When I recently came home with ten pounds of cabbage from my farm CSA I knew I had to experiment with some new sauerkraut recipes.
My goal was to make as many different sauerkraut recipes as I could but without going to the supermarket. I just wanted to use whatever I had lying around at that moment.
The above photo shows my results.
Not bad for a former processed food junkie, huh?
It’s pretty amazing how many simple things can be used to make a variety of simple sauerkraut recipes. The basic recipe of cabbage and salt is ripe for endless variations and combinations of different vegetables, spices, herbs, and even fruit.
Now if you’ve never made sauerkraut before and need to start with the basics, here’s an easy speasy sauerkraut recipe and here’s also a video demo I made in my kitchen:
Once you have the basics down, you can branch out and add just about anything. There are really only two rules you must follow:
Experiment and have fun!
The following are the super simple sauerkraut recipes I made as seen in the photo above. I used approximately half of a medium head of cabbage per twelve-ounce jar. Feel free to alter the ingredients to your liking or better yet, come up with your own sauerkraut recipes!
Ingredients – 2-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Ingredients – 1 TBSP curry powder
Ingredients – 2 grated organic carrots
Ingredients – 5-6 hot peppers, chopped
Ingredients – about 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano (I have fresh oregano right outside my backdoor).
Cortido is Latin American sauerkraut and this is the one sauerkraut recipe I didn’t completely make up on my own but rather followed a recipe from a cookbook. To the basic recipe add a few grated carrots, 2-3 chopped garlic cloves, 1 medium onion chopped fine, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 TBSP dried oregano.
Ingredients – 2 grated organic carrots, 1/2 cup fresh kale, chopped and packed
This last one is from my friends, Tamara and Kelly who run the fantastic traditional food blog Oh Lardy! and they generously have let me share their recipe (and photo) for their delicious red sauerkraut from their new ebook, Oh Lardy’s Guide to Fermenting Fruits and Vegetables.
The beautiful red color comes from red cabbage and beets. If you can’t find red cabbage, just use green cabbage. The beets will still infuse a nice red color to the sauerkraut.
Ingredients
Craig Fear is the creator of Fearless Eating and the author of three books, The 30-Day Heartburn Solution, Fearless Broths and Soups and The Thai Soup Secret. After years helping clients with digestive issues, Craig decided to pursue writing full-time. He intends to write many more books on broths and soups from around the world! Click here to learn more about Craig.