Oven-baked Bratwurst

Ingredients

5-6 fresh Brats

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Pick a baking pan with a raised edge all around so your sausages don't roll off. Pick one big enough the sausage fit without touching.

Line pan with baking parchment or heavy-duty aluminum foil (spray with nonstick spray if you're using foil).

Lay sausages out on pan. It's okay for the sausages to be close, but you don't want them touching.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Flip sausages and return to oven. (Figure A, below)

Bake an additional 15-25 minutes or until sausages are beautifully browned on the outside and a meat thermometer reads an internal temperature of 160°F. (Figures B and C).

Serve Bratwurst (as a sandwich or not) with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. Maybe a nice strong mustard or a beer-cheese sauce.

Tips

You could absolutely do Italian sausages this way. Serve Italian sausages on a Hoagie roll smothered in sautéed sweet peppers and onions and topped with melted cheese. Or sliced on top of your favorite pasta and sauce.

You could roast the brats in beer instead of a dry pan. Or in beer and sauerkraut. You'll want a 12oz beer, something full flavor, not light. And a pound of sauerkraut. Make the total bake time 45-55 minutes (but with the same 160°F goal)

I used one package of classic bratwurst from my local meat market, but you could easily do up to four packages of different flavored sausages at once using a pair of sheetpans. Use a Sharpie on the parchment to mark which sausages were which style/flavor.

Having a cookout but don't have a huge grill? Cook the sausages in the oven until cooked through and then brown them on the grill to finish. If you combine this with the beer-roasted brats tip above, everybody will think it was for flavor and not about saving time or grill space.