Say Goodbye To Yellow Mustard. Top Your Brats With This Sweet Condiment For 20X The Flavor

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There's a key difference between bratwurst and knockwurst, but we prize brats for their wide availability and mellow flavor that lends itself to a variety of toppings. Many people enjoy mustard with their brats, but we're here to tell you that one tiny, mustard-y pivot can make a world of difference when it comes to big flavor. What you want is maple mustard. Like its more popular cousin, honey mustard, maple mustard is sweet. It's our opinion, however, that maple syrup offers more complex (dare we say "grown up?") flavor notes than honey, and it's a natural match for brats. Tons of online recipes incorporate maple syrup with mustard in harmony with brats in sheet tray dinners, but we love this combo in a bun at a BBQ.

When pairing mustards with sausages, you always aim to balance the flavor profiles of salt, acid, and spices in the meat. Mild mustards are often suggested for brat pairings because they don't overwhelm the sausage, which isn't as spice-forward as some of its brethren. Maple syrup adds a subtle note to your handheld that enhances the meat, rather than commanding all the attention in the room, while the mustard cuts through fatty richness. We've seen maple syrup play well with savory flavors before — we even covered an NYC restaurant that serves it with french fries. Whether you whip up your own maple mustard (which can be as simple as stirring maple and Dijon together, or can get quite a bit more complex) or simply spring for a budget-friendly bottle of French's maple mustard, your world is about to get rocked in the best way.

We've covered how to cook bratwurst in the air fryer, but, in our imaginations, no other method of cooking brats to prepare them for a drizzle of maple mustard can compete with grilling. Nobody's saying you can't produce quality sausage on the countertop, but we're craving those deep char marks from the grates of the grill, the burnt notes of which will provide an additional, delicious flavor counterpoint to the spice and sweetness of your maple mustard. Lacking a grill, or don't feel like going outside? We can also see some amazing results coming your way after simmering your brats in an inch of beer on your stovetop, followed by a quick sear — the hoppy character of the brewski will mesh well with the maple mustard. 

In terms of toppings, we've gotta admit that caramelized sweet onions are probably the culinary gods' gifts to mustard-topped brats, and we think the muted sugar essence of the maple mustard will play extremely well with onions that have been allowed to go jammy in the pan after a prolonged sweat. This is not to say that you can't experiment with the classic combo of sausage and peppers — sweet red peppers will also play up the maple-y goodness of the mustard, but we would also jump for joy with some hotter specimens to bring the heat to the banquet of flavors in your bun. At least one maple mustard bratwurst sheet pan dinner we found incorporated curry into the sauce for extra oomph, so consider stirring in a little of your favorite curry powder if big flavor is what you seek.