Bratwurst with Sauerkraut
What You Need
Ingredients
Preparation
You can’t celebrate Oktoberfest without this quintessential German dish: Bratwurst with Sauerkraut. The tangy sauerkraut is so good with the fattiness of the sausage—especially when chased with a crisp lager. Here, we stew canned or jarred kraut with sweet apple, aromatic spices, and a crisp white wine until it is extremely flavorful. While that cooks, you can fry up your sausages so this dinner comes together in under an hour.
PREPARE THE SAUERKRAUT
- In a HexClad 8QT/7.5L Hybrid Stockpot, heat 2 tablespoons/30 ml of the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and season with salt. Cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the apple and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.
- Add the sauerkraut, wine, juniper berries, bay leaves, sugar, and caraway seeds, and stir to combine. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples and sauerkraut are tender but still hold their shape, about 30 minutes more. Discard the juniper berries and bay leaves and season the sauerkraut with salt and white pepper.
FRY THE SAUSAGES
- When the sauerkraut is almost done, in a HexClad 12"/30cm Hybrid Fry Pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat until shimmering. Cook the sausages, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 4 minutes.
- Cover the pan and cook the sausages over medium-low heat, turning once, until they are cooked through and an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F/75°C, 6 to 8 minutes more. Transfer the sausages to a plate and let rest for about 5 minutes.
- To serve, arrange 2 bratwurst on each plate with a generous portion of sauerkraut. Finish with a dollop of spicy mustard.
NOTE In Germany, a classic bratwurst is a longer, thinner sausage made with a blend of pork, beef, and veal and seasoned with nutmeg and caraway. If you have a butcher near you that makes this traditional style sausage in the United States, it is well worth the effort to seek it out! An American-style brat is typically a blend of beef and pork and is usually a shorter, fatter sausage, so keep this in mind when it comes to your cooking times.
