How to Make Sauerkraut: Traditionally Fermented Cabbage (2024)

Traditionally made from cabbage and a saltwater brine, sauerkraut is fermented for several weeks. Homemade sauerkraut is amazing and doesn’t resemble store bought at all, plus it’s easy and cheap to make and filled with probiotics. Let’s make homemade fermented sauerkraut!

What is Sauerkraut?

I don’t know about you, but I hated sauerkraut when I was a kid. The stuff that came off the grocery store shelf smelled funny and was mushy and weird tasting.

I was even one of those kids that liked weird tasting things, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around sauerkraut. What on earth was it?

Turns out, sauerkraut is one of the original ferments of its time!

Traditionally made from cabbage and a saltwater brine, it is fermented for several weeks (or months, even!) before it is eaten.

Lactic acid bacteria, which is present naturally on all plants, does all the work for you and turns the cabbage into something awesome to put on your sandwich or hot dog.

Homemade sauerkraut is amazing and doesn’t resemble store bought at all, plus it’s super easy and cheap to make. Here’s how to do it!

Wild Fermentation Book

Let me start by recommending these books by Sandor Ellix Katz, Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation.

These books are awesome and I have learned so much from them, including how to make this sauerkraut. Sandor Katz is my hero!

They would make a great gift for someone who enjoys fermenting or is interested in learning more!

Related: 12 Best Books on Fermenting and Homebrewing

Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe

This homemade fermented sauerkraut recipe is so easy to make! It is the perfect recipe for beginner’s to fermenting.

Sauerkraut Ingredients and Equipment

All you really need to make sauerkraut is cabbage and salt. I like to add some spices too, but it’s not necessary at all.

Any type of cabbage will work to make sauerkraut. I prefer to use just regular green cabbage, but purple, savoy, or napa all work equally well.

You can also add other shredded veggies to the mix like carrots, beets, onions, garlic, ginger, or turmeric.

For the spices I mention use anything you like, but whole spices work best.

In this recipe I went classic and used about a tablespoon each of dill seed, caraway seed, and mustard seed. Juniper berries are another common addition.

It’s helpful to have a fermentation weight of some kind and an airlock, but they aren’t required.

This recipe makes about one quart of sauerkraut. If you want more you can double the recipe and ferment it in a half gallon mason jar.

If you want even more sauerkraut you might want to invest in a ceramic crock.

I’ve made all kinds of vegetable ferments in many different vessels in the past, namely large wide mouth jars (which are also great for making kombucha).

You can also use something you already have, just make sure it’s glass or ceramic. Avoid using metal as it can react with the fermentation process or plastic because it can leach toxic chemicals.

Shred, Salt & Mash the Cabbage

Start with a two pound cabbage per quart of sauerkraut. Peel away the outermost leaf from the cabbage and set it aside to use later.

Shred up the rest of the cabbage as finely as possible. A cheese grater works well for this, but you can also slice it thinly with a knife.

Put the shredded cabbage into a big wide bowl.

Sprinkle the salt all over the cabbage and stir it around to thoroughly coat everything.

Then add the spices to the cabbage.

Then comes the fun part, mashing it all around! Really mash it good to bruise the cabbage and break down the cell walls which will release juice.

I use a potato masher, but anything big and heavy will work. There is even such thing as a fermentation tamper if you want to give that a try!

You can also squeeze the cabbage with your hands.

Liquid should start forming in the bottom of the bowl, that’s good!

After mashing the cabbage for a while it will be much more juicy and will have lost quite a bit of its volume.

Pack the Cabbage into a Fermentation Jar

When it gets to this stage it’s time to pack the cabbage into a quart jar.

Use a wooden spoon (or a fermentation tamper if you have one) to pack it into the jar. It should be full of liquid and when you press down on it you should see liquid rise up over the cabbage.

Once you pack all of the cabbage into the jar you should have a brine that covers the cabbage.

If for some reason your cabbage didn’t release enough liquid (this can happen with not so fresh cabbage) you can make some extra brine.

Make a ratio of 1 tbsp kosher salt to 1 cup water and add it to the jar until the cabbage covered.

Then put the reserved cabbage leaf on top of the shredded cabbage which will help to keep all of the little cabbage pieces under the brine.

Then add a fermenting weight of some kind on top of the cabbage leaf. This will keep everything under the brine during the fermentation process.

I love using a ceramic fermenting weight but these glass weights are nice too.

You can also get creative and use a smaller jar full of water or a clean river stone as a weight.

Ferment the Sauerkraut

Cover the jar with a fermenting airlock system, or you can simply cover the whole thing with a cloth or towel.

Put the jar in a quiet corner of your kitchen to ferment.

Push down on the weight a few times for the first day whenever you think of it, and make sure the brine is completely covering the cabbage.

It may not be for the first 24 hours and that’s ok, but if it’s still not after that you need to add more brine.

Taste the kraut as you go along, and when it’s to your liking that means it’s done. This could take 2-3 weeks or even longer.

Don’t worry if white scum forms on the top of the sauerkraut, it’s harmless kahm yeast. This is more common if an airlock is not used. Just scrape it off as best you can before you eat your kraut.

Once it has finished fermenting, store the sauerkraut in a covered jar in the refrigerator. It will last for many months or even longer.

How to Use Sauerkraut

This traditionally fermented sauerkraut is so good! It’s perfect on a homemade Reuben sandwich.

Sauerkraut pairs perfectly with my no knead sourdough rye bread and is the perfect accompaniment to my nitrate-free corned beef.

Sauerkraut is also wonderful when added to a hot dog! It gives anything an extra probiotic boost.

Even my little one loves my homemade sauerkraut! I probably would have loved this version when I was a kid too.

More Fermented Vegetable Recipes

Here are more delicious recipes for fermented vegetables!

• How to Make Kimchi
• Fermented Garlic
• Fermented Cherry Tomatoes
• Fermented Green Tomatoes
• Fermented Asparagus with Garlic
• Fermented Cucumber Pickles
• Fermented Dilly Beans