Don’t be dismayed if you enjoy grilled brats but don’t have an outdoor barbecue or yours is damaged. You can still cook brats in a variety of ways inside your kitchen and get fantastic results.
A cast-iron pan can be used to fry brats on the stovetop. Brats can also be baked or broiled in the oven. The best part is that no matter whatever method you use for cooking brats indoors, the outcome will be excellent.
Just ensure to pay attention to our cooking instructions and take note of helpful tips and timing guidelines for the best results.
Brats Indoors Nutrition Facts
Tips for Cooking Brats Indoors
Take note of the following tips when attempting to cook brats indoors; you’ll find that these tips are necessary for great-tasting results:
Choosing which method to use – Brats can be cooked in a variety of ways indoors. Cooking them on the stovetop in a frying pan or cast-iron skillet is one option; another is broiling or oven-baking them. Whichever method you choose, they all yield great results.
Some of the most popular indoor options include the following:
- Cooking the brats on the stovetop
- Broiling the brats in the oven
- Baking the brats in the oven
- Air frying the brats
- Cooking the brats in a slow cooker
Use a cast-iron skillet – Some individuals choose to cook brats using the stovetop method instead of grilling them. However, you can only do this if you understand how to cook brats properly in a pan or a cast-iron skillet, with cast iron skillets being the superior option.
Cast iron skillets carry heat more efficiently and are essential for achieving a nice sear on the brats. Having said that, a different style of the pan could also work provided that it comes with a lid.
Use some beer – One great way to increase the quality of your indoor-cooked brats is to use beer rather than water when cooking them using the stovetop method.
Pour your preferred dark beer instead of water when it’s time to introduce the water and cover the brats to cook. It may take some time for the beer to come to a boil. The wait, though, is well worth it.
If you don’t want to reduce the beer, ensure to cook the brats in it while it’s covered. You should, however, l, leave the pan uncovered if you want a nice beer-based sauce to serve with the sausages.
You can also throw in the onions around the same time you pour in the beer. They’ll soften and absorb the beer, becoming a delectable topping for the sausages.
Poke the bratwursts – When pan-searing the brats, one of the most typical issues is that they rupture. You can avoid this in two ways:
- Do not heat the pan above 350°F. If you’re in possession of a thermometer, keeping track of the temperature is simple.
- In case there’s no thermometer, but you still want to ensure that the sausages are cooked through, simply pierce through them using a toothpick or fork.
Rest your brats – When the brats are done, don’t immediately move them from your skillet to the serving dish. Allow them to rest awhile.
Leaving the brats for about 5 minutes to rest before you serve them will improve the taste of the sausages because the brats tend to lose less juice this way.
Great sides to try – Your brats can be served with sauerkraut on buns. Grilled onions, fried cabbage, potato salad, baked beans, and potato pancakes are all traditional sides that can work well with your recipe.
Cucumber salad is another refreshing summertime option. Fresh cucumbers, red onions, sour cream, white vinegar, fresh dill, salt, and pepper to taste, as well as a splash of sugar, combine to make this salad.
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Cooking Time for Brats Indoors
These timing guidelines in the table below are necessary to keep in mind for indoor cooking of brat recipes:
| Cooking procedure | Cooking time |
| Cooking brats indoors in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit | 15 to 17 minutes |
| Cooking brats indoors on the stovetop | 16 to 20 minutes |
How To Cook Brats Indoors
Ingredients
Recipe 1: Oven-Baked Bratwurst (5 Servings)
- 5 uncooked bratwursts
Recipe 2: Stovetop-cooked Brats (5 Servings)
- 10 small brats (about 2.7 ounces each)
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 cup of beer
- fine sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
Recipe 1: Oven-Baked Bratwurst (5 Servings)
- Adjust your oven’s temperature to 400 degrees F and leave it to heat up. Make sure the oven rack is positioned in the middle of the oven.
- Using tin foil, cover your baking sheet. (You can also use a casserole dish or a baking pan.)
- Arrange the bratwursts on the sheet pan with plenty of room between them.
- Bake the bratwurst for 10 minutes on one side.
- Cook for another 5 to 7 minutes on the second side of the brats (until browned).
- Note: If your plan is to cook your brats in a skillet with other vegetables, they’ll take about 20 to 25 minutes. The bratwursts take only 15 minutes to cook when cooked alone.
Recipe 2: Stovetop-cooked Brats (5 Servings)
- Quarter and slice the onion quarters.
- Allow a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (preferably cast-iron skillet) to heat up on the stove. Pour in the oil. Sear the brats for about 3 minutes on medium-high heat, then flip with tongs and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Between the sausages, add the onions and cook them for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden.
- Turn your sausages again, pour in the beer, cover the sausages, then cook them for about 10 minutes on low heat, flipping halfway through. The temperature should be 160 degrees Fahrenheit on the inside of the brats. Assuming you have no meat thermometer, simply split one sausage in half and check to see if it’s done.
- Take the brats off the stove, season them to taste with salt and pepper, and simmer the sauce for 2 minutes. Put the sausages back into the pan and combine them with the sauce.
- Serve right away.
These two recipes describe the different ways by which you can cook bratwursts indoors, without using a grill. Both cooking methods deliver awesome-tasting results, so feel free to try either one of them next time you have a bratwurst craving.
If you’re in need of more ideas on how to cook brats indoors, check out this video recipe.