My favorite vegan sauerkraut recipes & uses (2024)

FAQs

What is sauerkraut good to eat with? ›

Sauerkraut can be added to soups and stews; cooked with stock, beer or wine; served with sausages or salted meats, and is especially good with smoked fish, like hot-smoked salmon.

As long as the initial ingredients, such as cabbage and salt, and any additional components used during fermentation are vegan, the sauerkraut remains vegan-friendly. So, whether you're a vegan or simply a sauerkraut enthusiast, you can enjoy this fermented delight without any concerns about its vegan status.

Sauerkraut is incredibly nutritious and healthy. It provides probiotics and vitamin K2, which are known for their health benefits, and many other nutrients. Eating sauerkraut may help strengthen your immune system, improve your digestion, reduce your risk of certain diseases, and even lose weight.

Improve Digestion

One serving of sauerkraut has two grams of fiber — a nutrient known to aid with digestion. For people with constipation, fiber increases the weight and size of their stool and softens it, making it easier to pass. For people with diarrhea, fiber can absorb excess water and solidify their stool.

The best time to eat sauerkraut is likely before or during a meal. It's important to make it and other fermented foods a staple in your diet to reap the gut health benefits.

Depending on your taste, onions, bacon, juniper berries, caraway, and/or cream can be added to and cooked with the Sauerkraut. In many parts of Germany, pork ribs or pork cutlets are cooked in the Sauerkraut to give it a smokey flavor. The pork absorbs the liquid and becomes very soft and juicy.

Juniper berries and caraway seeds add beautiful flavor, but they also are anti-fungal and help to keep mold, yeast, and other microorganisms from growing that could ruin your developing kraut's flavor.

You can eat it straight from the jar (it has the best health benefits that way). If you do want to cook it, then drain and rinse it under running water then boil it for a few minutes to warm through.

How to eat sauerkraut for weight loss? ›

Sauerkraut can be used in many ways. It can be used as it is, as a part of vegetable or meat meal, in the form of a soup, etc. This diet plan can be repeated on a monthly basis as it is extremely healthy and efficient in losing weight.

In a fermented food like yogurt, yeast and bacteria will be added and will undergo a fermentation process that creates live and active cultures called probiotics. When you consume those probiotics, they go straight to your gut and keep it happy and healthy.

There is a good selection of vegan foods that contain probiotics, including dairy-free yogurt. Fermented foods and drinks, such as kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha (fermented tea), pickles, and sourdough bread also include good bacteria and are vegan.

If you are refrigerating your sauerkraut, it should stay fresh for about four to six months after opening. It's important to know when you're using it and sealing it after each use because if new bacteria come in contact with it, it can immediately become spoiled.

Sauerkraut is a highly nutritious, probiotic-rich food, and you are recommended to eat about a tablespoon or 10 grams per day. You may gradually increase the intake of sauerkraut up to six tablespoons or 60 grams per day if you are comfortable.

One important issue to remember is that cooking sauerkraut will kill off the probiotic bacteria that we want to consume. Even after cooking, sauerkraut is a healthy, cabbage-based dish, but it will be missing out on that probiotic boost. So, when possible, try to add your sauerkraut to your dishes uncooked.