This Bratwurst pasta recipe is so flavorful and easy to make. The pasta is loaded with savory German sausage and perfectly cooked in a buttery beer sauce. It's garlicky, and tastes like alfredo but without the heavy cream!
Beer and pasta? Sounds like a good match to me! If you don't believe it, I ask that you try this bratwurst pasta recipe just once, I think you'll be hooked on the taste!
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Easy Bratwurst Pasta Recipe
In this recipe, I'll show you how to make a good Bratwurst pasta recipe with just beer and other basic ingredients. This family-pleasing beer pasta recipe can be ready in less than 20 minutes.
Bratwurst Pasta Ingredients
To make this bratwurst pasta, you will need uncooked bratwurst, spaghetti or fettuccine, fresh garlic, wheat beer, oil, butter, and cheese.
Bratwurst. It is a type of German sausage. This fresh link sausage is usually made from veal, beef, or most commonly pork and flavored with different spices and seasonings, such as nutmeg, ginger, caraway, marjoram, black pepper, and nutmeg, mace, ginger, coriander, pimento, etc. These combinations of spices make bratwurst sausage the perfect ingredient to elevate the taste of simple pasta. The beer flavoring compliments it so well.
I purchased the uncooked bratwurst from my local Trader's Joe.
Best Cheese to Use for Bratwurst Pasta:
In this recipe, I used parmesan cheese to give a bold flavor to the pasta.
Parmesan has sharp, fruity, nutty, and savory flavors with a gritty to somewhat creamy texture, which makes it perfect to pair with beer.
The parmesan cheese makes this pasta taste creamy, like a lighter version of alfredo but without the cream.
Parmesan cheese is a good source of protein and fat. It's rich in vitamins and minerals like calcium, vitamin A, vitamins B6 and B12, phosphorus, zinc, and copper.
Cheddar is also another great cheese option for this pasta and works really well with beer. Use cheddar if you want creamier and cheesier pasta.
The Best Beer to Use for Pasta:
You can use wheat beer, Pale Ale, or a light IPA. I personally used German wheat beer, Franziskaner Weissbier because to be completely honest that's what we had in the fridge, and the result is amazing!
Seasoning:
The seasoning is pretty basic. It consists of garlic, onion, salt, and pepper.
Bratwurst sausages are well-seasoned with spices, therefore, adding extra herbs as we often do for pasta recipes is not necessary this time and is completely optional. I really think that simplicity will make the main ingredients of bratwurst and beer shine even more.
How to Make Bratwurst Pasta:
This bratwurst pasta recipe doesn't require a lot of time in the kitchen. It's so simple to prepare and cook.
- Preparation
There is nothing complicated in this phase. You just need to peel and mince the garlic, remove the casing from the sausages, and cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water. I usually add about 1 tablespoon of sea salt per 4 quarts of water.
2. Cooking
The cooking process is pretty simple too. Here are some steps to follow:
- Brown the sausage. While you are cooking the pasta, cook the sausage in a hot pan over medium heat for about 4 minutes.
- Cook the onion and garlic. Add onion, and continue cooking for about 4 minutes then add garlic, and stir for 1 minute over moderately low heat.
- Add beer and simmer. You need about ½ cup of beer. Add it to the sausage, onion, and garlic mixture then simmer for about 3 minutes until it has evaporated.
- Add butter and pasta. Melt the butter, reduce the heat to low then toss in the cooked pasta.
- Add parmesan cheese. Lastly, add some parmesan cheese to the pasta, then toss until the cheese is just melted then quickly turn off the heat.
Storing Leftover Pasta:
Transfer the leftover pasta to an airtight container. Properly stored, it can last 3-5 days in the fridge.
Check Out More Tasty Recipes
- Beer Bratwurst in the Oven
- Rotini Pasta with Shrimp and Broccolini
- Roasted Yellow Squash with Parmesan Cheese
- Healthy Baked Chicken Tenders
- Roasted Baby Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic
- Summer Squash Casserole
- White Sauce Pasta
- One-pot Penne Pasta
- Canned Tuna Pasta
I hope you'll enjoy this recipe and share it with friends! If you try it and don't mind, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating.
📖 Recipe
Bratwurst Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound Bratwurst (chasing removed or use ground)
- 12 oz spaghetti or fettucine
- ½ cup wheat beer or pale ale
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (add more according to your liking)
- black pepper (to taste)
- a pinch of red pepper flakes
- chopped parsley
Method
- Bring a large pot of salted water ( about 4 qt + 1 tablespoon of salt) to a boil. Follow the instructions on the product packaging and cook pasta until al dente.
- In a large deep saute pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Cook the sausage (chasing removed), breaking up the meat for about 4 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to moderately low. Add onion, and cook for about 4 minutes or until it translucent. Be sure to keep scraping up the browned bits from the bottom to prevent burning.Add garlic, and keep stirring for about 1 minute.
