Every tailgate party needs a cooker full of smoked bratwursts. These are made even better with smoked beer-braised cabbage and onions.

Disclosure: Barrel House Cooker sponsored this post. Opinions are my own.

Please don’t pop open a can of sauerkraut. You’re better than that. You, my friend, are a backyard BBQ genius. At least that’s what people will think when they taste this recipe.

Let’s start with the easy stuff. Grab a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix. The cabbage and carrots are already combined and uniform in size. Toss it in a bowl with some onion and spices and a bottle of beer. The darker the beer, the more flavor you’ll get.

The Barrel House Cooker comes with three grill zones: top, middle and bottom. For the cabbage, you want to use the middle zone. In this spot, it will rest just below the brats to catch all the flavorful drippings.

Add the top rack and place the brats in a single layer, so they smoke above the bowl of cabbage. Too easy, right.

Cover the grill and let everything smoke together for about an hour.

You’ll see the color of the smoked bratwurst transform, and the cabbage will be soft and smokey.

Tuck the bratwurst in a bun and top them with that smoked cabbage and some spicy brown mustard. The brats will still have that signature snap with juiciness that runs down your face.

Smoked Bratwursts with Beer-Braised Cabbage and Onions

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, German

Keyword: bratwurst, smoked

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 10

Calories: 402 kcal

Author: Christie Vanover

Every tailgate party needs a cooker full of smoked bratwursts. These are made even better with smoked beer-braised cabbage and onions.

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Ingredients

• 14 ouce bag coleslaw mix
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bottle dark or amber beer
• 2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 10 bratwursts
• 10 French sandwich rolls
• Spicy brown mustard

Instructions

1. Heat the Barrel House Cooker following the manufacturer's instructions. Place one grill grate in the center section and one in the top section.
2. In a large metal bowl, combine the coleslaw mix, onion, garlic, beer, mustard, honey, caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Place the bowl on the grate in the center section.
3. Add the brats to the top grill grate. Close the lid and smoke for 1 hour.
4. Remove everything from the grill. Toss the cabbage and onions. Serve the brats on French sandwich rolls with beer-braised cabbage and onions and spicy brown mustard.

Tips

Coleslaw mix is a combination of shredded green cabbage and carrots. If you can't find it in your grocery store, you can shred it yourself. For this recipe, use a combination of 6 cups cups shredded cabbage and 3/4 cup shredded carrots.

Caraway seeds will give the cabbage and onions the quintessential taste of Germany. If you're not familiar with caraway, it's the signature flavor of rye bread.

Barrel House Cooker manufacturer's instructions for lighting the grill.

Nutrition Facts

Smoked Bratwursts with Beer-Braised Cabbage and Onions

Amount Per Serving

Calories 402 Calories from Fat 189

% Daily Value*

Fat 21g32%

Saturated Fat 6g38%

Cholesterol 48mg16%

Sodium 1136mg49%

Potassium 319mg9%

Carbohydrates 35g12%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 3g3%

Protein 15g30%

Vitamin C 1.6mg2%

Calcium 81mg8%

Iron 2.3mg13%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.