Sauerkraut is such a healthy, probiotic addition to a meal and it need not be complicated or time-consuming! This simple sauerkraut recipe is hands off – the cabbage is chopped in seconds in your food processor and the salt does it work whilst the mix is sitting in the fridge overnight. Next morning, you’re ready to put it in jars!
Super-Simple Sauerkraut Recipe
Ingredients/Equipment:
Cabbage (a dense light green or red variety works best)
Salt (unrefined sea or rock salt)
Unchlorinated water
Large bowl
Lidded glass jar big enough to hold the cabbage
Optional: Food processor and glass pickle weights
Method:
- Put the bowl on your scales and put the cabbage into it, weighing it.
- Remove a large outside leaf from your cabbage and set aside, then chop the rest of it into small pieces. You can do this by hand but I prefer to use the grating or chopping blade of my food processor.
- Weigh out 1.375g of salt for every 100g of cabbage you have. Put the salt onto the cabbage and stir it around well.
- Leave the cabbage to sit for up to 24 hours in the fridge. This way, time does the work for you, softening the produce.
- After 24 hours in the fridge, remove the bowl from the fridge. The mixture should be squishy with liquid having been released from the cabbage. The amount of liquid can depend on your cabbage. If you don’t have any visible liquid, squish the cabbage (with either your hands or a wooden mallet).
- Pack the cabbage into the glass jar and press it down well. Leave at least 1 inch at the top of the jar.
- If the liquid generated does not cover the chopped vegetables entirely, make a mix of 1 cup of non-chlorinated water/5g of salt and top the jar up until you have covered the cabbage easily.
- Cut the reserved outside cabbage leaf to the shape of the top of the mix. Place it in the jar to cover the surface, push it down and try to make sure there is no cabbage above the water line.
- Put the lid on the jar. Cover it with a tea-towel and put it somewhere out of the way (that’s not too cold).
- At the beginning of the ferment, check the jar every day to see if there is gas that needs releasing. After that, check it every few days to make sure the liquid is still covering the cabbage, if not top it up.
- You can eat the sauerkraut after just 3/4 days. It’s better after several weeks and could even be kept fermenting for months.
Watch a video of me opening a jar of my sauerkraut here:
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Hi Alison, thank you for the easy step by step guide. I came across your podcast recently and have since learned so much! I also follow on Insta ..Greetings from Berlin, Germany.. Juli
Hi Juli. Glad this helped and that you like the podcast! Feel free to chat to me on IG. Sending greetings back to you 🙂
Greetings from Virginia, USA
Thank you so much! I have been listening to you and Andrea’s podcast for the several weeks now. I believe I found out about it through Melissa Norris’ podcast. I started from the beginning, currently on #37, and it has been quite a treat! I have a 45 minute commute to and from the office, so it’s perfect. Thank you again for all of the wonderful information that you both have been sharing!
Hi Deirdre! You are doing well to be up to number 37 🙂 I’m so glad the podcast is bringing you joy.
Hi Alison,
I loved your chat on the Wild Traditions podcast – one of my go too’s. Your story is inspiring. I’m in the UK & love to cook what I love so your take away landed with me!
I bought purple cabbage today at the farmers market. Question: Your sauerkraut recipe says ‘Weigh out 1.375g of salt for every 100g of cabbage you have.’ . Just checking as I have 370g cabbage so roughly 5g of sea salt. That seems a very small amount. Is it correct? Thank you.
Hi Kate! So glad you enjoyed my interview with Hilda. And nice to hear you’re here in the UK! Yes, your calculation is good. If you can’t get enough liquid out of the cabbage by squishing, also add a brine that’s 5g of salt to a cup of water to top up. Make sure all the cabbage is under the brine. Enjoy!
I also came to hear you speak on the Wise Traditions podcast. I live in northern Florida and a volunteer papaya tree recently grew and produced abundantly. However, we had a hard frost and most of the fruit wouldn’t ripen. I’m fermenting them now with some shredded carrots and garlic (1st go of it ever). Have you ever found a veg or fruit that doesn’t ferment well?
Hi Kathleen,
I’ve never found a fruit/veg that won’t ferment. As long as you give it the right environment – salinity and keep it under the brine, it should go well. I’ve never done papaya but it should work. Carrots have a tendency to go a bit slimy if you leave them too long, so perhaps check this mix after 5/6 days.
Hi Alison, I loved the Wise Traditions podcast interview with you and Hilda. I’m now fermenting my oats and am making my first batch of sauerkraut! I shredded my head of cabbage (1100g) added 15g real salt and massaged it well then covered it and put in the fridge. 24 hours later, no liquid at all. That’s weird. Why is that? What do you suggest I do now? Do I follow step 7? That’s a lot of brine to make when it “should” have generated its own.
Thank you for any ideas you can share.
Cheers!
Hi Teri,
Some cabbages don’t release as much water as others. My suggestion is to re-squish the cabbage by hand now or use a wooden mallet to squish it. Some liquid should be released. Then, top up what you don’t have with the step 7 instructions. I hope this helps!
Thank you Alison, I’ll give that a try!