How to Cook Bratwurst (Fresh Brats)

We’re well known for our incredible fresh bratwurst creations, so naturally we’re often asked how to cook brats.

This bratwurst recipe gives you step by step directions on how to cook fresh brats on your grill at home. Please note that these instructions are for fresh bratwursts that come wrapped in white butcher paper at LGCM. If you have precooked bratwursts, you don’t need to follow these instructions, just warm them back up!

The first step in grilling brats is usually done inside or on a grillside burner, not directly over the grill’s heat. We recommend parboiling our fresh brats before putting them on the grill This makes sure that they’re cooked all the way through so you don’t have an unpleasant cold spot or raw spot in the middle of the bratwurst.

Many customers want to boil their brats in beer, but we do not recommend doing this, just boil them in water. The beer will change as it boils and the brats can take a bit of an acrid flavor while they’re cooking. We don’t want that! If you’re looking for beer brats, cook the brats using this method, then put them in a beer bath after cooking. We show you how to do that in the recipe video or you can check out this Wisconsin Stadium Beer Brats recipe.

It is also possible to just grill your bratwursts directly. We wrote our how to cook bratwursts directions with parboil and then grill directions because it’s easier, but if you’d like to just grill your brats, and not parboil them, we recommend putting them over medium-low heat, and turning every minute or so to promote even cooking. The texture of these brats will be slightly less bound together on the inside, but you’ll need to pay close attention to not overcook the brats!

If you’re not outside grilling (in Wisconsin it’s grilling season year-round) just finish cooking your bratwursts under a broiler or in a frying pan. We prefer a broiler over a frying pan, but both are good methods for cooking bratwursts if you don’t have access to a grill.

Now that you know all of our tips on how to cook bratwursts, you need to get into Lake Geneva Country Meats and stock up on brats! You can check out check out a listing of our Leahy’s Sausage flavors by clicking here and visiting our sausage page. You’ll get more details about what’s in each bratwurst and also find a video showing you a behind-the-scenes glimpse on how we make our bratwursts!

What do you think of our how to cook bratwurst instructions? Do you have a preferred way of cooking bratwursts? Let us know by leaving a comment below. We’ll see you soon at Lake Geneva Country Meats!