Sauerkraut and Sausage

Sauerkraut and Sausage | Recipe

Today we’re going to be making one of my mom Carolyn’s very famous signature recipes: Sauerkraut and Sausage.

It’s a very simple dish and it is so easy to make. It has just a few ingredients are required. We have potatoes that we have peeled. Then we par boiled the peeled potatoes a little bit. And then we cut up the potatoes into quarters.

We also, of course, have sauerkraut. You can make this from scratch, but to make this a fast, easy meal, we will be using store bought. I like Wildbrine (which I usually find at Costco), but Trader Joe’s has truly excellent sauerkraut as well in the refrigerated section. 

Whether you make it from scratch or buy store bought sauerkraut, this recipe will be delicious! 

And of course, we have to have sausages to make Sauerkraut and Sausage. There are so many options you can choose from. Today, we are using apple chicken sausages that are actually pre-cooked already. Trader Joe’s has an excellent apple chicken sausage as does Aidells brand (which I usually get at Costco as well).  

Please note, you can substitute kielbasa or bratwurst in at this stage, but you must fully cook them. The apple chicken sausage we buy comes pre-cooked, so it just needs browning. 

Mom usually uses kielbasa and she would have preferred using kielbasa but this is what we had in in the house so this is what we’re using. And the apple chicken sausages are so delicious.

Then we have some bay leaves and peppers and the secret ingredient… is a can of beer.

We’ve pre-oiled an extra large skillet just a little bit. We’re going to get the stovetop a little hotter and turn it up a little bit higher just to brown the sausages. They start sizzling very fast.

Mom likes to have everything as whole as possible. You can slice the sausages before browning, but the presentation is so much better when they are whole.

After browning, turn the heat down just a little bit (to medium or even medium high) and put the sauerkraut in.

It already smells so good!

Now, you put whole peppercorns in. Mom says the peppers will soften a bit, but you can also remove them before eating.

Next, add three bay leaves. Really the sauerkraut the sausage and the beer (which we will add in a minute) all has a lot of flavor, so we don’t really need salt or extra competing spices.

Now you want to put the potatoes in and make sure that they’re covered by the by the juices so that they cook properly. Stir it together and then here comes the secret ingredient: beer.

You’re not going to taste the beer, it just flavors it and the alcohol in fact will cook down through this process, so the flavor will be left, not a high alcohol content.

Next, you’ll put it on simmer, cover it, and just let it cook for at least a half an hour to well over an hour. You want the potatoes to be soft.

Once the potatoes are tender, it’s ready. All we have left to do is plate it up and enjoy

Sauerkraut and Sausage | How Does It Taste?

I’m very excited to try this. And it’s absolutely delicious!

The beer really just brings out the flavor of the sauerkraut and sausage. Thanks so much for joining me. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

Why not try one of Mom’s classic dessert recipes to have after this:

Coffee Toffee Bars | A Retro Recipe