Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe
Learn how easy it is to make your own homemade sauerkraut. Not only will you be getting healthy probiotics, you’ll be getting them at a fraction of the price of store-bought sauerkraut!
I didn’t grow up eating fermented things like sauerkraut but my husband loves all things pickled. Since fermented veggies can taste very similar to pickled veggies, plus they have the added benefit of healthy probiotics, I decided to try my hand at sauerkraut and see how he liked it. He loved it!
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How To Make Sauerkraut Video:
What You’ll Need To Make Sauerkraut:
- Cabbage – about 6 pounds for a gallon
- Salt
- Apples – optional
- cutting board and knife or food processor with slicer
- large bowl
- jar or crock for fermenting
How To Make Homemade Sauerkraut:
- Remove the outer leaves of cabbage and wash them well with water.
- Slice the cabbage thinly
- Add cabbage and salt to a large bowl and mix together.
- Start mashing the cabbage to help the juices start releasing from the cabbage.
- You may need to let it sit with the salt for a few minutes to let some juice come out for the brine.
- Pack the cabbage tightly in a gallon jar.
- Cover loosely and write the date on the jar.
- Place in a shallow container to catch any brine that may overflow.
- Allow to ferment. Start tasting anywhere between 2-4 weeks depending on ambient temperature in your home. The warmer it is, the quicker your sauerkraut will ferment.
- Once the sauerkraut is fermented to your liking, put it in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Homemade Sauerkraut
Equipment
- cutting board and knife or food processor with slicer
- large bowl
- jar or crock for fermenting
Ingredients
- Cabbage – about 6 pounds for a gallon
- Salt
- 2 Apples – optional
Instructions
- Remove the outer leaves of cabbage and wash them well with water.
- Slice the cabbage thinly
- Add cabbage and salt to a large bowl and mix together.
- Start mashing the cabbage to help the juices start releasing from the cabbage.
- You may need to let it sit with the salt for a few minutes to let some juice come out for the brine.
- Pack the cabbage tightly in a gallon jar.
- Cover loosely and write the date on the jar.
- Place in a shallow container to catch any brine that may overflow.
- Allow to ferment. Start tasting anywhere between 2-4 weeks depending on ambient temperature in your home. The warmer it is, the quicker your sauerkraut will ferment.
- Once the sauerkraut is fermented to your liking, put it in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
When Is Sauerkraut Done Fermenting?
The short answer is whenever it tastes like you want it to. There’s no hard and fast rule for how long you need to ferment veggies or specifically sauerkraut.
The fermenting time of sauerkraut and all veggies is dependent on many factors including the ambient temperature of your kitchen, how much cabbage you are fermenting, and how sour you like your sauerkraut to be.
For example, many recipes call for fermenting your ‘kraut for 2 weeks. My kitchen is consistently 69° which means my cabbage ferments much slower than say a batch fermenting in a kitchen that is always around 74°. We typically ferment our gallon batch of sauerkraut for 4-5 weeks to reach the flavor we like.
How To Eat Sauerkraut
Typically, we just eat a small bowl of sauerkraut as an easy side dish with many of the meals we have. Even my toddler will munch down on it!
There are also many recipes like sausage and sauerkraut that would make for a tasty meal.
Why Is Sauerkraut Good For You?
It’s no secret that probiotics are super good for your health. That’s a well known fact and no one disputes it. Gut health is super important and probiotics are a big part of building a healthy gut microbe.
The fact of the matter is that I found no definitive studies on the gut health benefits specifically of sauerkraut. Not that there’s not benefits to eating it but the evidence seems to be more traditional and anecdotal rather than based off of scientific research. This article does have some limited information if you’d like to check it out.
Regardless of whether science knows it or not, homemade sauerkraut is teeming with beneficial live bacteria. They’re the actual little creatures that turn a simple, humble head of cabbage into a gut healthy condiment of sauerkraut.
Do You Need Fancy Fermenting Lids To Make Homemade Sauerkraut?
While special fermenting lids may be nice to have, they’re certainly not necessary! I’ve personally never used them.
The important thing is to make sure all of your cabbage stays below the brine to prevent mold from forming, and to ensure the gases can escape from your jar by leaving your lid a little bit loose.
Why Make Your Own Sauerkraut?
Most store-bought sauerkraut has been pasteurized and all of the beneficial bacteria and probiotics have been killed. Not only does homemade typically taste much better, it gives you the added benefit of getting all of those healthy probiotics into your gut where they can do some good!
Not to mention the fact that making your own sauerkraut at home is super easy and inexpensive!
Shop For Sauerkraut Supplies:
- Masontops Complete Fermentation Kit
- fermenting lids – not necessary but may be nice to have
- fermenting weights
- food processor – again, not necessary but would probably greatly speed up the process
- Himalayan pink salt from Azure Standard
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