James Kenji Lopez-Alt
patreon
Grilled Sausages with Beer-Braised Peppers and Onions Recipe
🕑 Added 2025-07-30 19:52:21 +0000 UTCEvery recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.
What I like about this recipe:
Cooking the sausages gently in a pan filled with its toppings ensures that they cook through while staying juicy and flavorful.
Holding the charred sausages warm in the pan of toppings, keeps them plump.
Cooking the toppings directly in an aluminum pan on the grill maximizes efficiency and grilled flavor.
Yield: Serves 6
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced into 1/4-inch strips (about 2 cups)
3 bell peppers, mixed colors stems and cores removed, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup (60ml) apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons (45g) brown sugar
1 (12-ounce) can beer or alcohol-free beer
6 whole sweet or hot Italian sausage links (about 2 pounds; 900g)
Buns, for serving
Directions
Light 1 chimney full of charcoal. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange coals on one side of charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Alternatively, set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil grilling grate.
Set a rectangular disposable aluminum pan on the hotter side of the grill. Add oil, onions, and peppers. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and peppers are charred in spots and softened, about 5 minutes. (Move the pan around to the cooler side of the grill to adjust the heat if it threatens to burn too fast).
Add vinegar, sugar, and beer and bring to a simmer. Nestle sausages into onion and pepper mixture. Slide to cooler side of grill. Cover grill, with vents over sausages. Cook with all vents open until sausages register 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C) on an instant-read thermometer, about 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.
Remove the lid. Using tongs, remove the sausages from peppers and place directly on cooking grate over hot side of grill. Cook, turning occasionally, until well browned and crisp, about 3 minutes total. Return sausages to peppers. Toast buns over hot side of grill, if desired. Serve sausages with buns and sweet-and-sour peppers.
Comments
James Kenji Lopez-Alt
Amazing, I hope it turned out well!
Cael Neary
Making this right now with some quality local sausage, and it already smells so good!
Loewi Lin
I hope he answers!
Glen
You could braise them in the oven and then sear them on the stovetop. You might not get as good a sear from a grill, but they'll still be plenty delicious.
mathw
Well I want to try this! Not at all like I usually cook. I don't have a grill but I can get somewhere near it on the stovetop I'm sure.
Mike
Kenji, is there any concern about aluminum leaching with the vinegar in it?
Luke O'Brien
could you adjust to do this on a stovetop in a pinch?
