How to Make Sauerkraut | The Prairie Homestead (2024)

There are some parts of homesteading that seem almost magical.

Like when watch the cream you skimmed from yesterday’s milk suddenly turn into golden butter…

Or when you are able to make vinegar appear from mere fruit peels.

Or when you pack a bunch of cabbage into a jar and it turns into perfectly tangy sauerkraut a week later.

Speaking of that, I can’t believe I’ve been afraid tolearn how to make sauerkraut until now…

I’ve never been a huge fan of storebought sauerkraut… I mean, I tolerated it in some recipes, but didn’t exactly crave it. I had a bit of an underlying fear that my homemade versions would turn into a mutated-cabbagescience experiment, so I always pushed it to the bottom of my “to-try” list.

Man oh man, was I ever missing out!

Since I popped the top of my first jar of homemade sauerkraut several months ago, I’ve been pretty much obsessed with it. I’ve literally started craving it, and found myself sneaking bowlfuls here and there throughout the day. Even my kids have developed an affinity for it, and they get bit grumpy when we run out and I’m in the process of making more.

Considering the probiotic prowess of sauerkraut, I have a hunch our bodies are trying to tell us something. And I’m happy to oblige!

Keep in mind that in order to reap the health benefits and amazing probiotics of sauerkraut, it needs to be raw. Unfortunately, the canned, cooked, storebought varies will not have the same benefits, since heat destroys most of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes.

Heritage Cooking Crash Course

If you are a newbie to making homemade fermented foods, especially sauerkraut, check out my Heritage Cooking Crash Course. In this course, through a hefty guidbook and my video tutorials, you canwatch me make homemade sauerkraut, and also learn more old-fashioned heritage cooking skills such as: cheesemaking, sourdough bread, canning, and more.

Click here to learn about my Heritage Cooking Crash Course.

(this post contains affiliate links)

How to Make Sauerkraut

Ingredients:

• 1 head green cabbage*
• 1 tablespoon sea salt per head of cabbage (I use this one)
• Clean glass jar(I usually use one average head of cabbage per quart-sized mason jar)
• If you need extra brine: 1 additional tablespoon of sea salt and 4 cups non-chlorinated water

*I’m writing this recipe for one head of cabbage, BUT, keep in mind it takes nearly the same amount of effort to make a lot of kraut as it does a little… So don’t be afraid to make a BIG batch. And it tastes better the longer it ages, too! You can make bigger batches of sauerkraut in a beautiful old-fashioned fermenting crock. Learn how to use a fermenting crock in this post.

Instructions:

Wash the cabbage and remove any wilted outer leaves.

Quarter the cabbage, remove the core, and slice the cabbage into thin strips (I shoot for around 1/4″ wide). Try to make the strips as uniform as possible, but don’t feel like they have to be perfect.

Place the strips in a large bowl, and sprinkle the sea salt over the top.

Allow it to sit for 15 minutes or so, and then start mashing. There isn’t a right or wrong way to do this– just use your hands, a mallet, or whatever blunt object you can find to mash/knead/twist/press/crush the cabbage. The goal is to start the juices flowing. (It helps if you can think of something that makes you mad while you do this–it’s better than therapy, really…)

I mash/knead for about 8-10 minutes. Hopefully by the end of this process, you’ll have a lovely pool of salty cabbage juice sitting in the bottom of your bowl. At this point, taste the juice in your bowl. If it doesn’t taste salty, like ocean water, you want to add a little more salt to get your ratios just right.

Place a couple handfuls of cabbage into the jar, then thoroughly pack down with a wooden spoon. The goal is to eliminate as many air bubbles as possible.

Repeat the packing and mashing until the jar is full– just make sure to leave about 2″ at the top.

If there is enough liquid flowing from your cabbage to cover it completely, congrats!

If not, make a 2% brine solution to fill up the rest of the jar. (If you don’t completely submerse the cabbage in liquid, it’s susceptible to mold and other gunk).

To Make a 2% Brine:

Dissolve 1 tablespoon fine sea salt in 4 cups non-chlorinated water. If you don’t use all of the brine for this recipe, it will keep indefinitely in the fridge.

The finer the salt, the less stirring you must to do to dissolve. I particularly like this sea salt from Redmonds (learn more about them in my Cooking with Salt article), as it dissolves almost immediately.

