This simple and tasty sauerkraut recipe, known for its vibrant hue as Pink Sauerkraut, is from Stephanie Thurow, the author of Can It & Ferment It and it appeared in Season 2 of Taste Buds with Stephanie.
More From Taste Buds Season 2
- You can find every episode of Taste Buds season 2 here, and check out more recipes from this episode:
- Easy Instant Pot Apple Butter
- Spicy Bread and Butter Peppers
Pink Sauerkraut Recipe
This easy Pink Sauerkraut is made from purple and green cabbage and is a great way to test your hand at canning.
Ingredients
- ½ head purple cabbage about 1 lb.
- ½ head green cabbage about 1 lb.
- 1-1.5 Tbsp. kosher salt
Instructions
- Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage and discard, trim off the stem end, rinse off cabbage with cold water, dry.
- Cut the cabbage in half down the center and remove the core from each half.
- Cut halves once more so that your cabbage is quartered.
- Carefully cut the cabbage into 1/8”—1/4” shreds.
- Collect the shreds in a non-reactive bowl (glass, enameled, plastic or stainless steel).
- Add 1 – 1.5 TABLESPOONS of kosher salt (or sea salt) with the shredded cabbage and gently massage and mix together. You can start with 1 tbsp. and taste test to determine if you want more saltiness or not before packing the jar.
- Squeeze and mix cabbage with the salt until the natural liquid (the brine) begins pooling at the bottom of the bowl– this could take several minutes (sometimes 10-15 or more depending on freshness of cabbage).
- Once liquid appears in the bottom of your bowl and liquid pours from your fists when you squeeze a fistful, pack the shredded cabbage into a clean canning jar. Use your fingers and fists to pack it into the jar tightly. Pour extra liquid from the bowl into the jar. Leave about 2” of headspace in the jar.
- Use a small glass WECK jar lid as the weight and push down the cabbage underneath the brine.
- Clean the jar rim with clean dampened towel, add the silicone airlock and screw on the ring.
- Label and date jar.
- Keep the kraut at room temperature, ideally between 68-72°F, out of direct sunlight.
Notes
KrautCare:
- This is a 2–5-week
ferment, depending on the ingredients added and your flavor preference. Taste
test every few days after 2 weeks of fermenting to determine when it is done to
your liking and experience how the flavors change during fermentation. - Make sure the brine remains over the shredded cabbage. Cabbage shreds or other floaties
exposed to the air are at risk of molding. Push down the weight as needed to
keep the cabbage under the brine – always use clean fingers or clean utensils. - It is completely normal for little bubbles or even foam-like bubbling to occur at the
top of the ferment. - Once fermented to your liking, transfer kraut to the refrigerator. “Done” tastes
sour/tangy and no longer tastes like raw cabbage. - Refrigeration does not stop fermentation, though it does slow it down. It is normal for the texture and flavors to continue to change if kept in the fridge for many months. It is
common that some of the brine will soak back into the cabbage shreds once transferred
to the fridge as well.
