Easy Sauerkraut Soup with Sausage
Sausage sauerkraut soup is full of rich, comforting flavors. Potatoes, barley, carrots, onions, and sauerkraut are simmered in bone broth and warm seasonings. Pan-fried sausage is added to make this German-inspired dish.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven A large soup pot will also work.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 small onions or 1 large to medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3-4 small white potatoes peeled and cut into small bite sized cubes
- 1 large carrot grated
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup pearl barley
- 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 6 cups beef stock
- 1 pound sausage I used mild Italian sausage
- 8 ounces sauerkraut liquid drained off
- Salt to taste add at the end
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, melt butter. Then, adds onions and garlic to the melted butter and cook until onions are translucent.
- Dice potatoes into bite size pieces and grate carrots.
- Add potatoes and carrots to the pot with tomato paste, barley, caraway seeds, and chicken stock. Cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, cook sausages and set aside to cool.
- Deglaze the bottom of the pot with a bit of warm stock to add some extra sausage flavor to the soup.
- Add the sauerkraut to the soup pot and cook for another 15-20 minutes until the barley is tender. To check for doneness, take out a few pieces of barley to check if they’re fully softened and cooked before serving the soup.
- Once the sausage is cool enough to handle, slice it into small rounds and add to the soup.
- Taste to adjust for salt, then serve.
Video
Notes
- This soup freezes well. Allow it to chill completely in the fridge, place in an airtight container, and place in the freezer.
- Homemade fermented sauerkraut lends quite a bit of saltiness to this soup. Wait to add salt til the end of the recipe if it’s needed.
- Use the excess sauerkraut juice, that you strained from your sauerkraut, to kickstart other vegetable ferments, or use in homemade salad dressing. Check out my post all about fermenting vegetables.
- To preserve more of the probiotic benefits, you can add the sauerkraut closer to the end of the cooking time. Or if you want the cabbage to be more tender, cook it for 15-20 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 313kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 974mg | Potassium: 944mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1461IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 3mg