Sous Vide Sausage with Beer Onion Gravy

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Perfectly Sous Vide Sausage with Beer Onion Gravy is the treat you didn't know you needed. This method delivers the juiciest bratwurst you've ever eaten and I've punched them up with a rich and creamy gravy to take the flavors home.

two sausage with beer onion gravy on plate with potatoes and broccoli

Cooking raw sausage usually starts with simmering to ensure a fully cooked center without drying out the meat. I've seen many people refer to this stage as the boiling step, and let me be clear, if you have been boiling sausages you've been making a huge mistake. Boiling is high intense heat that actually leaches moisture from meat and makes it tough.

Simmering is not boiling. Simmering is applying low controlled heat which slowly warms the sausage through and helps it keep its moisture. The simmering method translates perfectly to a sous vide bag for this sausage recipe.

The final step when preparing sausage is to brown and crisp the outer skin. Again, this is the perfect sous vide method.

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Make this recipe, because…

Ingredients

Instructions

FAQs

Tips and Tricks

📖 Recipe

Sous Vide Sausage with Beer Onion Gravy

Sous Vide Sausage Ingredients

Beer Onion Gravy Ingredients

Sous Vide Sausage Instructions

Beer Onion Gravy Instructions

Make this recipe, because…

Sausages cooked on low heat keep their moisture and are extra plump and juicy.

Adding beer and onions directly to the sous vide bag adds a deep rich flavor.

Quickly browning sous vide bratwurst gives the skin a great crisp bite.

The cooked beer and onions are added to a buttery roux for a silky gravy.

Ingredients

Sausage- This technique works great for a variety of raw sausages. I used bratwurst for this recipe because I love the texture and flavor of pork sausage with caraway, coriander, and nutmeg.

Yellow Onion- Yellow onion gets sweeter as it cooks and this makes it a perfect addition to the beer gravy. The sweetness is a nice balance to the salty sausage.

Beer- I highly recommend that you use a beer that you like to drink because the flavor will come through the gravy. I used an Ale this time around. Pilsners, Hefeweizens, and Lagers are great choices.

Instructions

Sous Vide Sausage

Step 1

Start by placing 3-4 sausages, sliced yellow onions and ½ cup of beer into a plastic bag.
Preheat the water using your immersion circulator to 140°. Place the sealer bags of bratwurst, sliced onions, and beer into the water bath. Make sure that all of the food is fully submerged.
Let the sausages cook for two hours.

Sausage, beer, and onions in a sealed bag

Four sausages fit easily into a bag. I did seven bratwurst for this recipe and had two bags. Seal bag using either a vacuum sealer or the submersion method. Because there is liquid in the bag, you will not be able to pull all of the air out of the bag. As soon as the sealer starts to pull the beer, hit the seal button. There won't be much air, but the sausages and onions will be sitting in a good pool of liquid.

The bratwurst took a little longer than I expected the first time around. Two hours is just right, because first the beer in the bag needs to come to 140° and then the sausage links will truly begin cooking.

Step 2

Remove the sausages from the bag and pat dry with a paper towel. Reserve the cooked onions and beer for gravy.

Cooked sausage and reserved beer and onions

Step 3

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the hot pan and then add the sous vide sausage to the pan. Brown for two minute on each side. The sausages are ready to eat and can be served alone, with sauerkraut, or topped with the beer gravy below.

Beer Onion Gravy

Step 4

Using the same pan, make the beer gravy. Start by turning your pan down to low. Then add butter and let it melt. Next, add the flour and stir it into the butter until the flour is absorbed by the butter and you have a thick paste. This is the roux or the base of the gravy.

Step 5

Next add the reserved beer and onions to the pan, and stir into the roux.

Step 6

Then, cook the roux until it begins to thicken again. It will coat the onions as the flour starts to absorb the liquid.

Step 7

Once the liquids have thickened up again, thin the gravy with a cup of beer and a cup of chicken broth. Stir until the gravy is thin and smooth.
Then, bring it to a low simmer and cook until it thickens up enough to coat the spoon.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 8

Finally, add the bratwurst back to the gravy and warm briefly. Serve with a good side of mashed potatoes for a hearty meal.

FAQs

Do I have to sear after sous vide?

Sous Vide food is fully cooked and safe to eat. However, meat in particular looks bland and appetizing without the dark rich crust of flavor we love. Searing is an opportunity to add that crust as well as the seasoning for a truly satisfying dish.

What kind of oil should I use for searing after sous vide?

It is important to get the all important sear on as quickly as possible, because your sous vide food is perfectly cooked and you don't want to raise the internal temperature. In order to get that quick sear, use an oil with a high smoke point like canola, peanut, or soy oils. Add a drizzle of any of these oils to a preheated skillet or cast iron pan and you will get a beautiful brown crust in 1--2 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

Don't overload the vacuum bags with food. It is best to let sausages lay flat with a thin layer of onions surrounding them.
Be careful when sealing liquids into the plastic bags. Stop the vacuum and seal the bag as soon as you start to see the beer pulled toward the sealer.
Cooking with beer in the bag takes longer than without. This is because the beer needs to warm up to 140° before the sausage will begin to cook at all. Without beer, these sausage links could be fully cooked in 45 minutes to 1 hour. With beer, it will take 2 full hours to fully cook.