What Do You Do With Sauerkraut?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Mad Cook

Master Chef
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
5,118
Location
North West England
While exploring the store cupboard I found a large jar of Polish sauerkraut. Near its "best by" date so decided to use it. Had it with some Hereford (variety of cow that donated its meat) meatballs. Very good. Not as strong as some brands of jarred sauerkraut.

I have some merquez sausages in the freezer which need using so I'll probably have the sauerkraut with those. A spot of national confusion here but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

What do you do with sauerkraut? Not how do you make it from scratch - I would never be that desperate (see the following tale) but how do you serve it?

............................................................................

When I was a little girl we lived in a row of terraced houses built in 1805. The loft space under the roof ran from one end of the row to the other with no walls separating the individual houses' lofts.

One day we began to notice an odd smell. Mother attacked the smell with bleach and disinfectant while father searched the coal cellar for deceased vermin to no avail and the smell got worse - and worse - and worse and soon all the inhabitants of the row of houses were up in arms, with everyone blaming everyone else.

After this had gone on for some time, the local council were informed and the drains were inspected. Nothing wrong there. Further investigation ensued and the culprit was found.

A married couple had moved into the house next door to us some months earlier. The wife was a German lady. You know where this is going don't you? We didn't see much of her as she didn't speak much English and this was the very early 1950s and it seems that she had suffered a lot of harassment for her nationality where they had lived previously, so she hadn't been involved in the smell hunting. It turned out that she had made a quantity of sauerkraut and, failing anywhere else to put it to ferment, she had stashed it in the loft space whence it had spread its disgusting odour all through the row of houses!
 
Along the lines of a boiled dinner or corned beef and cabbage, I make a one pot dish that uses sauerkraut, different German style sausages, pork spareribs or thin pork chops, boiling onions, carrots and potatoes. Caraway seeds are a must as one of the spices, even if there were some in the kraut itself. Good German mustard(s) and/or horseradish for the sausages and pork meat. Simple peasant food.:yum:
 
You could make my

"Trust Me Sauerkraut Salad"

It's called that because you need to trust me that it's really good. Even people who usually don't like sauerkraut say so, even kids. :yum:

1 lg. can of sauerkraut, drained
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped purple onion
1 cup chopped green or red bell pepper (or combo)

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cider vinegar
1/4 vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine kraut and veggies. Mix dressing and toss with mixture. Chill several hours to combine flavors and drain off some of the juice before serving ice cold. It's especially good with grilled meats.
:chef:

Then there's this...
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f49/down-memory-lane-german-stew-recipe-80801.html
 
Last edited:
Funny story, MC!

I make a dish that I love, that I learned from my mother. Fry up some hamburger (mince) with some diced onion, drain, add some cooked rice, the kraut and a can of Campbell's tomato soup. Cook a bit longer until heated through. I can eat this for a week straight, though it is not DH's favorite.

Another fave is cooking pork chops with sliced apples, onions and kraut. Brown the chops, then throw in the rest, cover and cook until tender. Also good in the CP.
 
Last edited:
1. Reuben sandwiches
2. Bratwurst/ hot dogs, especially during Am football season
3. Sliced kielbasa / sauerkraut/ brown sugar/apple/ caraway/ beer if you have some/ otherwise apple cider/ onion/ -- slow baked
4. Pork chops and sauerkraut make good friends on a dinner plate. Even better if there are mashed potatoes.
 
I love this thread! We eat sauerkraut on reubens, hotdogs and sometimes just cold out of the jar. Pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and dumplings is our go-to meal every New Years day (love the kraut on top of mashed potatoes). Now I have more ideas. I think I will give the Trust me salad a try :).
 
I'm the only sauerkraut lover around here so I just use it on hot dogs.

Be still my heart. I won't eat a hot dog without it. There used to be a hot dog cart right at the entrance door to South Station Train pavilion before they did the whole place over. I used to get me a couple of dogs every noon for my lunch. I could have gotten a free lunch at the cafeteria where I worked, but nothing they served could equal those hot dogs. I haven't found a place yet to replace those dogs.

But I may sound like a bit of a food snob. I do not like the canned kraut. I buy it in the refrigerator section in a bag. So much better. I also like it with of course a Reuben Sandwich, pork chops, and a pork roast, any pork dish. I even have Pirate loving it as much as I do. :angel:
 
Last edited:
Along the lines of a boiled dinner or corned beef and cabbage, I make a one pot dish that uses sauerkraut, different German style sausages, pork spareribs or thin pork chops, boiling onions, carrots and potatoes. Caraway seeds are a must as one of the spices, even if there were some in the kraut itself. Good German mustard(s) and/or horseradish for the sausages and pork meat. Simple peasant food.:yum:
Sounds great. Please post the recipe.
 
I love this thread! We eat sauerkraut on reubens, hotdogs and sometimes just cold out of the jar. Pork and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes and dumplings is our go-to meal every New Years day (love the kraut on top of mashed potatoes). Now I have more ideas. I think I will give the Trust me salad a try :).

I bet you'll like it Judys......By the way, we're glad to have you aboard and welcome to Discuss Cooking. :chef:
 
I do it from memory of my grandmother's recipe, nothing written down. I will try to put it on "paper" this weekend.;)
Thanks. It doesn't need strict quantities, more hints & technique, e.g., what needs to be cut up; what needs to be browned?
 
Along the lines of a boiled dinner or corned beef and cabbage, I make a one pot dish that uses sauerkraut, different German style sausages, pork spareribs or thin pork chops, boiling onions, carrots and potatoes. Caraway seeds are a must as one of the spices, even if there were some in the kraut itself. Good German mustard(s) and/or horseradish for the sausages and pork meat. Simple peasant food.:yum:
Thanks, Craig. That's along the lines of choucroute garni, which is a dish from Alsace. Cooking there has a lot in common with Germany
 
You could make my

"Trust Me Sauerkraut Salad"

It's called that because you need to trust me that it's really good. Even people who usually don't like sauerkraut say so, even kids. :yum:

1 lg. can of sauerkraut, drained
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped purple onion
1 cup chopped green or red bell pepper (or combo)

Dressing:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cider vinegar
1/4 vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine kraut and veggies. Mix dressing and toss with mixture. Chill several hours to combine flavors and drain off some of the juice before serving ice cold. It's especially good with grilled meats.
:chef:

Then there's this...
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f49/down-memory-lane-german-stew-recipe-80801.html
Thanks. I'd never thought about using it in a salad.
 
Wonderful memory Mad Cook, thanks for sharing.

As for the sauerkraut...I bury it as far from the house as I can

Although, I have cooked it in the drippings from frying pork chops, adding brown sugar to that and Shrek has loved it. Sort of a sweet and sour. I'm old enough I don't have to eat it.:rolleyes:
 
Toss the leftovers into a pot of soup!

I like beef stock, mushrooms, barley and leftover kraut along with whatever else I find in the dark recesses of the refrigerator! :yum:

You can also freeze the leftover kraut in stock or water and make the soup a few weeks later.
 
Back
Top Bottom