Easy Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe (Beginner-Friendly Fermentation)

Why I Love This Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe

I LOVE sauerkraut. When I found out how easy homemade sauerkraut was to make, I immediately tried to make it. This week, I share my take on sauerkraut.

If you haven't visited my site before, welcome. This week's post is part of my fermentation series. If you've followed me for a while, welcome back. You will notice this recipe is similar to others where it's easy to "make it your own".

Continue reading how to make this sauerkraut your own, as well as sauerkraut tips.

What You Need To Make Sauerkraut

You do not need much to make sauerkraut (or any ferment) at home; a jar with a lid is all you really need. Having a canning funnel, fermentation weight & fermentation lid do make the process easier. Below I have included alternatives to my favorite fermentation tools.

Alternatives to buying tools for fermenting:

• Funnel alternative: carefully putting ingredients into the jar using your hands for less mess

• Fermentation weight alternative: zip lock bag full of the salt water solution you are using in your ferment; for sauerkraut, you'd have to make a salt water solution. Zip the bag shut and carefully & gently place it into the jar

• Fermentation lid alternative: burping the jar at least once a day (usually more at the start of fermentation). Burping the jar just means opening the jar to release the built-up gas.

I know it's a classic saying in most recipes that "you likely have everything you need to ferment at home". In this case, I really believe most people have everything to start fermenting, especially if you follow my alternative tools.

You can find all my favorite fermenting tools on my Amazon shop.

Easy Sauerkraut Variations

When I learned how easy homemade sauerkraut was, I was floored. The recipe I saw used fresh jalapeños. I didn't want to go that route, so instead I used purple onion. The purple onion fermented wonderfully into the cabbage, so much so that it was hard to tell what was onion or cabbage.

Below I have a few other variations that may be tasty in your homemade sauerkraut:

• chopped apples, radishes, or beets

• caraway seeds, about 1 tablespoon per head of cabbage

• ginger if you want a different spicy kick

• dill, parsley, thyme, or rosemary if you are feeling adventurous with your flavor

I don't think you can go wrong with any sauerkraut add-ins.

Want to know what I wish I knew my first time fermenting? Keep reading!

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  Start by quartering the cabbage

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  Chop cabbage & onions into a bowl and add salt

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  This is how the cabbage & onions should look

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Read this next: How To Make Kimchi At Home

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Homemade Sauerkraut Fermentation Tips

Although this was my first time making sauerkraut, I found a few tips that I wanted to share my homemade sauerkraut recipe with you.

First, be sure all your cabbage is covered with the liquid. If after 24 hours your sauerkraut still isn't fully submerged, mix up a saltwater solution of 3 cups bottled water and 2 teaspoons Redmond salt. Use enough to fully submerge your cabbage. Save the rest of the solution for other ferments!

Next, don't worry about getting your cabbage, onions, or other ingredients cut too finely. The smaller your pieces are, the more risk for mold you have. I kept my pieces fairly large; even after smashing, I could still make out the pieces.

Third, watch the temperature. Your ferment will take longer in cooler rooms, and shorter in warmer rooms. One day I was being clever (or so I thought) and put my sauerkraut on a seedling heating mat. My ferment grew cahm yeast. Cahm yeast is harmless but doesn't taste great. Being new to fermenting, I ended up scrapping that batch and creating a new one. I didn't like the smell or the off-putting taste.

Finally, have fun! Fermenting is a pretty easy thing that the entire family can do - have fun with it!

Stay tuned next week for the next post in my fermented series.