Easy Sauerkraut Recipes (that save you money!) - Real Food RN (2024)

FAQs

How much sauerkraut should I eat daily for gut health? ›

Sauerkraut is a highly nutritious, probiotic-rich food, and you are recommended to eat about a tablespoon or 10 grams per day. You may gradually increase the intake of sauerkraut up to six tablespoons or 60 grams per day if you are comfortable. However, you are recommended not to overconsume.

Cabbage, salt, and sugar (plus some time) are all that's required to make a standout homemade sauerkraut recipe.

Round cabbage (also called white cabbage or simply cabbage) is the best cabbage for making sauerkraut. The cabbage is dense with smooth leaves and weighs on average around 2 kg. Light green cabbage will give you the best results!

Studies suggest incorporating sauerkraut into a well-rounded breakfast or as a component of fibre-rich lunches and dinners still offers gut-friendly benefits. Pairing it with prebiotics like onions, garlic, bananas, and Jerusalem artichokes can further aid probiotic colonization and growth in your gut.

The best time to eat sauerkraut for gut health is during or before a meal since stomach acid, and enzymes can aid in breaking down food and killing harmful bacteria. Incorporating sauerkraut into your diet regularly can be beneficial, aiming for at least 1-2 servings per day.

Garlic, cumin, and celery seed add a flavorful, savory profile. Warming the fermenting solution before pouring over the cabbage will bring out the flavors of the spices. This sauerkraut goes well with steak, chicken, eggs, or in salads.

Sauerkraut can be added to soups and stews; cooked with stock, beer or wine; served with sausages or salted meats, and is especially good with smoked fish, like hot-smoked salmon.

Although heat does kill the good bacteria living in your sauerkraut, it only happens at 46°C (115°F). So if you're cooking at a very, very low temperature, you should still retain a large amount of these probiotics. Another solution could be to add your sauerkraut or kimchi to a cooked meal near the end.

Depending on your taste, onions, bacon, juniper berries, caraway, and/or cream can be added to and cooked with the Sauerkraut. In many parts of Germany, pork ribs or pork cutlets are cooked in the Sauerkraut to give it a smokey flavor. The pork absorbs the liquid and becomes very soft and juicy.

No need to add any vinegar! Salt alone preserves sour cabbage very well. I add 1/4 cup of shredded carrot for colour. Sometimes, I add a laurel leaf and 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds.

What happens if you don't put enough salt in sauerkraut? ›

Canning or pickling salt draws out the cabbage juice so it can be fermented. Using too little salt not only softens the cabbage but also yields a product lacking in flavor.

Sauerkraut contains far more lactobacillus than yogurt, making it a superior source of this probiotic. Two ounces of homemade sauerkraut has more probiotics than 100 probiotic capsules. Store-bought sauerkraut is often treated with preservatives, meaning it does not offer the same health effects as homemade sauerkraut.

In Germany and Austria, cooked sauerkraut is often flavored with juniper berries or caraway seeds; apples and white wine are added in popular variations. In South Tyrol, it is made with Juniper berries, Extra-virgin olive oil and smoked pancetta.

Sauerkraut is a source of probiotics and nutrients that support your immune system . For starters, the bacteria that populate your gut can have a strong influence on your immune system. The probiotics found in sauerkraut may help improve the balance of bacteria in your gut, which helps keep your gut lining healthy.

In that case, a daily serving of probiotic-rich sauerkraut can aid symptoms of your distress, potentially leading to noticeable improvements and a happier digestive system within weeks.

The best time to eat sauerkraut is likely before or during a meal. It's important to make it and other fermented foods a staple in your diet to reap the gut health benefits. Making sauerkraut at home is an easy way to include an affordable source of probiotics in your diet. All you need is salt and cabbage.

Not only does Sauerkraut contains probiotics, It also contains prebiotics (to feed the probiotics) and postbiotics (the beneficial by-products of probiotic production. Probiotic capsules don't have prebiotics or postbiotics, although you can.