables and pour beer into the pan.
- Place the pan in the smoker and cook for 2 hours, tossing occasionally to coat the onions, peppers, and brats with beer.
- During the final 30 minutes of smoking time, remove brats from the pan and transfer them to the grate above the pan. The color of the brats will change to a smokey pink/red, indicating they are completely cooked.
- Serve on toasted buns with your favorite brat toppings.
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published September 2022, updated and republished March 2025
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We’re Donna and Chad, the dream team behind The Slow Roasted Italian. Our focus is on taking complicated OUT of the kitchen. Life is busy enough, making meals should be fast and easy, to help make your life as simple as possible. Read More >>
one tip of recipe is to poke hole into brats so they don’t burst then you direct to NOT poke holes into brat so they stay juicy make up my mind.
Hi Stubby,
As stated in the post no you do not poke holes in the brats while smoking, if you do you’ll allow the juices and fat inside the sealed sausage to escape. However When reheating these in the microwave it is recommended to poke holes so that they do not burst. Hope this helps!
TSRI Team Member,
Holli
Hi Donna! Recovering alcoholic here of 30 years. Could I use chicken or beef stock in lieu of beer? Near beer isn’t an option either since there is still some alcohol in it. Thanks!
Congratulations on 30 years.
Any chef will tell you that the alcohol will cook off in the smoking process. However, beef stock is a perfectly acceptable substitution. Use salt free stock and adjust your seasoning as you go. Good luck.