Recipe - Quick Sauerkraut

Is it strange to get a craving for sauerkraut? For some reason I really wanted some. It might be because we had recently purchased a whole lot of bratwurst from Costco (seriously, you can't buy just one thing from there). It always makes me think of sauerkraut. Then I noticed that we happened to have a whole hefty head of cabbage in the refrigerator. It was like it was meant to be. However, with time not being on my side at the moment and my craving for sauerkraut continuously growing, I did what normal people do. I consulted the internet! Despite sauerkraut's "real" creation process of taking more than just an hour or two (pickle it! jar it! can it! wait for it!), there were cheater ways to get my fix so I employed the tactics and ended up with a worthy, tasty and quick homemade sauerkraut. Join me in fist pumps of victory. *insert Success Baby meme here*

Step 1: Ingredients (yields 2-3 lbs of sauerkraut)

• oil of choice (I used sunflower oil)
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 1 large head of cabbage (~2-3 lbs), shredded
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp kosher salt

Step 2: Prepping ingredients
Slice onion and shredded cabbage head. Start a large pot with just enough oil to barely cover the bottom on medium heat. Add onion slices. Stir around to prevent burning. When they've become slightly translucent, add in your shredded cabbage.


Step 3: Simmering
Pour vinegar, water, and salt over the cabbage. Turn to medium high heat and constantly stir until it begins to boil. The cabbage will have wilted considerably by then. Cover the pot and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 45 minutes.


Step 4: Finishing
Depending on if you like it hot or cold, you can either serve the sauerkraut now or later. I like mine cold so I let the mixture cool down before transferring to a large container to cool even further. Then I chilled for about an hour before my first share of the portions. It was very tasty served with bratwurst, some freshly ground black pepper, and chopped green onion. *NOTE: this recipe did not include caraway seed which would give a more authentic German flavor (I didn't have it); add this before simmering to extract the flavor you desire.


Photography by Minerva Thai.