This German-style sauerkraut soup is hearty, warm-your-soul good and perfect dish for fall and winter.
My husband’s ancestors are Irish and German yet he doesn't like cabbage or sauerkraut! If he didn’t look exactly like his siblings I’d think he was adopted. Cabbage was often on the table during the summer months in my childhood home and mom would prepare enough sauerkraut to last us over the winter.
I always liked the process of preparing the cabbage for pickling/fermenting/curing: coring the cabbage heads (and eating few cores which have mild horseradish flavor); filling the core holes with salt; placing heads in a large barrel with some shredded cabbage as well and covering with water after which the barrel is hermetically sealed. Then the wait begins.
There are many uses for sauerkraut in our cuisine, but my favorite is stuffed cured cabbage leaves (sarma) and I will share that recipe with you in the future but since finding a whole cured cabbage head is difficult here in the States, this German-style sauerkraut soup is the best substitute.
It uses the same ingredients except there is no stuffing involved. I'm all about the shortcuts and this recipe definitely achieves the same flavors in less time. Of course, there's something nostalgic about the stuffed cabbage leaves that I can't deny but this "unstuffed" soup is the next best thing. Serve with boiled potatoes or crusty bread like this artisan.
Hearty Sauerkraut Soup
Ingredients:
Serves 4-6
- 2 pounds sauerkraut
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound smoked slab of bacon
- 1 pound Polish Kielbasa (or another smoked sausage)
- 1 large onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup rice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4-5 black whole peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons oil or pork lard
- 3 cups water, plus more if needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
~ Free Tip ~
Taste before adding salt as sauerkraut, bacon, and sausage are naturally salty.
Directions:
- Rinse sauerkraut and leave in a colander to drain. Dice bacon and onion, mince the garlic and slice the sausage.
- Cook onion and bacon in oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until lightly browned. Add the sausage and cook until edges start to brown.
- Add ground beef and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink. Do not allow the beef to brown. Stir in sauerkraut, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and paprika. Add one cup of water, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and remaining water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat. Add rice, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
Hearty Sauerkraut Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sauerkraut
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound smoked slab of bacon
- 1 pound Polish Kielbasa (or another smoked sausage)
- 1 large onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup rice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4-5 black whole peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons oil or pork lard
- 3 cups water plus more if needed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse sauerkraut and leave in a colander to drain. Dice bacon and onion, mince the garlic and slice the sausage.
- Cook onion and bacon in oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until lightly browned. Add the sausage and cook until edges start to brown. Add ground beef and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink. Do not allow the beef to brown.
- Stir in sauerkraut, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and paprika. Add one cup of water, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste and remaining water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat. Add rice, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Looking forward to connecting with you soon.
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I love sauerkraut, this soup sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing at What'd You Do This Weekend? I hope you will join us again this Monday!
Thank you, Joy!
We like saurkraut (all except for my husband! ) but I have never made something like this..... Thank you.
What is with our husbands, right? My will go for all the meat in this soup, but not touch the sauerkraut. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Thank you for linking up with Waiting on...Wednesday! Have a wonderful day!
You too, Holly!
MMM so delicious! And so much meat - yummy!
Thank you, thank you for this! I just had a consultation with a chinese herbologist who recommended I eat some little something that's fermented once a day - and sauerkraut was one of her suggestions. When I made an icky face, she said, "yes, that's most people's reactions but if you have good sauerkraut - you may react differently." So I did try a new kind from the health food store and I do like it. This soup looks delicious - we have German ancestry too so grew up on things like this. Stopping in today from Grand Social. You have a beautiful blog. So glad to have found you.
Thank you, Barbara, for your kind words! I'm so glad my recipe can help 🙂 I love sauerkraut, but I'm not sure if I could eat it every day, lol. Have you tried it as a salad? Just add some oil and fresh ground black pepper to uncooked sauerkraut and that's it! It is really good and that way you intake it daily without having to make a meal out of it. Hope you like it too! Hugs!
All I can say is .... YUM!!! This looks delicious! I'm pinning this for later.
Patti
Thank you kindly, Patti!
I LOVE sauerkraut in any form! I suppose this version of yours is influenced by Germans, and they know how to use it. Yum!
btw, no problem coming here today 🙂
Hi Jasna, thanks for stopping by. You are absolutely right - Germans know best how to use sauerkraut! Glad there were no problems in "crossing the border" today. 😀