Easy Overnight Sauerkraut
My mom has been making sauerkraut for as long as I can remember. It was a staple in our house growing up and it is a very common recipe made by Russian and Ukrainian folks. The traditional version takes several days to make but this sour cabbage is done overnight. This sauerkraut is eaten as a side/salad and is amazingly good paired with mashed potatoes, buckwheat, or anything else you might eat with a pickle.
- Prep time
- 40 min
- Cook time
- 10 min
- Yield
- 10 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 medium heads of cabbage (4lb)
- 3 carrots
- 4-5 large garlic cloves
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 Tbsp of sea salt
- 10 pepper corns
- 5-6 whole cloves
- 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup white vinegar (5%)
Instructions
- 1
Remove the outermost leaves of the cabbages, cut them into quarters and shred finely (use a mandolin to do this if you know what’s good for you ;)). Discard the core, or trim it and eat it – it’s very tasty and healthy! Place shredded cabbage in a large mixing bowl. Grate 3 carrots and very finely dice 4 garlic cloves, add everything to the bowl with shredded cabbage.
- 2
In a medium cooking pot add the first 6 marinade ingredients: 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 1/2 Tbsp of sea salt, 10 peppercorns, 5 cloves and 4 bay leaves) bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. After the time is up, stir in 1/2 cup of olive oil and 2/3 cup of vinegar then remove the pot from the stove to let it cool for 10 minutes.
- 3
Remove peppercorns and bay leaves from marinate then pour in the mixing bowl with vegetables and stir everything together until well combined. Now place a weight over your mixture until if fully cools. We put a flat dinner plate over the salad then placed a large bowl of water over the top to weigh it down.
- 4
Transfer cooled sauerkraut to a large jar, along with the leftover juice to fully submerge it, place the lid on top and place in the fridge for 24 hours.