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Perfect for summer (or anytime!) these Slow Cooker Beer Brats are grilled, then slow-cooked to perfection with onions, beer, and brown sugar. The perfect weeknight meal.

Two Slow Cooker Beer Brats plated on tray with chips.

I love a good brat, and I love grilling oh and I also love my slow cooker so these Slow Cooker Beer Brats really check all my favorite boxes in one meal.

With the delicious char and crispness from the grill and then the flavors from the beer, onions, and brown sugar from the slow cooker, you really can’t get much better.

This is one of those crockpot recipes that is great when you don’t have a whole lot of time and you want to throw something together quickly whether it be for yourself or a crowd.

These made a large batch which is nice, but you can also cut it down to serve a smaller family as well.

It is very versatile but all-around a great recipe to have on hand! Especially great for game day, truly a crowd pleaser while watching the big game.

Once you try these Slow Cooker Beer Brats you won’t want to have your brats any other way! It has all the best flavors in one.

Some of our other favorite slow cooking recipes we have on our site include: Sticky Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Wings, Slow Cooker Ribs and Crock Pot Pulled Pork.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

All the flavors of these slow cooker brats blend together nicely with easy-to-follow, simple steps..
You can use your favorite beer for this bratwurst recipe.
The brown sugar really gives it a nice all-around flavor to this easy recipe for crockpot beer brats.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE FULL RECIPE CARD):

Brats
Onions
Light brown sugar
Unsalted butter
Dark beer
Hot dogs buns

Ingredients needed to make Slow Cooker Beer Brats.

HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER BEER BRATS:

Grill the brats over medium-high heat, just until you get a char and grill marks on the outside. You are not cooking these all the way through, 10 minutes tops on the grill.
Place half of the sliced onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top with half of the brown sugar.
Add the seared brats into the cooker. Top with the remaining onions, then brown sugar.
Place the sliced butter on top. Pour in the beer.
Slow cook for 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.
Serve the brats in the hot dog buns and top with the onions and your favorite condiments.

How much easier can you get than this Slow Cooker Beer Brats Recipe? Literally, there isn’t much to it and that is the beauty of the recipe.

Besides the end result is absolutely perfect! So when you take your first bite of these juicy bratwursts (make sure you get onions on there) you will be in Heaven.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECIPE:

WHAT KIND OF BRATS SHOULD I USE?

For this recipe, you’ll want to use uncooked brats. Cooked brats will work, but they will not really soak up the flavor in the slow cooker.

When we grill our brats they aren’t completely done, they finish cooking in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients.

If you use fully cooked brats for our slow-cooker bratwurst, you run the risk of the brats themselves being overcooked and having a weird texture to them. You can use any kind of uncooked brats that you like.

I’m a big fan of the Johnsonville Brat.

WHAT CAN I SERVE WITH BEER BRATS?

Since we consider this a grilling recipe sort of you can serve it with any of your favorite grilling sides, some of our favorites include:

These are just a few of our favorites, you can really serve these with whatever you’d like and it would be good.

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CAN I ADD ANYTHING?

Of course, here are some beer brat recipe ideas:

Bell peppers
Garlic powder or fresh garlic
Apple juice or apple cider in place of beer
Cayenne pepper
Top with beer cheese sauce, try our recipe!
Dijon mustard
Spicy mustard

Overhead of two Slow Cooker Beer Brats in bun with chips.

HOW TO STORE:

Place the onions and the leftover brats in an airtight container or ziptop bag and they should keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Freeze for up to 3 months.

DANA’S TIPS AND TRICKS:

Make sure you use uncooked brats for the type of sausage in this recipe.
You can double this recipe (use a larger slow cooker at least 8 quarts or two slow cookers).
You can use your favorite beer, we find the dark beer to work best with these.
Serve with your favorite side dish to make it a meal.
You can top these with the onions and any of your other favorite condiments.

Hand holding up one brat with bite taken out.

Want a grilling but slow cooker recipe then you’ve come to the right place. These Slow Cooker Beer Brats are going to become your new favorite – truly an amazing recipe.

If you like this recipe, you might also like:

If you’ve tried these SLOW COOKER BEER BRATS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!

Square image of two brats in buns on tray with chips.

Rate this Recipe

5 from 8 votes