10 Store-Bought Bratwurst, Ranked

Modern-day sausage could be considered a more sophisticated way to eat leftover scrap meat. What used to be a handy way of preserving odd pieces of muscle meat, organs, and fat has turned into an intentionally tasty way to enjoy various cuts of meat, such as beef, pork, veal, lamb, and venison, with the addition of distinct ethnic seasonings. With more than 20 different types of sausages from all over the world, bratwurst is a top contender among tubular meats. Originating from Germany, the word itself— bratwurst — is German and means sausage, without waste. Among the bratwurst family, there are many regional options that vary in texture, taste, and ingredients.

We decided to put store-bought bratwurst to the test to find those worthy of being called a brat. We compiled a list of 10 brands from five popular grocery stores. The goal was to determine which brand held true to bratwurst standards and of course, which ones tasted so good they make an addition to our grocery list. Most notable for this tasty write-up was the incredibly diverse characteristics among the store brands. Some are made fresh, some are already fully cooked, and some feature additional ingredients like cheese. You might be as surprised as I was to discover which brand ranks No. 1 and which brands left me disappointed.

Bratwurst is one of many authentic and traditional products sold by Deutsche Küche, a German grocery and gourmet food company. I found this fully cooked brand at Aldi, but it's also sold online. It's available in two varieties: uncured Bavarian and beer. I chose to test the uncured Bavarian, named for the southern state in Germany — Bavaria. A great number of bratwurst sausages are crafted in this particular region.

Like traditional Bavarian bratwurst, this brand is made with pork and features a beef collagen casing. Unlike traditional Bavarian bratwurst, though, the pork is finely ground like processed meat as opposed to coarse like ground burger. The mouthfeel and chew were a little weird. Bavarian bratwurst typically has seasonings that align with the region — nutmeg, ginger, coriander, caraway, or marjoram. I found this bratwurst to have a heavy, earthy taste, which was a little overpowering, but the ingredient list doesn't break down which spices have been added. However, bratwurst should never contain sugar. Deutsche Küche lands last for all these reasons.

Johnsonville Original Bratwurst was surprisingly disappointing, given that the company is known for its range of sausages — from fresh to fully cooked, links to patties, and original to flavored. For a popular store-bought brand that focuses on sausage making, I thought its fresh-made bratwurst would have made it further up the list. Found in almost any grocery store, Johnsonville offers a wide variety of styles, but I chose the original bratwurst to get a good base idea of its flavor and bite. Though it was pretty juicy, it was bland and a bit salty. Overall, it reminded me more of a mild, Italian sausage, rather than a brat.

Like a true bratwurst, though, Johnsonville brats are made with pork and have a chunky meat interior with a snappy casing. It had a really good bite and chew, but I just wasn't impressed with the flavor. It also claims to have a "unique blend of herbs and spices", so it's anyone's guess what's included. The ingredient list doesn't specify the seasoning, but corn syrup is listed as a main ingredient. For these reasons, Johnsonville ranks low. But it's entirely possible its other bratwurst styles are much better.

Niman Ranch Fat Tire bratwurst is one of a handful on our list where the brats are already fully cooked. Available at stores like Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Kroger, Niman Ranch offers regular and beer brats. I chose the beer-style brats because that's what Sprouts had on the shelf. Consistent with bratwurst standards, Niman Ranch bratwurst is made with pork from small, independent, family farmers and seasoned with marjoram, ginger, nutmeg, and onion. The Fat Tire brat option is also infused with New Belgium's Fat Tire amber ale.

Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed with these brats. I found them to be tough, chewy, and dry, with a flavor that was overtaken by a smokiness that's not even mentioned anywhere on the packaging. While I feel sweetener has no place in meat products, Niman Ranch uses honey as its natural sweetening agent.

Parkview Cheddar bratwursts is a brand found at Aldi. Similar to regular bratwursts, Parkview brats are made with pork. Personally, I think they taste like hot dogs — cheesy hot dogs, but still hot dogs. With a beef collagen casing, these brats have snap, bite, and a very easy chew. The inside is processed like a hot dog (possibly a reason why it resembles a hot dog more than a sausage) and looks nothing like the typical, larger grind of meat you might find in a true brat. This brand is fully cooked and include three different types of sweeteners.

They're tasty. Parkview cheddar brats have a nice taste, with a mild cheddar that melts throughout the meat. You may want to bypass this particular brand if you're looking for a real bratwurst, but keep it as a consideration if you are looking for a good cheesy dog.

Dietz and Watson is a well-known food company that sells a variety of deli meats, cheese, and snacks. Typically found in a separate section near the grocer's deli counter, Dietz and Watson offers cheddarwurst and legacy and black forest bratwurst. I chose the black forest style because that's what was in stock. Unlike every other brand on this list, the bratwurst links in the Dietz and Watson package arrived tied together like an authentic string of sausage. The ingredient list is pretty simple — just pork, water, and seasoning.

Resembling an original bratwurst, Dietz and Watson brats live up to bratwurst history and what a bratwurst really is. These brats are full of flavor with its juicy meat and seasoning. The interior is a compact, minced meat and is closer to the texture of kielbasa rather than sausage or bratwurst. Though I found the casing to be tough, overall, it's what you would expect of a good bratwurst.

