Bratwurst, the German sausage

Bratwurst is a German sausage, usually fresh and mostly of pork, that is fried, grilled or simmered and eaten with mustard, bread or sauerkraut. Many regions have their own, from Nuremberg to Munich. Here is what bratwurst is, which kinds Bavaria knows, how to cook bratwurst on the stove, grill or in the air fryer, and our editors' beer bratwurst recipe.

What is bratwurst?

The name tells less than it seems. According to GenussErbe Bayern, the food heritage portal of the Bavarian agriculture ministry, the Brat in bratwurst does not come from braten, to fry, but from Brät, the minced sausage meat. The guidelines of the German Food Code point out that the meaning of the word differs from region to region. A product sold as bratwurst can be a raw meat preparation that only becomes a finished sausage when it is cooked, a scalded sausage that keeps its shape when reheated, a raw cured sausage, or a cooked sausage.

The guidelines distinguish coarse and fine bratwurst. Coarse bratwurst is made from pork and fatty pork with a grain up to the size of a pea; it is not cured, usually comes in sheep or pork casings and is often sold raw, meant to be fried or scalded and eaten promptly. Fine bratwurst is chopped smooth, may also contain veal or beef and keeps only briefly. Grillwurst and Griller are just other names for the same thing. For cooks outside Germany this has one practical consequence: read the package. Fresh, raw brats need to be cooked through, while precooked ones only need heating and browning.

German bratwurst: from Nuremberg to Munich

Franconia is home to the Nürnberger Rostbratwurst. According to GenussErbe Bayern, these sausages are first documented in 1313, are typically seasoned with marjoram and were described in 1941 as being as long and as thick as a little finger. Since July 2003 the name has been registered in the EU as a protected geographical indication. In Nuremberg they are grilled until crisp and usually served three to a roll, as "Drei im Weggla", or as a full meal with sauerkraut, rustic bread, potato salad or horseradish. The official portal of the Nuremberg Christmas Market adds that the sausages are traditionally grilled over an open beech wood fire. The full story is on our German page on the Nürnberger Rostbratwurst. The guidelines list a second German bratwurst with EU protection, the Thüringer Rostbratwurst from Thuringia.

Munich has its own small pork bratwurst, the Schweinswürstl; the German guidelines count Schweinsbratwürstchen and Schweinswürstchen among the coarse bratwursts. The veal bratwurst, finely chopped and filled into sheep or pork casings, shares an entry with the Weisswurst. At the Oktoberfest 2026, the Löwenbräu tent served two pairs of Munich Schweinswürstl with sauerkraut for 15.80 euros, and the Bräurosl tent four bratwursts fried from raw sausage meat on a bed of sauerkraut with hot mustard. The October 2026 menu of the Hofbräuhaus lists four Schweinswürstl with mustard and sauerkraut for 14.90 euros. Looking for the best bratwurst near you in Munich? These menus are a starting point; more classics are in Bavarian food.

How to cook bratwurst

Fresh bratwurst is raw ground meat in a casing, so it has to be cooked all the way through. German food guidelines treat raw bratwurst as a meat preparation that gets its final character only by heating, GenussErbe Bayern notes that the raw Nuremberg sausage falls under the rules for minced meat, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives 160 °F (71 °C) as the safe minimum internal temperature for ground meat. Moderate heat is the key, so that the center cooks through before the outside chars. Sausages vary in thickness, so the thermometer has the last word.

How to cook bratwurst sausage on the stove: lay the brats in a skillet over medium heat, brown them on all sides, then add a few tablespoons of water or beer, cover and let them cook gently, turning them now and then. For bratwurst in the air fryer, preheat to 375 °F (190 °C), lay the sausages side by side without overlapping and turn them halfway through. Precooked brats only need heating and browning and are ready when they are hot all the way through.

What to serve with bratwurst

On the Munich menus above, and in Nuremberg when the sausages are eaten as a full meal, sauerkraut comes with them. Our page on German sauerkraut has a one-pot recipe for bratwurst and sauerkraut in which the sausages finish cooking in the kraut. Mustard and bread or potato salad complete the plate, and at the Nuremberg Christmas Market the small sausages come three to a roll; the mustard options of the region are covered on our page about Bavarian sweet mustard.

Beer bratwurst recipe from our editors

Serves 4. Prep time 10 minutes, cooking time about 30 minutes. The sausages first take color, then cook gently in beer with onions, and finally get a last quick browning. If you prefer, use alcohol-free beer or broth; if you drink beer with the meal, enjoy it in moderation.

Ingredients

• 5 to 6 fresh (raw) bratwursts, about 1½ lb (680 g) in total
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil or butter
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1 bottle (12 fl oz/355 ml) lager, such as a Munich Helles, or alcohol-free beer
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp caraway seeds (optional)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• to serve: mustard, crusty rolls or rye bread, sauerkraut or potato salad

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium heat. Brown the bratwursts for about 5 minutes, turning them often and without piercing the casings. Set them aside on a plate.
2. Add the onions with a pinch of salt to the skillet and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and lightly golden.
3. Put the bratwursts back on top of the onions, pour in the beer and add the bay leaf and caraway. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, reduce the heat and let the sausages cook for 12 to 15 minutes, turning them once.
4. Check the thickest sausage with an instant-read thermometer: fresh bratwurst is done at 160 °F (71 °C) in the center. Take the sausages out.
5. Turn up the heat and boil the beer and onions uncovered for about 5 minutes until only a little syrupy liquid is left. Remove the bay leaf and season the onions with salt and pepper.
6. Return the bratwursts to the pan for 1 to 2 minutes to brown them once more, then serve with the beer onions, mustard and bread, sauerkraut or potato salad.

On the grill, simmer the brats in beer and onions on the stove first, then brown them over medium heat.