This insanely good Beer Brat Chili combines two of our favorite dishes into a flavorful chili. Use a disposable pan on the grill, and you have a great side dish for your next BBQ.
What I really adore about chili is that you can pretty much do anything and it turns out amazing. It is just one of those dishes that whips up easily 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” type of chili.
🔥 Grilling 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 threee 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.
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 the beer brat chili 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 for this chili 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 chilies.
- 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.
📌 Items to Note
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 all of the chili on a day that you aren’t able to grill but add the brats later.
- You can prep the chili by chopping the veggies and dividing 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.
🧊 Freezer Instructions
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.
Related Brat Recipes
Honey Mustard Beer Brat Bites – We are crazy in love with beer brats at our house. These are so easy to make when friends announce they are coming over. No problem at all. You can whip these up for an appetizer they will rave about!
Grilled Cranberry Chili Beer Brats – Remember the little smokies our moms would cook in the slow cooker with cranberry sauce? This is a fun spin that recipe. The whole meal ends up in a crockpot so you can grill it early in the day for when your friends come over at night.
Grilled Beer Brats and Brussel Sprout Bites – These are darling little appetizers to make for game day or for a tailgate party! They whip up in minutes and only have a couple of ingredients!
Grilled Beer Brats – These are a huge hit every single time I make them. It is a classic grilled recipe that we fall back on every single time.
Amazing Grilled Beer Brat Chili
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion sweet, chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3/4 cup bell pepper chopped
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 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.
Grilled Beer Brat 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.
Nutrition
