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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Related Recipe
Italian Sausage with Pepper and Onions
Sausage, Green Bean, and Potato Skillet
Bacon Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
Loaded Zucchini Potato Fritters with Green Onion Dip
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Sous Vide Sausage with Beer Onion Gravy
Equipment
- Sous Vide
- Large Pot
- Vacuum Bags or Food Storage Bags
- Large Skillet
Ingredients
Sous Vide Sausage Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Raw Sausage Bratwurst, Italian Sausage
- 1 Cup Beer ale, pilsner, lager, etc.
- 1 Yellow Onions sliced
- 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil for browning cooked sausage
Beer Onion Gravy Ingredients
- Reserved Beer and Onions leftover from sous vide sausage
- ¼ Cup Flour all purpose
- ¼ Cup Butter salted
- 1 Cup Beer
- 1 Cup Chicken Broth
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Sous Vide Sausage Instructions
- Place 3-4 sausages, half of a sliced yellow onion and ½ cup of beer into a plastic bag. For 2 pounds of sausage you will likely need two bags. Seal the bags being careful not to lose the beer.
- Preheat a large pot of water to 140° using your immersion circulator. 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 cook for two hours.
- Remove the sausages from the bag and pat dry with a paper towel. Reserve the cooked onions and beer for gravy.
- 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 Instructions
- Use 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.
- Next add the reserved beer and onions to the pan.
- The roux will coat the onions and the flour will start to absorb the liquid.
- Once the liquids have thickened up again, thin the gravy again with a cup of beer and a cup of chicken broth. Stir until the gravy is thin and smooth.
- Bring it to a low simmer and cook until it thickens up enough to coat the spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the sous vide sausage back to the gravy and warm briefly. Serve with a good side of mashed potatoes for a hearty meal.
Notes
- 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.
Nutrition
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I've never used the sous vide technique to cook before, but I'm excited to try it out. That gravy looks absolutely delicious as well, anything with onions is a win in my book!
The beer can be frozen before adding to the side vide bag. This will allow you to pull all the air out with a vacuum sealer.
That's such a good tip. I would never have thought of that.
Wow! What an incredible recipe. The flavors of the gravy is spot on. The onions are cooked perfectly. YUM!
Great comfort food and so easy to make!
I have never added beer to gravy -it tastes delicious! Learned something new!
This is my kind of recipe! I love the cooked low-and-slow flavor of sous vide but have never done sausage! I can't wait to try this!