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Sauerkraut Recipe
Author:
Thomas Sixt is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
Here he shares recipes, answers cooking questions and helps with cooking.
You can find my simple sauerkraut recipe in this post.
This isn’t about pickling the white cabbage.
Today we cook commercially available cabbage to make a fine side dish.
Sauerkraut is internationally regarded as one of the best-known German national dishes.
The cabbage side dish delights the palate and goes well with many dishes.
Let us now show you the simple preparation step by step.
I wish you good luck!
Table of Contents
1. Recipe Sauerkraut
Let’s start right here with the instructions, you will find more tips and ideas for your special cabbage after the recipe.
You can send me cooking questions and kitchen gossip directly via the comment function at the bottom of the page.
Sauerkraut
Cooked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.
Servings 4
Calories 343
Preparation Time 10 Min.
Cook Time 70 Min.
Total Time 0 Min.
Simple guide for cooking traditional sauerkraut.
Ingredients
| 200 | g | bacon |
| 1 | KG | Sauerkraut – Pickled Cabbage |
| 370 | ml | apple compote |
| 200 | ml | dry white wine |
| Spice Bag | ||
| 1 | tbsp | majoram |
| 4 | Pieces | juniper berries |
| 3 | Pieces | cloves |
| 2 | Pieces | bay leafs |
| taste | ||
| primal salt | ||
| black ground pepper | ||
| brown can sugar | ||
Equipment
Instruction
Preparation step 1 
Sauerkraut ingredients being prepared in the kitchen.
Prepare ingredients
Get the ingredients ready.
-> Unwrap the bacon and put it in the pot.
Variant mild cabbage:
Place the cabbage in a sieve and wash under cold running water.
Strong cabbage variant:
Put the cabbage straight from the packaging into the pot.
Preparation step 2 
The tea infuser ball with herbs and spices
Prepare spices
Prepare the spice bag or tea strainer:
–> Put marjoram, cracked juniper berries and cloves in the tea strainer.
In the video I show you the variant with a coffee filter.
Preparation step 3 
Cook the sauerkraut in the pot.
Cook Cabbage
Prepare the Cabbage in the pot:
–> Add the apple compote.
–> Insert bay leaves and spice bags or tea strainer.
–> Pour in the wine and bring to the boil.
Preparation step 4 
Sauerkraut recipe Image © Thomas Sixt
Finishing
Simmer the sauerkraut gently for 1-1.5 hours.
Season the cabbage with salt, pepper and a little sugar.
Preparation step 5 
Homemade sauerkraut close-up with bacon. © Thomas Sixt
Serve
Arrange and serve the cabbage with or without bacon.
Video
Cooking tips for preparing sauerkraut:
Here you will find more ideas for variants and additions.
Vegetarian or vegan without bacon:
–> Prepare the cabbage without bacon, add freshly fried smoked tofu cubes at the end.
Add onions:
–> At the beginning you can finely dice two shallots or a large onion and sweat them in the pot.
Add apples:
-> For a sauerkraut with apple, you can also cook pieces of apple in the sauerkraut.
Champagne cabbage:
–> Refine the sauerkraut with champagne towards the end of the cooking time.
Cooking sauce from sauerkraut:
–> Add the broth to the cabbage in the pot and later pass it through a sieve.
–> Boil the sauce, add cream, thicken with cold-mixed cornstarch.
2. Nutrition Facts And Calories
3. Tips For Washing Sauerkraut
You can make the taste of the cabbage strong or subtle.
Taste the cabbage when it comes straight out of the package.
–> If the cabbage tastes very sour, I would recommend washing the cabbage in a sieve under cold running water.
–> If the cabbage tastes delicate or if you want to prepare a strong cabbage, do not wash it.
Advantages and disadvantages of washing the cabbage:
–> The cabbage tastes finer when washed and fresh cabbage loses lactic acid bacteria, it is more digestible.
–> The unwashed cabbage tastes stronger, contains more lactic acid bacteria and is less digestible.
Sauerkraut tips from the star kitchen:
We have refined the cabbage with plenty of apple compote and always tasted it sweet and sour.
The cabbage was allowed to gently simmer in the cauldron for 12 hours overnight.
I recommend organic sauerkraut or fresh cabbage from the barrel.
Sauerkraut shopping tip from chef Thomas Sixt
It should be mild and not too acidic.
4. Tips For Oktoberfest Sauerkraut
I worked as a cook at the Oktoberfest more than 25 years ago.
The cabbage was prepared very strongly without apple compote with a lot of bacon.
Cumin is a regional ingredient and is not always used.
As a Bavarian, I prefer the cumin in the coleslaw .
5. Tips For Canned Sauerkraut
Canned cabbage is not necessarily any worse in taste than fresh or bagged cabbage.
The general rule:
–> Fresh sauerkraut contains active lactic acid bacteria.
Therefore, in the past, the cabbage was only taken out of the barrel in portions and then prepared.
–> Preserved sauerkraut available in cans or bags is pasteurized and therefore preserved.
In the pasteurizer, the fermentation of the cabbage is interrupted by heat.
Modern systems are set to optimally preserve vitamin C and produce an easily digestible and long-lasting cabbage.
–> I usually wash the canned cabbage after trying it.
Process it directly if you like it.
6. Tips For Preserving Sauerkraut
You can put the prepared cabbage into clean jars and then preserve it.
Here follows the brief instructions:
-> Bring the cabbage to a strong boil in the pot.
-> Wash the jars with vinegar and rinse with hot water.
-> Pour in cabbage and almost cover with liquid.
-> Close the jars tightly, be careful hot!
-> Fill deep baking tray with water.
-> Put the jars on the baking tray in the oven.
-> Boil down the jars at 100°C for 1-1.5 hours.
-> Take the jars out of the oven and let them cool down.
The cooked cabbage can be kept for more than 3 months.
7. More Vegetable Side Dish Recipes
Grandma’s Beans In Tomato Sauce
Cauliflower
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Beans Vegetables Recipe
Bavarian Cabbage Recipe in Top 10 Variants
Sweet Potatoes Recipe for Easy Preparation in the Oven
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Roast Peppers Recipe – Pimientos de Padron +12 Variants
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Kohlrabi Vegetables Recipe
Fennel Vegetables Recipe
Zucchini Vegetables Recipe
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Prepare Ratatouille as BBQ Vegetables Step by Step
Pumpkin in the Oven Recipe with great Variants
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Black Salsify Vegetables Recipe
Savoy Cabbage Recipe for Savoy Cabbage Vegetables
Roast Brussels Sprouts Recipe with Chefs Variants
Butter Beans Recipe with Step by Step Photos
Bacon Beans Recipe
Peas Recipe, Pea Vegetables deliciously prepare
Ratatouille Recipe
Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers
Below you can write to me directly.
Please don’t forget the star rating on the recipe, 5 stars means you liked it!
Hello Ella,
🙂 so you liked it… I’m glad!
Best regards Thomas
Reply
Sauerkraut is real German food 🙂 Good to learn how to prepare. Thanks, Cory
ReplyTHX for your Feedback! Greetings Thomas
Reply
Hello Thomas,
perfect german sauerkraut…. it’s not too sour and not too sweet either, very good.
Thanks for your cooking tips.
Love greetings Elle