How to Make Homemade Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is a fermented food that is not only full of flavor, but it’s also packed with probiotics. Put a little on the side of every meal for a pop of crunch and acidity all the while caring for your gut health.

I used to feel so intimidated by making my own sauerkraut at home. The whole idea of fermentation in general felt very daunting to me. But just like anything else in the kitchen, practice makes progress. And there is no easier, more forgiving recipe to start with than lacto-fermented sauerkraut.

I love to use this as a condiment to any cut of meat or a topping for things like tacos, burgers, and of course brats. Just a tablespoon or two is all you need to get amazing flavor and incredible health benefits. It can be eaten cold or hot. Heat it up with sausage and potatoes or add it to soup or salads.

How is sauerkraut healthy?

“Gut health” is so profusely used in marketing that it feels like an ambiguous buzzword at this point. But there is some merit to it. Sauerkraut is traditionally prepared through a process called lacto-fermentation. By submerging the cabbage under a saltwater brine and leaving it out at room temperature, the raw vegetable magically transforms into a probiotic-rich treat.

What this helps with is food digestion and nutrient absorption. This happens because the enzymes that are produced break down the vegetables essentially predigesting you food for you. In the case for sauerkraut, it’s much less likely to experience bloating after eating whereas that is common reaction when eating raw cabbage. Fermentation also generates nutrients that might not have been there before such as vitamin C, B group vitamins (including the famous B12), and vitamin K. And this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to why fermented foods are so good for our health.

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Supplies you’ll need

Fermentation should always happen in a glass jar. I like to use a large Mason or Ball jar. The easiest way to get the most accurate ratio of salt to get the perfect ferment is to use a food scale for both the veggies and the salt. I prefer my veggies to very thinly sliced so I use a grater and shred everything into a large bowl to mix. After it’s prepped, a funnel helps with transferring to the jar. To pack everything down and tight, I use a wooden pounder, and once everything has been added, I add a glass weight on top to ensure the contents stay under the brine as much as possible. And if you’re looking for a fermentation kit to get you started, here’s an affordable one.

• Glass jar
• Food scale
• Grater
• Large bowl
• Funnel
• Wooden pounder
• Glass weight
• Fermentation kit

Making Sauerkraut

My first step before anything is always sterilizing my Mason jar with boiling water. We sterilize jars before fermenting to eliminate any unwanted bacteria or microorganisms that could contaminate the ferment, potentially causing spoilage, mold growth, or an undesirable flavor profile by ensuring only the intended beneficial bacteria responsible for fermentation flourish within the jar.

I do this simply by boiling water in a pot and pouring it into my jar that I placed in my sink. By the time I finish preparing my ingredients, the water is cooled enough to pour out. LET THE INSIDE OF THE JAR AIRDRY. DO NOT WIPE WITH A TOWEL. Otherwise, it’s no longer sterile.

Gather the ingredients

I keep my sauerkraut as simple as possible while still offering complex flavor. For me, that means the combination of four ingredients: carrots, jalapeños, green cabbage, and salt. Carrots offer a sweetness that I think perfectly balance the spiciness of the jalapeño. With the traditional peppery flavor of green cabbage and the funky taste that lacto-fermentation offers, I find this sauerkraut to be one of the best. As usual, be sure to wash your veggies before chopping.

Prepare the veggies

Start by cutting the cabbage head into quarters. By breaking it down this way, it makes it much easier to handle and get smaller slices to put into the mix.

I prefer very small slices, so I grate all of my veggies. If you prefer larger chunks, you can just slice the cabbage with a knife. However, I do advise to grate the carrots as they maintain their crunch more than the cabbage and the pepper. Smaller slices of carrot ensure a more uniform texture in the final product.

Do a little sauerkraut math

Once everything is chopped and grated, combine all the veggies in a bowl and weigh on your food scale in grams. In the following picture, you’ll see that mine weighed out to 1,215 grams. This is crucial to know because the amount of salt added is 2% of the total weight. So with that in mind, I added 24 grams of salt. If you did the math yourself you might notice that the exact calculation is 24.3 grams. Don’t think too hard about this. As long as your salt percentage is around 2%, your ferment will turn out just fine.

Add the salt

Weigh out the correct amount of salt and pour in the bowl. Massage the salt into everything. By applying this pressure with your hands, the cell walls of veggies start to break down, the salt draws out more moisture, and a natural brine begins to form from the natural juices. This means we don’t have to add any water and dilute the flavor.

A brine is created

After massaging the vegetables and allowing the added salt some time to pull out moisture, a natural brine will be formed at the bottom of your bowl. This is the liquid gold that will magically turn mundane raw veggies into delicious fermented, probiotic-rich side dish.

Transfer to a jar

Put a funnel on the top of your sterilized glass jar, and transfer the vegetables from the bowl. Be sure to pour all the brine into the jar as well.

Pack it down

It’s important to get all the veggies to be packed as tightly as possible underneath the brine. I like to use a wooden fermentation pounder for this.

The sauerkraut will expand as it ferments, but to keep everything as packed down as possible, I use a fermentation weight on top. A cabbage leaf can be used as well. Just take a leaf and lay it on top. Push down as tightly as it will go, and cover with a lid.

Ferment for 3 weeks into sauerkraut

If you have a fermentation kit with a special lid, you don’t have to worry about checking on it. Just leave the sauerkraut to ferment in a cool, undisturbed place for at least 3 weeks. The longer it sits, the better the flavor will be.

However, I just use regular mason jar lids, so I have to check the jar once a day to make sure the pressure is released. This is called “burping the jar” which just means periodically opening the lid to release built-up carbon dioxide gas produced during the fermentation process, preventing excessive pressure from accumulating inside the jar.

After 3 weeks at room temperature, transfer to the refrigerator. This will last 4-6 months if it isn’t eaten before then.