If you’ve been wondering how to cook brats in an instant pot, look no further! You’ve come across the juiciest, flavorful and moist instant pot brats with beer recipe. What’s even better is these make the ideal low carb bratwurst recipes or keto bratwurst recipes too.
Finding recipes for busy weeknights can sometimes be a struggle, especially when you’re following a low carb diet or keto diet AND want to use your beloved Instant Pot! Even if you aren’t looking for keto bratwurst recipes, this will become a new family go-to recipe regardless.
Bratwurst in beer (and butter!) has quickly become one of our absolute favorite dinners and keto bratwurst recipes we enjoy regularly. While these have always turned out well in a crock-pot, cooking them in an Instant Pot instead takes these gems to a whole different level.
Adding a side of sugar-free sauerkraut or cooked cabbage makes this the perfect low carb bratwurst mea.! Or I guess you can skip the kraut if you’re on a beer and sausage diet 😉
We seriously couldn’t believe how juicy and tender the bratwurst turned out with this recipe, we’ll never go back to brats cooked in a slow cooker or oven again.
The kids also love this recipe too! When cooking bratwurst in a crock-pot all day, the sausages seem to get a little too infused with beer flavor for their liking. The IP solved this problem since it quickly infuses the bratwurst with both the beer AND the butter. That being said, if you LOVE beer, by all means, soak brats in beer overnight.
Instant Pot Brats With Beer
On to the ingredient list for your new favorite electric pressure cooker bratwurst recipe! 😉
Here’s what you need:
- 2 T butter
- 7 Costco size Johnsonville brats (these taste the best IMO). You, of course, can buy smaller packages from your grocery store
- 1 light beer- Michelob Ultra (any favorite beer of yours works, but this only has 2.6 Carbs for those looking for keto bratwurst recipes.)
NOTE: You can also cook brats without beer by either substituting a chicken broth, beef broth or alcohol-free beer.
Instructions:
Turn your Instant Pot to sauté and melt the butter
Saute brats 2-3 mins each side until lightly browned.
You’ll want to make sure they are laying down in a single line across the bottom, it’s fine to cook them in 2 batches if you can’t fit them all flat in the pot. Using long-handled rubber tip tongs are my favorite tool for flipping splattering foods.
Remove the brats and place your IP rack on the bottom of the pot. Place the brats on the rack and carefully pour the bottle of beer over the bratwurst.
There’s some debate online whether piercing your bratwurst with a fork before you cook them in a pressure cooker will keep them from exploding, and I can attest after forgetting to do this twice, the bratwurst did NOT explode. That being said, if it makes you feel a little better, it’s totally fine to prick each sausage with a fork 🙂
Cook on Manual high for 6 minutes (depending on your Instant Pot model, this setting might be called Manual or Pressure Cook.)
Slow Release 10 minutes or until the pressure valve releases.
Enjoy!
Instant Pot Frozen Brats?
If you have frozen bratwurst and are wondering if you can cook them in your pressure cooker, you’ll be happy to know it works just as well! You need to modify the recipe slightly since it doesn’t really work to brown the brats in butter when they’re frozen.
To cook instant pot frozen brats you’ll want to skip the saute step. You won’t want to miss out on the butter, so I’d melt that in the microwave and drizzle over the top or just add little pats of butter on the top of each frozen bratwurst.
Proceed with the recipe by pressuring cooking the bratwurst in the beer on a basket for 7 minutes. After the 10 minute slow release you’ll want to broil the instant pot frozen brats in the oven for 2-3 minutes to get that “just grilled” appearance.
Instant Pot Brats Cooker Time
Regarding the instant pot brats cooking time, I’ve made this recipe many times and in my pressure cooker, the perfectly done cooking time is 6 minutes. Other recipes I’ve found online for beer brats in a pressure cooker say less time than this and others say even longer. If you have other types of similar size uncooked sausage, I’d also recommend this for your instant pot sausage cooking time for other types of uncooked sausages too!
I highly suggest you use 6 minutes as your starting time since you don’t want to undercook your bratwurst OR overcook them. And then you can simply adjust your instant pot brats cooking time going forward with your own pressure cooker. But in my opinion, 6 minutes seems to be the perfect instant pot brats cooker time for the juiciest, moist and flavorful Johnsonville brats recipes.
Please post your comments below! If you have other pressure cooker bratwurst recipes that you love, please also share them with us 🙂
I hope you enjoy these amazing low carb instant pot brats!
Other Recipes You’ll Love
Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup
Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
Easy Instant Pot Brats With Beer ~ Low Carb Too
An easy Instant Pot brats recipe for the best ever bratwurst recipe simmered in butter and beer, yet made in your pressure cooker! This is both keto, low carb and sugar free
Ingredients
- 2 T butter
- 7 Johnsonville Brats (or your favorite brand)
- 1 bottle of beer- Michelob Ultra works great for low carb
Instructions
- Turn on your instant pot and set to Saute
- Brown the bratwurst lightly in the butter on both sides, about 2-3 minutes each. You might need to brown these in two batches, depending on how many brats you're cooking and the size of your pressure cooker
- Remove all of the brats from the instant pot
- Place a rack on the bottom, set all of your bratwurst on top of the rack
- Carefully pour the light beer over the bratwurst
- Set your instant pot to Manual or Pressure Cook (depending on your model) and cook for 6 minutes
- Once done, do a Natural Release until the steam is released
- Enjoy!
