Which Herbs For Sauerkraut? Many possibilities

Sauerkraut is often seasoned by itself when you buy it in a package. With the production of sauerkraut, juniper berries and black peppercorns are added. These are common herbs in the Netherlands. The question is, of course, how to proceed with  the seasoning of sauerkraut? 

• White pepper
• Juniper berries
• laurel
• Clove
• Thyme
• Curry
• Garlic
• caraway seed
• Provencal herbs

You can season sauerkraut with this. There are also other seasonings that make the sauerkraut taste good, such as pineapple, raisins, white wine and apple juice. 

If you don’t like the very sourness of the sauerkraut, there are a number of options to reduce or remove it altogether. 

First of all, you can rinse the sauerkraut under the tap in a colander. The taste of sauerkraut then really diminishes so quickly that you can barely taste it. You can also add milk, water or apple juice to the sauerkraut, after draining the sauerkraut, and let it boil in it. Even then, a large part of the sour taste disappears, but there is still some left. 

We have also written a blog about cooking sauerkraut ‘ How to Cook Sauerkraut? ‘. Everything about cooking with, for example, wine, milk and apple juice. For a delicious casserole, read our blog ‘ How to make a sauerkraut dish? ‘.

Sauerkraut Herbs

Sauerkraut doesn’t always have to be in a stew. Sauerkraut is also tasty. That’s why here’s an idea to season sauerkraut without making stew. 

Necessities: 

• 500 grams sauerkraut 
• Possibly half a cup of water, milk or apple juice to prevent it from burning. 
• White pepper 
• 2 tsp curry 
• 3 slices of pineapple  
• 50 grams of raisins 

Preparation method: 

1. Place a pan on a heat source and break apart the sauerkraut with 2 forks so that it is heated evenly. Add half a cup of liquid of your choice to the sauerkraut. 
2. Cut the pineapple into pieces and wash the raisins in a colander. 
3. Add the curry and stir well. 
4. Add the raisins and pineapple to the sauerkraut and stir well so that everything is evenly distributed. 
5. Let the sauerkraut simmer for 5 minutes on a low heat setting to heat everything well. Keep stirring. Then turn the heat source down if it threatens to burn. 
6. Sauerkraut is delicious with mashed or boiled potatoes. 

Enjoy your meal! 

Herbs Sauerkraut stew

What you need to season sauerkraut stew: 

For 4 persons 

• 500 grams sauerkraut 
• 2 dl white wine 
• 1 bay leaf 
• 1 garlic clove or 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cloves
• 3 juniper berries 
• 1 onion 
• 600 grams of mashed potatoes 
• Pepper and salt 

Preparation method: 

1. Fry the onion in a frying pan and squeeze the garlic into the onions and stir briefly.  
2. Pierce the cloves through the bay leaf so you can find it at the end of the cooking process. You have to remove this after preparing the sauerkraut. Add this and the juniper berries you crushed to the onions.  
3. Add the sauerkraut to the onion and spices and loosen the sauerkraut with a fork so that the cabbage can heat evenly.  
4. Add the wine and let it simmer for 20 minutes.  
5. Bake or warm the vegetable bacon bits. Know that they don’t have to cook like meat. This only takes 3 to 4 minutes or medium heat. 
6. After 20 minutes, the herbs are nicely absorbed. So remove the bay leaf, juniper berries and cloves from the sauerkraut again. You can’t eat this one.
7. Drain the sauerkraut in the colander and add it to the mashed potatoes you have ready.
8. Stir and taste to see if you need salt or pepper. 
9. Add the bacon to the sauerkraut or put it separately next to the sauerkraut on your plate.  

Enjoy your meal! 

Sauerkraut Stew Herbs

What do you need to stew sauerkraut with herbs: 

• 500 grams of sauerkraut for 4 people 
• 100 ml white dry wine 
• 1 tsp caraway seeds 
• 2 tsp Provencal herbs 
• Butter to bake vegan bacon 
• 1 onion, chopped 
• 1 garlic clove sliced 
• Pinch of white pepper 

Preparation method: 

1. Place a frying pan on a heat source and then add a tablespoon of butter to melt. 
2. Fry the onion until translucent and then add the garlic. Bake this for 30 seconds. 
3. Add the sauerkraut to the onion and garlic and pull with 2 forks to allow the sauerkraut to stew evenly. Stir this well. 
4. Add the white wine, which should preferably be dry, because you will continue to taste this wine better after preparation. Stir this around.  
5. Now all spices can be added to sauerkraut and stir. 
6. Put the lid on the pan and let the sauerkraut simmer for about 20 minutes so that the herbs have time to infuse into the sauerkraut.   
7. Stir occasionally to make sure the sauerkraut doesn’t burn.  

The reason we stew sauerkraut is not because sauerkraut has to cook. You can also eat sauerkraut like this. We stew sauerkraut because the herbs then soak into the sauerkraut.  

Taste every now and then if this is already the case and serve the sauerkraut with puree. 

Spices Making Sauerkraut

You can make this delicious sauerkraut with herbs fairly quickly if you have made a mix of herbs yourself. At the bottom of this blog is how you can do this. You can use this mix for 10 times sauerkraut. Always handy when this is ready.  

Necessities: 

• 500 grams sauerkraut 
• ½ glass of (dry) white wine or water
• 1 tsp (level) ground caraway seeds 
• 1 crushed bay leaf or 1 whole. 
• 3 to 5 crushed juniper berries 
• 1 tsp (level) nutmeg 
• 2 tsp (level) garden herb stock powder 
• Splash of soy cream 
• vegetable butter 
• 2 medium onion chopped 
• 150ml water 

Preparation method: 

1. Drain the sauerkraut in a sieve if you don’t want the sauerkraut too sour. Otherwise you don’t do this.
2. Saute the onion in a frying pan until the onion is translucent. Then add the sauerkraut. Separate the sauerkraut so that it heats evenly.
3. Toss the onion and sauerkraut together and add all the spices, the stock powder and the wine. Stir well so that everything is evenly distributed.
4. Pour the water into the sauerkraut, stir briefly and put the lid on the pan so that the moisture does not evaporate. The charcoal can then burn.
5. Bring everything to a boil, then turn the heat to almost low.  
6. Let the sauerkraut simmer for about 20 minutes. Stir regularly and check that it does not burn. Then add a little wine. 
7. Remove the juniper berries from the sauerkraut as well as the bay leaf if necessary. 
8. Add the cream last for a creamy taste. Stir this through. 

Sauerkraut already tastes good on its own. If you do not have certain ingredients, there is nothing to worry about. If you don’t have cream, you can leave it out. It tastes less creamy without the cream, but it certainly tastes good.  

Delicious with boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes. Enjoy your meal! 

Make your own sauerkraut herbs

If you like to season your sauerkraut yourself, you can make this recipe to season 10 x sauerkraut. 

• 2 tbsp caraway seeds 
• 30 juniper berries (only crush the berries before they go into the dish) 
• 10 bay leaves ground 
• 1 tbsp ground nutmeg 

You can optionally use 5 tsp garlic powder and 2 tbsp onion powder if you are not using it fresh. It then becomes too much of a good thing. 

Mix the herbs in a bowl and put the mix in a tightly closed jar. This way herbs are well preserved. Make sure there is no moisture or they will mold. 

When preparing sauerkraut, sprinkle the homemade herbs little by little on top and stir well. Taste especially to see if you like it enough, otherwise add some of your herbs!