Cover the exposed cabbage with brine, leaving 1″ of headspace at the top. If you are having troubles with the cabbage floating to the top, you can weigh it down with a glass weight (this is my favorite glass weight), OR even wedge a piece of the cabbage core on top to hold it down. Any cabbage that is exposed will need to be thrown away, but you were going to toss the core anyway, so it’s no big loss.

Affix a lid to the jar (fingertight only), and set aside in a room-temperature location,out of direct sunlight, for at least one week.

You’ll probably want to place a small dish or tray under the jar, as they have the tendency to leak a bit and spill over. Also, removing the lid after a day or so to “burp” the jar and release any pent-up gasses is also a smart idea.

Taste and smell your kraut after one week. If it’s tangy enough, move to the refrigerator for storage. If you like a bit more tang, simply allow to ferment for a bit longer.

A Note About Salt

I’ve had a few commenters say their sauerkraut either was too salty or not salty enough. This is a part of the learning curve of making homemade sauerkraut, and the more batches you make, the better you’ll get at adjusting the salt levels. However, here are a few tips:

• If in doubt, start with slightly less salt than called for– you can always add more.
• A good way to start training your taste buds to the proper salt levels is to make the brine listed above and taste it. That is what the proper salt levels should be of your cabbage strips when you initially start mashing them.
• Taste-testing is also important as not all salts contain the same level of saltiness.
• After mashing the cabbage and salt for 15+ minutes, taste the brine in the bottom of the bowl. It should taste like ocean water (very salty). If not, add a bit more.
• Getting the proper salt levels is crucial, as too little salt will result in spoiled cabbage, while too much will stunt the fermentation process. You’ll get better the more you practice– promise!

Should I Use an Air Lock Fermentation System?

For my first few batches of kraut, I simply used a regular mason jar and lid. However, I was excited when Fermentools sent me a 6-pack starter kit to try. Are air locks an absolute requirement for making homemade fermented vegetables? Nope. However, they can reduce the amount of mold on a ferment, and allow the gasses to escape without you having to “burp” the jar. Basically, if you’re new to fermenting, an airlock makes the whole process pretty much fool-proof.

The air locks were simple to use with the widemouth mason jars I had on hand, and the glass weights that came in the set were especially handy for keeping the cabbage from floating to the top (and a little easier than trying to wedge a core down in there…)

Bottom line– you don’t *have* to use a air lock, but they are pretty handy, and often produce a higher quality product in the end. And if you’re making a big batch of homemade sauerkraut, half-gallon mason jars are easier to handle (and less expensive) than one of those big ol’ fermenting crocks (which I have since updated to because we eat SO MUCH sauerkraut. If you’re interested in getting a fermenting crock for big batches, check out the fermenting crocks from Lehman’s. (I got one of the 6-packs, which will handle around three gallons of kraut…)

Kitchen Notes for Homemade Sauerkraut:

• There are lots of ways to flavor your sauerkraut, such as caraway seeds, juniper berries, dill seeds, or celery seeds. However, I’ve been happy with just the plain version.
• If there is exposed kraut at the top of the jar, it will turn brown, or a scum can develop. Just scrape it off and you’ll be good to go. Even a little mold is OK, as long as it hasn’t contaminated the entire batch. Remember, lacto-fermented foods have a host of friendly bacteria keeping them safe. However, if at any point your sauerkraut smells rancid or nasty, and beyond the point of that pleasantly sour tang, toss it.
• Although I used a swingtop jar in my photos (because it’s cute), I used a regular mason jar for the fermentation process.
• Avoid iodized salt in this recipe, and stick to high quality sea salt instead, like this one.
• If you’re wanting a good beginner’s kit of fermenting tools, I recommend Fermentools.com
• Ready to try your hand at other fermented projects? Check out my old-fashioned fermented pickles.
• Still hesitant about making fermented foods? Learn to make sauerkraut with me in my Heritage Cooking Crash Course.

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This post is happily sponsored by Fermentools.com, because I love being able to share quality homestead toolswith my readers, especially when theymake our homestead lives just a little bit easier!

More Fermenting Food Tips & Recipes:

• How to Use a Fermenting Crock
• How to Make Lacto-Fermented Green Beans
• Old-Fashioned Fermented Pickles Recipe
• How to Make Fermented Ketchup
• My Favorite Ways to Preserve Food at Home