- Add beer to the pan. Be sure to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom, simmer until reduced by half, for about 3 minutes.
- Melt the butter and add black pepper. Stir and reduce the heat to low. Add the cooked pasta, and parmesan. Toss just until combined then turn off the heat immediately.
- Transfer the pasta to a serving plate. Serve with additional parmesan cheese if needed! Enjoy!
RON says
Probably could just slice the brauts up before cooking. Otherwise you might as well start with ground sausage from the supermarket because that's what you end up with.
Rika says
Hi Ron,
Thanks for trying and giving very useful feedback! Both options you mentioned in the comment work fine as well as long as you use a good-tasting bratwurst.
Best,
Rika
Donna says
My husband is a pasta lover. He was not impressed. He wants to add marinara sauce to it and make it like a spaghetti. I doubled the meat and stayed with 12 oz of pasta. I thought it was pretty good however the carbs are overload for me. Think I might add some finely chopped jalapenos and red bell peppers.
Rika says
Hi Donna,
Thanks for trying and sharing your honest opinion. Sounds like your husband prefers the red sauce as opposed to the white one. This recipe is customizable, adding bell peppers, mushrooms, or jalapenos will work great.
Best,
Rika
Cori says
Whatever we enjoyed this recipe quite a bit we love Bratz whether in a bun or as a patty, burger and a bun so this was a welcome refresher. I did not have any spaghetti or linguine so I substituted penne pasta. I added some chopped red pepper , Cherry tomato and thinly sliced mushrooms. The sauce was light and delicate great flavor great easy pick up dish for a quick dinner! Thank you for the idea!
Rika says
Hi Cori,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Using penne pasta sounds great, and adding red pepper, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms must have made it even tastier. I'm glad the sauce turned out well for you. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Best,
Rika
Eduardo Carranza says
Thank you so much for your recipe. so simple but delicious my family loved it,
Rika says
You're so welcome, Eduardo! I'm really glad you and your family enjoyed it—sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. Thanks for trying it out and taking the time to leave a kind note! 😊 - Rika
Lydia Dunch says
Recipe was excellent. Very flavorful and easy to make. I dont usually make changes but kept sauce and pasta separate adding sauce to top of spaghetti instead of mixing all together. Worked well for us.
Rika says
Hi Lydia,
Thanks for trying and taking the time to share your feedback. I am glad that this recipe turned out well and that everyone in your family loved it.
Best,
Rika
Liz says
Making this for the 2nd time tonight It's so good!
Rika says
Hi Liz,
I am glad to you liked this recipe so much 🙂
Best,
Rika
Sharon says
Had some leftover brats from a bbq so decided to try this recipe. What a lovely surprise -- both my husband and I loved this. I made it just like the recipe -- so easy and tasty.
Rika says
Hi Sharon,
I'm happy to hear that and glad you turned leftovers into something completely different... keeps life interesting! Thanks for the comment.
Best,
Rika
Debbie Cummings says
A little salty, only because of the amount of salt put into the water for the pasta, otherwise it was delicious. Of course, I lowered the amount of salt in the pasta water.
Rika says
Hi Debbie,
Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed the dish overall. Noted on the saltiness - adjusting the salt in the pasta water is a great idea to tailor it to personal taste preferences.
Best,
Rika
Karen R says
Had a pound and a half of ground brat sausage (on sale) and adapted this to it. Thought I had parmesan but used white sharp cheddar. Yum! Fresh parsley from the garden.
Rika says
Hi Karen,
What a great idea to use ground brat sausage and sharp cheddar—I bet it added a fantastic flavor. Fresh parsley from your garden must have really made it pop too. Thanks for sharing your twist on the recipe!
Best,
Rika
Mahl says
Substituted chicken broth for beer and used cheddar brats. Was good but a bit plain. Next time will use 1/2 white wine 1/2 chicken broth, add some toasted pine nuts and maybe asparagus tips.
Rika says
Hi Mahl,
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed the bratwurst pasta. Your ideas for adding white wine, toasted pine nuts, and asparagus tips sound delicious—definitely worth trying next time!
Best,
Rika
Linda Lisa Jones says
Good, but I liked better after I used one and a half or two onions, cut in half and sliced, three quarters or one cup beer, and near the end, some Old Bay Spice. When I used rotini instead of spaghetti, the pasta took up the sauce much better. My version I give a five! Thanks for the inspiration.
Rika says
Hi Linda,
I love hearing how you made the recipe your own! More onions, extra beer, and Old Bay sound delicious, and rotini is perfect for catching all that sauce. Thanks so much for sharing your tweaks!
Best,
Rika
Jack says
Not great. It was greasy.
Rika says
Hi Jack,
Thanks for trying the recipe! If the bratwurst has a higher fat content, you can try skipping the oil or draining the excess grease that usually helps reduce the greasiness. I hope that makes the dish turn out better next time!
Rika