This insanely good Beer Brat Chili combines two of our favorite dishes into a flavorful recipe. Use a disposable pan on the grill, and you have a great side dish for your next BBQ.
What I really adore about this is that you can pretty much do anything and it turns out amazing. It is just one of those dishes that whips up with no stress. This one took on a life of its own though. We took a spin-off of our regular homemade chili and added beer and brats to make it incredibly hearty and delicious. This is definitely a “stick to your bones” recipe.
🍽️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The flavor is going to rock your world.
- This recipe makes a large batch and feeds 12 people.
- You only need around 10 minutes of prep time.
- No one can resist how great it tastes.
- It’s packed with protein.
- The recipe is EASY!
🍺 Ingredients
I want to take a minute to talk about some of the main ingredients.
Ground Beef | Combining ground beef with the brats is pretty tasty and adds more depth to the flavor.
Beer | Blonde beer or IPA is what I recommend for best results. You are going to love how good it tastes.
Brats | Look for beer brats when you are shopping. They have the perfect flavor to go with the other ingredients.
🔥 Instructions
Step One: Set up the grill for indirect heat at 350 degrees. For gas grills, turn off the center burners. For Kamado grills, add a plate setter.
Step Two: Add two bottles of beer to a cast iron skillet. I recommend using an IPA, wheat or blonde ale. Bring the beer to a boil and add the brats. Let them boil until they are cooked through (about 20 minutes).
Step Three: Remove them from the grill. Set up the grill for direct heating and remove the brats from the beer and set them directly on the grate for about three minutes. This will be enough time for the brat to develop a nice sear and add a great flavor! Turn them over and sear the other side. Easy Peasy!
Step Four: In a dutch oven inside or out on the grill, sauté onions and peppers in a little bit of olive oil. Add in ground beef and cook until done. Add in the garlic and seasonings and cook an additional minute. Lastly, add in the beans and tomatoes and stir.
Note: I made a double batch, so I used a doubled-up disposable aluminum pan to cook the chili. It was easy to move and it saved me energy on the cleanup.
Step Five: On indirect heat, reduce the temperature of the grill to about 200 degrees and slice the grilled beer brats and add to the chili. Simmer on low for 60-90 minutes.
🍴 Substitutions
You can use just the beans and tomatoes and just add the beer brats for a great chili! So, this is a time to either cut out the hamburger all together or you can substitute ground turkey or chicken. This is a personal preference.
A couple of other substitutions you might consider are:
- Add a jar of salsa. We started using this tip when we came across it in a recipe about 7+ years ago on Allrecipes.com. It adds an incredible amount of flavor and all you have to do it dump it in!
- Add a can of green chiles or chili substitutes.
- Slice and seed jalapeños to boost the heat up a bit.
- Add more garlic. Who doesn’t love more garlic?
- Switch up the beer will change the taste of this chili quite a bit. We love an IPA but you could use a stout and you will get that richer/darker flavor.
Recipe FAQs
This is a great recipe to freeze up, defrost and enjoy at a gathering or a busy weeknight. Portion it out and freeze in Rubbermaid containers. I don’t recommend freezing this in the cheaper, disposable containers that are flooding the market right now. You can freeze in these for maybe 1-2 weeks, but after that, the seal just isn’t strong enough and you get freezer burn which leads to you just throwing it out.
There are several things you can do to meal prep including:
Grill the beer brats the night before and add them to the chili when you are ready to make it.
Make everything on a day that you aren’t able to grill but add the brats later.
You can chop the veggies and divide them up in containers so you can toss everything in and go. This will make it easy to whip up the recipe just in time for game day.
Related Recipes
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Amazing Grilled Beer Brat Chili
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Onion sweet, chopped
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- ¾ cup Bell Pepper chopped
- 3 tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 2 tsp Cumin
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes crushed between fingers when adding
- 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes
- 15 oz Diced Tomatoes
- 6 oz Beer
- 30 oz Black Beans
- 16 oz Bratwurst beer flavored
Instructions
Grilling Brats
- Set up the grill for indirect heat and add two bottles of beer to a cast iron skillet.
- Bring the temperature of the grill to 350 degrees. When the beer is hot, add the brats and let them boil until cooked through (about 20 minutes)
- Remove the brats and set up the grill for direct cooking. Place the brats directly on the grate and let them sear on each side for about three minutes.
Make the Chili
- In a dutch oven, saute the onions and peppers over medium high heat. Add in hamburger (if you choose to use it) and saute until completely cooked. Add in garlic cloves and seasonings. Stir for one minute to combine.
- Add in tomatoes and beans and stir. Add in the beer and stir. Add in sliced, cooked/grilled beer brats and stir to combine. Simmer for 30-90 minutes in a disposable pan (doubled up) on the grill. I recommend setting up the grill for indirect heat so as not to burn the chili.
Notes
- Add a jar of salsa. We started using this tip when we came across it in a recipe about 7+ years ago on Allrecipes.com. It adds an incredible amount of flavor and all you have to do it dump it in!
- Add a can of green chiles.
- Slice and seed jalapeños to boost the heat up a bit.
- Add more garlic. Who doesn’t love more garlic?
- Switch up the beer will change the taste of this chili quite a bit. We love an IPA but you could use a stout and you will get that richer/darker flavor.
Nutrition
