Cooking brats in the oven is a quick and easy way to cook bratwurst when you don’t want to pull out your grill. Oven-baked brats are even faster than grilled sausages and turn out amazing!
Serve with fried cabbage, sauerkraut, a bun, German potato salad, cucumber salad, roasted vegetables, broccoli cheese soup, your favorite kind of mustard, and beer of course!
If you love cooking brats as much as we do then you’ll want to check out our posts on instant pot beer brats and air fryer bratwurst too.
A printable recipe card is at the bottom of the post!
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Brats in the Oven
If you’re used to grilling brats you might even be wondering can you bake brats indoors? And how exactly do they compare? My husband is of German heritage and eating brats is a common menu item in our home. Here’s a little secret I’ll let you in on early in the post…making uncooked fresh brats in the oven make the BEST bratwurst! So similar to the look and taste you’d get from grilled brats.
Ever since he bought a Big Green Egg a couple of years ago that I still don’t know how to use (or maybe am not allowed to get near?) I’ve been perfecting all of the indoor ways to cook brats, especially when it’s not summertime!
Why This Recipe Works
- Cooking brats in the oven only take less than 20 minutes
- Baked brats still get a nice char line you’re used to from grilled brats
- This method means it’s easy to enjoy brats year-round, regardless of the weather
- The brats turn out so plump and juicy in the oven
- It’s an easy method to cook vegetables like roasted peppers and onions on the same pan
Ingredients for Oven Baked Brats
- 1 pkg uncooked bratwurst (5 brats)
Cooking Johnsonville brats in the oven are our favorite brand (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.
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!
Beer Baked Bratwurst?
If you want to cook baked bratwurst with beer, it’s super simple to do. One option is to buy beer brats that are already marinated in beer, there’s usually numerous pre-flavored bratwurst on the market these days.
That being said, if you have a favorite beer you love you’d rather bake your bratwurst, here’s how to do that:
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.
How to Cook Bratwurst in the Oven
You truly won’t believe how quickly it takes to cook bratwurst in the oven!
Turn your oven to 400F and make sure the oven rack is in the center position.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
Lay the uncooked fresh bratwurst on the baking sheet, making sure to spread the sausages out and give them plenty of space.
How Long to Cook Brats in Oven?
You’ll get started by baking the bratwurst on one side for 10 minutes.
Flip the sausages over with a spatula or tongs, and continue cooking for 5-7 more minutes until the oven-baked brats are cooked through and have an internal temperature of 160 F.
How to Cook Brats With Peppers and Onions
Cooking bratwurst with peppers and onions is super easy!
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+ Tbsp olive oil, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt (or garlic salt) and 1/4 tsp pepper. Mix the peppers and onions together on the pan.
Lay the bratwurst on the pan with the vegetables, just make sure the bratwurst is directly touching the parchment paper to help turn them brown. After the brats get cooked in the oven for 10 minutes and get flipped, also stir the vegetables on the pan.
The vegetables should be done at the same time as the baked bratwurst. Sometimes we like to drizzle a little balsamic glaze over the peppers to add an extra punch of flavor.
The photo below with the brats on top of the peppers was for serving, it was not for cooking! Again, be sure to spread the brats out on the pan and not cook them directly on the peppers.
What to Serve with Bratwurst?
If you’re wondering what to serve with brats, there’s a variety of classic recipes and German-inspired ideas you’ll love. 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. Here are a few ideas!
- A bun
- Fried cabbage
- Sauerkraut
- Roasted vegetables like broccoli or Brussel sprouts
- Cucumber salad
- German potato salad
- Potato pancakes
- Mustards
- Corn on the Cob
- And beer of course!
Other Pork Recipes You’ll Love
- 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
- keto crumb pork chops
- Zuppa Toscana (kale, sausage, potato soup)
- Spiral ham in the crockpot
- Egg roll in a bowl
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Cooking Brats in the Oven
Cooking brats in the oven is a quick and easy way to cook bratwurst when you don't want to pull out your grill. Oven-baked brats are even faster than grilled sausages and turn out amazing!
Serve with fried cabbage, sauerkraut, a bun, German potato salad, cucumber salad, roasted vegetables, broccoli cheese soup, your favorite kind of mustard, and beer of course!
