Brats with Caramelized Onions and Cheddar Cheese Sauce
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Brats with Caramelized Onions and Cheddar Cheese Sauce are the perfect way to up your grilling game before the summer season is up! Juicy brats are loaded with homemade cheese sauce, perfectly caramelized onions, and your favorite toppings on a crusty bun. Amazing for your next cookout!
Delicious Brats with Caramelized Onions
These brats are packed with flavor and are an exciting ending to a fun summer! The caramelized onions bring a nice full flavor to the already rich taste of the Beer and Bratwurst sausages.
The homemade cheddar cheese sauce is so creamy and delicious that you may just forget bottled cheese sauce even exists. It finishes these perfectly and elevates the beer brats to the next level.
I didn’t choose brats as one of my final grilling recipes by happenstance.
Did you know that tomorrow, August 16th is National Bratwurst Day? In honor of that, Johnsonville is celebrating by creating Bratsgiving, a call to action to gather around the grill with family and friends to give the delicious gift of Brats.
Why not come up with your own Bratwurst Day tradition? It will be a great way to end the summer with family and friends year after year.
Another reason I love to cook with brats is the fact that they are so easy to cook with. The flavors are already packed in the sausage. Johnsonville Brats come in so many delicious flavors including; Beer and Bratwurst, Cheddar Brats, Firecracker Brats, Grilling Chorizo, and many more! We usually reach for pork sausage, but there are also veal and beef options.
Beer Brat Toppings
And the topping choices are endless for this beer brats recipe (some of my personal favs are the classic sauerkraut and mustard, crispy bacon slices, sauteed bell peppers and onions, pickles with ketchup and mustard, more mustard of any kind (spicy brown, creamy, honey mustard, dijon they all work here, and of course the cheddar cheese sauce and caramelized onions are great topping choices even if you choose not to pair them together).
Don’t forget that you can also get creative with your buns! Regular hot dog buns are great, but you can also try hoagie rolls, pretzel buns, or even a baguette!
So, go fire up that grill and start celebrating!
More Grilling Recipes to Try!
- Grilled Steak Kebabs
- Grilled Salmon (only 5 ingredients!)
- Grilled Pizzas
- Grilled Chicken Street Tacos
- Grilled Steak Fajitas
Follow Easy Cooking Zone
Brats with Caramelized Onions and Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
Caramelized Onions
Cheddar Cheese Sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 cup milk, or more to thin if needed
- 5 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 1/4 cups)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
Brats
- 1 (19 oz) pkg. Johnsonville Original or Beer N' Bratwurst Brats
- 5 brat or hoagie buns
Instructions
- For the onions: Cut the tip and root from the onions. Cut them in half and remove the skins. Slice the onion halves (going the direction from tip to root) into slices.
- Melt butter in a heavy stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium heat then add olive oil. Add onions and toss to coat with butter mixture.
- Let cook about 40 - 45 minutes, while reducing heat to medium-low as needed if they are browning too much and stirring occasionally, about every 5 minutes. Onions should be nice and golden brown and have a rich caramelized flavor. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- For the brats: Preheat a grill over medium-low heat. Grill brats 15 - 20 minutes, turning frequently until browned and center registers 160 degrees.
- For the cheese sauce: While brats are grilling, prepare cheese sauce. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and garlic powder and cook and stir constantly, 1 minute.
- While whisking slowly stir in milk. Cook and stir until mixture begins to lightly boil and thicken.
- Reduce heat to low, stir in cheddar and whisk until melted. Stir in mustard and season with salt to taste. If needed thin with a little more milk. Rewarm over warm heat if needed.
- To assemble the sandwiches place one brat on each of the buns, top with onions and cheddar cheese sauce, serve warm.
- August 16 is National Bratwurst Day and Johnsonville is celebrating by creating Bratsgiving, a call to action to gather around the grill with family and friends to give the delicious gift of Brats.
- Celebrate Bratsgiving with Johnsonville this season and up your grilling with a variety of Johnsonville bratwursts – both fully-cooked and fresh – available in a wide variety of flavors from Original to Cheddar to Jalapeno & Cheddar.
- Give your friends and family the gift of Brats by hosting your own Bratsgiving Brat Frys in your backyard to celebrate the holiday.
- Don’t forget to leave your kitchen window open on Bratsgiving Eve so that Carl the Great Bratsgiver can leave behind some delicious brats in your fridge.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville. The opinions and text are all mine.