Sous Vide Sausage with Beer Onion Gravy

Sous Vide Sausage with Beer Onion Gravy

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.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, German

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 2

Beer Onion Gravy 20

Total Time 2 30

Servings People

Calories 914kcal

Author Diana Reis

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

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.

Sous Vide Tips

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