Notes
Long handled rubber tip tongs work very well to turn the brats and remove them
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Enjoy!
Camelle says
Have you ever done more than one package at a time? If so did you adjust anything? Thanks.
WholeLottaYum says
I’ve made 2 packages at a time and they turned out with the same cooking instructions.
Bob van zandt says
love brats especially brazed with beer. ref cooking from frozen, never. Old rules make sense.
Anna Wilson says
I absolutely love this recipe. Savory, juicy and full of flavor. It is such an easy preparation with consistent results every time. Even my 9 year old that doesn’t typically care for sausage can’t get enough. I won’t do bratwurst any other way! 😋
Lynn bauman says
I tried this reciepe and the brats were amazing! I put some onions on the bottom of the instapot with the beer and those also came out amazing! Since I have an older instapot the lowest the timer is 10 minutes, so I cook them on low pressure for 10 minutes. I did not peirce the brats, and they came out amazing!
Poooooop says
Honestly followed the recipe to a T and for some reason my beats came out entirely raw through the center. Will not use this recipe again.
WholeLottaYum says
Hi, I debated whether or not to post this since you put your name down as Pooooop…but I wanted to include a couple of tips for other readers. This is a well tested recipe with tons of feedback from readers saying a pressure cook time of 6 minutes turns out perfect brats…if you’re using the larger fresh brats from the deli they could take longer, if your brats are frozen, or possibly the type of pressure cooker you’re using can change the cook time. As long as the brats are at 160F for internal temperature, they’re cooked through even if they’re a little pink inside. We always suggest using our recipes as a guide so if you follow it to a T and it still isn’t cooked through, then simply put the lid back on and pressure cook for 1-2 more minutes.
Craig says
Although our bockwurst, which is made in-house at the local grocer, did end up with split skins, the browning was more predictable than either the grill or broiler method.
We cooked the kraut separately (an old Austrian family recipe), but a great meal.
Prosit!
WholeLottaYum says
We LOVE bockwurst and wish it was readily available here.
Heather says
I tried this last night and my brats were still pink in the middle. I re-cooked for another minute, then another two minutes, then another minute….still pink. I ended up slicing them and finishing them on my cast iron grill. I guess mine were just thicker than the ones others have tried?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Heather,
That’s what it sounds like! Deli brats are often larger than the packaged variety. I’ve also noticed that some brands still look pink in the middle even when they’re over 160F. I’ll test the large Deli brats sometime soon and update the recipe to include a modification.
Nicolette says
This is awesome and a go to in my family. We have it at least twice a month. I usually use Coors Gold but any beer is fine! I’ve even done frozen brats and it browns fine and cooks just fine. Of course fresh is best but in a pinch it’ll work. Love this recipe!
Jessi says
I am not on a keto diet so I am doing this with diced potatoes in the pot with my brats. The beer mixed with some beef broth.
We did all beef broth last time but found they were missing that rich flavor. So we are going to try the beer. I do the brats on the bottom with the rack to get the full flavor and the potatoes on top in my basket with my butter and herbs which then also runs down over my brats🤤
So yummy. Glad I found your site for how to do the beer 😊
WholeLottaYum says
The beer has a TON of flavor even if you aren’t a beer drinker (like me). I highly recommend using beer!
mike says
Sounds great but I really want to see one explode….probably have to eat it with a spoon however….🌭🍺
Jill Kerber says
Easy! Made them with the beer. Wil do again. Thanks for the others that gave some ideas.
Tom says
Great instructions. Just got my IP today and did the brats. Never bbqing them again.
WholeLottaYum says
Right haha? Instant pot brats are seriously so easy! It’s secretly our favorite method too.
Shellsys says
I have made these from frozen and found they browned just fine in the butter. This is a great way to cook brats quickly! They are plump and juicy.
WholeLottaYum says
That’s good to know! Thank you for sharing!
Miranda Sofer says
Yep! I just did the same thing. I didn’t see the “skip the sauté step” until after I was done sautéing them, and they look beautifully brown. They are currently cooking so we’ll see – but I’m expecting awesome results. Thanks for putting these recipes together! Exactly what I was googling for. 🙂
Robertjm says
I’m confused. Unless you’re drinking the cooking fluid why does it matter if the beer is low carb, or not?
Does the pressure force that much into the brats?
WholeLottaYum says
Someone following a strict keto diet might prefer just to keep the whole recipe as low carb as possible, definitely use whatever beer you prefer!
Nessa says
If we have no rack, can we just cook the brats with the beer?
WholeLottaYum says
Yep! Just skip the rack if you don’t have one or use a metal fold-up vegetable strainer.