The difference between bratwurst and sausage can change what type of meal you're having, but so can the different styles of bratwurst. Carando bratwursts are available in original or beer style and are manufactured under the Smithfield company umbrella. Once you add beer into the mix, it's an entirely new culinary path since crafting beer is its own art. In an attempt to keep things simple, I chose original brats, which I picked up at Publix. The brats were actually frozen, so the package was thawed for 24 hours before cooking the links.

Carando bratwurst is made from fresh pork that has a texture similar to a typical sausage, the kind that is a compact, ground meat. The ingredient list doesn't indicate which seasonings have been added but it does contain sweetener. Other than the tough casing that made for a chewy bite, this bratwurst was pretty good. Light in flavor, it was full of juice and made for enjoyable eats.

Teton Waters Ranch prides itself on making products with 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef. Though traditional bratwurst is made with pork, it can also be made with beef. Using regenerative agriculture, Teton creates a fully cooked, jalapeño cheddar bratwurst alongside hot dogs and breakfast sausages. It may seem unfair to compare an original bratwurst (especially if it's fresh meat) to a fully cooked one that is enhanced with hot peppers and cheese, but we did anyway. I rarely pass up the opportunity to try something with cheddar and jalapeño.

Teton bratwurst features one of the cleanest ingredient lists in our ranking. It's also one of the only ones that doesn't have an added sweetener. Even though it has the advantage of extra flavoring, it made our top five because it's good eats. I found the bite to be a little chewy because of the tough casing, but the jalapeño spice was spot on, and there was the right amount of melty cheddar throughout the sausage.

Publix offers original-style bratwurst in its fresh meat section under its own label. I found it nestled in among Italian sausage and ground pork. Publix is known for great products, so we weren't too surprised to find the bratwurst doing well on our list. (Full confession: I eat a lot of Publix meat.) Worthy of our top three store-bought bratwursts, I found these sausages to be juicy and flavorful. Made with pork, water, and seasonings, these brats are rich and earthy, plus a little spicy. The meat itself has a sausage-like texture and is easy to chew, though the casing is a little tough. But they also deliver on that sought-after snap of a good brat.

Whether you want to enjoy your brat as is, topped with these creative ideas, or slow-cooked in beer, Publix gives you what you want and expect to find in a traditional bratwurst. It makes for a good base to create your bratwurst recipes. It's also another meat item to add to my shopping list.

Growing up around food and beginning a business by hauling a wagon full of baked buns, the German brothers who started Aldi proceeded to grow the store by providing staple items at low prices in a low-key setting. What better staple to provide than a budget-friendly meat based on frugal preservation methods that originated from Germany? Rightfully so, you might expect a German supermarket chain to produce, at least, decent bratwurst, if not great bratwurst. So it's a good thing it lands near the top of our list.

Aldi offers a fresh-made bratwurst under its own label, and it really doesn't disappoint. It's very close to an authentic bratwurst (we certainly hope so for a German company!) and Aldi brats check all of the boxes for a high-standard bratwurst. Made from pork, water, and seasoning (but including a sweetener), these brats feature a chunky ground meat that's light and flavorful. The bite itself is an easy chew and the meat is juicy, but the casing was a little tough. They were quite enjoyable and would match with any number of recipes.

When I set out to find the top store-bought bratwursts, I never expected grocery store brands to make it into the top five of our list, let alone the top three. I certainly never expected to find SE Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie (where I found it) and Harveys, to be among the best bratwursts of all the stores I went to. But overall, SE Grocers bratwursts are everything a brat should be. Its only downfall is the less-than-stellar ingredient list. But if you're not picky about that, it's a top choice.

Neck and neck with Aldi, SE Grocers delivers a plump and juicy brat that is snappy yet easy to chew. These brats are light, flavorful, and very tasty. Unfortunately, there are multiple sweeteners in the ingredient list, but this was the brand package I finished first. Unlike a few of the brands much lower on this list, I enjoyed these brats without additional condiments or accompaniments (like spicy mustard or dill pickles).

To come up with a list of store-bought bratwurst brands, I visited half a dozen grocery stores and chose what they had available. If there were multiple choices for one brand, I chose the most original version they offered in order to keep the list as similar as possible. I arrived at 10 different brands, though two that are missing are Walmart's Marketside and Hillshire Farms — both of which were out of stock when I went shopping. And, of course, a couple of the brands had cheese, so this wasn't an exact food experiment.

I cooked and reheated the brats all the same way — via steam. This is not my normal way of cooking sausages, but I felt it would give the most accurate results since my preferred methods of grilling, pan-searing in cast iron, and baking in the oven all produce that lovely browned, caramelized outside that can easily mask any imperfections the brat may have.

I based my results on how well the brat matched the German standards of a desired brat — the texture, consistency, seasoning, bite, and overall satisfaction. I tried all varieties for comparison. But I ate many of the lower-ranked brats with some spicy mustard and dill pickles. I also added some of the fully cooked brats to some eggs for breakfast. All pretty good.