Slow Cooker Beer and Garlic Brats
69 CommentsJul 29, 2025
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Slow Cooker Beer and Garlic Brats are great for game day or for a fall dinner. The brats are slow cooked with plenty of flavors that all meld together.
Featured Comment
These are DELICIOUS! I have made these over 20 times and we still can’t get enough of them! They are in my regular rotation and have been for a couple of years now.
– Rhonda
Don’t settle for boring hotdogs and make my flavorful slow cooker brats! These are always a hit at parties and they smell AMAZING while cooking. The slow cooker keeps them warm during the gameday festivities, and great for potlucks.
Key Ingredients
- Bratwurst – These are raw sausages – Look for raw brats in the meat section of your grocery store.
- Beer – Use your favorite beer, we prefer a light beer.
- Garlic – I use 10 whole cloves, leaving them whole will keep the flavor mild.
- Onion – These will soften up and go great with the brats
- Butter – Butter isn’t a usual ingredient, but it pairs perfectly with the onions and garlic.
How to make Slow Cooker Beer Brats
- Add the brats, butter, onions and other ingredients to the crockpot.
- Add the beer to cover.
- Cook until the brats are melt in your mouth tender.
Tips & Variations
No Beer: You can leave out the beer – if you do so, use chicken broth for the liquid.
Peppers: Some of my readers like to add green bell pepper and/or jalapenos.
Other Sausages: You can use pre-cooked brats, hot dogs or even kielbasa in this crockpot brats recipe.
Try different beers: A light lager like Coors works great, but you can experiment with amber ales or even a stout for deeper flavor.
Do Brats get browned in the slow cooker?
Not really, though they do get a little toasty on the edges and that adds some flavor. You can put them under the broiler in the oven (on a sheet pan) if you want toasty brats.
How to Serve Brats
Pile the brats onto toasted buns and spoon some of the tender garlic and onions right on top.
Add classic toppings like mustard, sauerkraut, or pickles for a deli-style feel (and of course ketchup).
Pair with potato salad, coleslaw, or baked beans for a summer style meal.
Serve them on pretzel rolls and topped with beer cheese for a game day twist.
Try the leftover beer brats over mashed potatoes, tastes similar to bangers and mash!
Slow Cooker Beer and Garlic Brats Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 38 oz. brats, (two 19 oz. packages) I find these in the meat section, raw
- 1 large white onion, sliced and divided
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 cup butter
- 12 oz. bottle beer, (I used Coors banquet)
Instructions
- Add half of the onion in the slow cooker, add the brats in 2 layers.
- Add the rest of the onions, garlic, pepper and place the butter on top.
- Pour the beer into the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Serve the brats, garlic and onions on buns topped with desired toppings.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Other hot dog and brat recipes to try
Slow Cooker Hot Dogs and Hot Tub Beer Brats are easy crowd-pleasers that work great for cookouts or game day.
Bourbon Hot Dogs and my Lil Smokies Recipe make the perfect sweet-and-savory appetizers, and Hot Dog Chili is a must-have topping for a loaded dog.
Had some less-than-exciting brats from Costco, and was thinking about tossing them, but then I saw this recipe, which I did with Guinness stout. Totally resurrected the brats to something worth eating.
Don’t forget the horseradish!
I LOVE horseradish.
I put the brats on the grill for about 5 minutes just to get some grill marks. Doing that also added additional flavor to the liquid.
This is so good. Even the kids loved it.
Used dried garlic and fresh onion, PLUS the 10 year old bottle of Alaska Brewing Smoked Porter for 6 hours on low in my old crockpot.
AMAZING!!!!!!
Csn you cook it on high for shorter time?
Yes, that will work great.
High for?? Or just watch and check temp?TIA
I would do 3.5 hours on high. Then check for doneness.
If you pre-cut to make bite-size pieces do you adjust the cooking time?
You can probably get away with 5 hours if the onions look done. The onions actually take the longest to cook.
Amazing. I add make sure the beer covers the brats. And I use extra butter and garlic.
Melts in your mouth!