Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe (Kvashenaya Kapusta)
Total Time
4 days
Prep Time
30 mins
Rating
4.97 out of 5 stars
(30)
Ingredients
8 cups
- 2 medium/large cabbages (2 1/2 kg or about 5 1/2 lbs)
- 2-3 medium carrots, grated
- 2 Tbsp fine sea salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 small purple Onion, finely diced
- 2 Tbsp Sunflower Oil (preferred for more flavor), or olive oil
- 1/2 Apple (any kind; I used gala), diced
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp white grapes or dried cranberries
- 1-2 Tbsp extra light olive oil (not extra virgin)
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Preparation
Step 1
Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters, and shred cabbage finely (use a mandolin to do this faster and discard the core).
Step 2
In a large silver bowl, place cabbage, carrots, 2 Tbsp sea salt and 1 Tbsp sugar and scrunch and knead it together really well for the juice to be released from the cabbage (4-5 min).
Step 3
Scrunch it until juices start to come out.
Step 4
Fill a glass jar with the cabbage mixture and pack it in very tightly so that the juice from the cabbage covers the cabbage completely. You want a jar big enough to be filled only about 2/3 full so it has room to expand.
Step 5
Make a press over the top of the cabbage by pushing down with a plate (or the lid from a large sour cream container). Top with a small jar of water, a super clean rock or whatever else would make a good weight. Place the lid on the jar but do not tighten. Let stand at room temp for 4 days or until sour.
Step 6
While it sits at room temperature, once each day: poke a few holes through the cabbage with the back of a wooden mixing spoon to release the gas that this process produces and pack the cabbage down tightly.
Step 7
After 4 days, refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be stored for a few weeks if kept very cold.
Step 8
Save recipe for the next time?
Chef's notes
A Note on the Cabbage:
buy ones that are light in color and NOT bright green (the light color indicates that it is a "late" in the year cabbage which works best for this recipe).
The ones at the farmers market in Fall are best.
If you are using a soup pot for the fermenting process, don't use aluminum.
Start to finish, recipe takes 4 days.
