Recipe: Beer and Brown Sugar Kielbasa

I love the challenge of party food. I always try to make something crowd pleasing, bite sized or easy to eat, something that you could portion control easily, nothing too messy, and my ultimate goal is to always play on a sweet/savory combo.

We hosted a bunch of friends for UFC 121 on Saturday night and I decided to make beer and brown sugar kielbasa. First and foremost, I love this as party food (sweet/savory, yes!). Second, it’s so easy to make. And third, because it’s now officially crock pot season and I wanted to make an inaugural dish.

Beer and Brown Sugar Kielbasa
2 links of kielbasa (I had 28 oz. of turkey kielbasa)
1 cup brown sugar
1 beer of your choice (I had one precious Ommegang Rare Vos left in the fridge)

Hardware needed: Crock pot or slow cooker

I sliced all the kielbasa up on a bias (to pretty it up). I layered 3/4 cup of brown sugar in the bottom of the crock pot and put the kielbasa on top.

I poured the entire beer over the top. I probably should have used only 3/4 of it but it turned out fine.

Be careful, sugar + beer = fizz. Science!

I stirred it a little, set the crock pot on high, put the lid on it, and left it alone for 2 hours.

When those 2 hours were up I took the lid off, sprinkled the rest of the brown sugar over the top, switched the crock pot to low heat, put the lid back on, and left it alone for another 2 hours.

I stirred occasionally throughout this process, basting the keilbasa. It cooked for maybe a total of 4.5 hours. When everyone came over I simply switched the crock pot over to the “Keep Warm” setting, put out some colorful toothpicks, and let everyone have at it right out of the crock pot.

This is what it looked like when it hit the table. I don’t have any more pictures because, well, it disappeared pretty quick. Party food success!