Ingredients
- 5 uncooked bratwurst (1 pkg)- they're usually sold as 5
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 400F and make sure the oven rack is in the center position.
- Lay the uncooked fresh bratwurst on the baking sheet, making sure to spread the sausages out and give them plenty of space.
How Long to Cook Brats in Oven?
- You'll get started by baking the bratwurst on one side for 10 minutes.
- Flip the sausages over with a spatula or tongs, and continue cooking for 5-7 more minutes until the oven-baked brats are browned.
- IMPORTANT NOTE: Brats cooked in the oven by themselves cook FASTER than if you add other veggies on the pan. Bratwurst cook in just 15 minutes but when you add ingredients like peppers, onions, or other vegetables they take LONGER to brown and might need to be cooked 20-25 minutes.
How to Cook Brats With Peppers and Onions
- Cooking bratwurst with peppers and onions is super easy!
- 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+ Tbsp olive oil, and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt (or garlic salt) and 1/4 tsp pepper. Mix the peppers and onions together on the pan.
- Lay the bratwurst on the pan with the vegetables, just make sure the bratwurst is directly touching the parchment paper to help turn them brown. After the brats get cooked in the oven for 10 minutes and get flipped, also stir the vegetables on the pan.
- The vegetables should be done at the same time as the baked bratwurst. Sometimes we like to drizzle a little balsamic glaze over the peppers to add an extra punch of flavor.
- 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.
Notes
To make beer-infused baked brats, marinate the uncooked bratwurst in one can or bottle of beer for 30 minutes before cooking. Don't marinate longer than that since they could turn mushy.
If you add vegetables to the pan with the brats, they will 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.
Serve with sauerkraut, mustard, and beer for a classic German-style meal.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 283Total Fat 25gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 63mgSodium 719mgCarbohydrates 2gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 12g
Becky says
THE BEST….PERIOD!!
J. Boddie says
Wow dude. It must be tough being part of the grammar police. Pretty sure you knew what she meant but you JUST had to call her out on the typo. Good job-hopefully your grammar police team gives you kudos the next time you meet to show what you do in response to someone, who by the way is just trying to help, and makes a minute mistake in a recipe. Good job amigo!
Brenda says
Tried them last evening for dinner. Turned out great! Will definitely prepare them this way again.
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you for your feedback, Brenda! Baked brats are so easy!
Diana Rosalind says
Um, maybe you have a super-hot oven or something but in mine there is NO WAY to cook bratwurst for 20 minutes and have them be done, nicely brown and crispy. They’ve been in the oven at 400 on the center rack for nearly 40 minutes as I write this and still need more time. I may have to finish them off under the broiler or I’ll be here for hours. I do not have oven temperature issues in general and bake all the time so I’m sorry to have to say this but I think your timing is way off for this method of cooking! Thanks anyway for letting me know that Brats could indeed be cooked in the oven as I did not want to fry them in a pan and the grill is broken! Most recipes act like you cannot cook them in the oven – wrong!
Lee says
I never thought about making brats in the oven before. I had to make them for a family party with 18 people and it was raining. These turned out great! Thank you!!! (I’m making them again tonight.)
Pamela Lester says
We love these baked BRATS!! Making them again tonight. Thanks again they are so good and simple!
David STAIT says
I like to cook Brats in the oven at 400 degrees – 40 minutes then flip over for 20 minutes. In your suggested method you don’t recommend a temperature setting?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi David, The post includes the brats oven temp at 400F, it was the first line of the recipe card. Aren’t brats the best??
Adam Keith Bowen-Burrell-Holmes says
Hi there! I did mine at 400 for 10 and 7. They weren’t done. Should probably be 15 and 10
Jennifer says
If I don’t have parchment paper, can I use foil?
WholeLottaYum says
Yes! You can use foil or even cook them without lining the pan. A liner makes for easy clean-up.
Mark says
Kind of a bad typo… in the ‘Why this recipe works’ section first line. “Cooking rats in the oven only take less than 20 minutes”
WholeLottaYum says
Oh my! That is a bad typo….. brats not rats! I’ll get that fixed asap
Marina Hastings says
Holy yum!!! Why didn’t I do this years ago??!!! Thanks for the great recipe. Yum!!