Bavarian Sauerkraut for Oktoberfest

I’ve had a few visitors here request a recipe for Bavarian-style sauerkraut. I saved this recipe to be part of my Oktoberfest Recipes 2017 series. I’m posting five recipes inspired by Oktoberfest.

This recipe is the second in the series. The first was Fried Obatzda, a twist on a Bavarian cheese spread appetizer.

This Bavarian kraut is a bit of a cheat. I did not ferment the cabbage, I used store-bought sauerkraut as a base.

A cheat, yes, but the honest news is it makes the recipe come together in a minute. Well, maybe not a minute but in a much shorter amount of time, under an hour as opposed to 4 weeks.

You will need speck for this recipe. Unless you have a German specialty butcher near you, this may be hard to find. Substitute any thick cut smoked ham for the speck. You will also need bacon fat, I save my drippings from cooking bacon in a jar in my fridge. It always comes in handy for a recipe like this one.

This recipe serves 4 as a side dish but if you are using it to top wurst or hot dogs in buns, you could stretch it to 8.

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Bavarian Sauerkraut

Course Condiment, Side Dish

Cuisine German

Keyword Sauerkraut

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Servings 4

Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

• 1 lb sauerkraut
• 1 small white onion
• 2 oz thick cut smoked ham or speck
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon white granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth

Instructions

1. Squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the sauerkraut and place it in a bowl.
2. Peel and dice the onion into small pieces.
3. Cut the smoked ham into small pieces.
4. Heat the bacon fat in a skillet over medium-high heat. add the diced onion and chopped ham. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions become transparent.
   
5. Add the sauerkraut to the pan and stir to combine.
6. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and caraway seeds.
7. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wine, vinegar, and vegetable broth.
8. Add the mixture to the pan. and bring to a boil, stirring.
9. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.
10. Taste and season again to your liking, if necessary.
11. Remove from the heat, let cool completely and serve.