Sauerkraut with Pork Chops

You can make this sauerkraut with pork chops recipe in your slow cooker so you have more time to spend in your sewing room!  You’ll definitely want to add this easy recipe to your collection of slow cooker recipes!! 

Sauerkraut with pork chops is a Wisconsin comfort food favorite.  The rich German heritage that makes up our area has this item showing up on many local restaurant menus.  But it’s so very easy, you will love making it at home for your family!

When you add in the potatoes it’s a complete one-pot meal your whole family will love!!  The best part of this complete meal is the minimal clean-up it requires!  It’s the perfect recipe for a busy day.  Win-win!!! 

This German meal also makes a great recipe to bring to family and friend get-together occasions.  My mom’s side of the family is 100% German and my dad’s side is 100% Slovenian.  I remember one type of sauerkraut recipe or another served at family reunions on both sides of the family.  My aunt Mary always had a big kettle of sauerkraut to serve in her tavern for her New Year’s Eve party (which spilled over into New Year’s Day, lol!!)  So sauerkraut must be a European-wide recipe!

My mom made sauerkraut often, it was one of my dad’s very favorite meals.  This old-fashioned recipe is definitely one of my family’s favorites too!!  I loved to snitch cold sauerkraut right from the can when I was a little girl.  The tartness of the sauerkraut was a yummy taste like no other!!  I even liked to sip the sauerkraut juice if I could! 

Sometimes my mom would add potato dumplings to her sauerkraut and pork chops.  I’ve yet to try her recipe for potato dumplings but mean to soon!!  I’m lucky that she captured it and saved it in the collection of hand-written recipes that are stuffed in her little green metal recipe box!    

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Ingredients in this Sauerkraut and Pork Chops Recipe

While this recipe calls for about 2 pounds of pork chops, you can use any other good quality cut of pork too!  Pork steak, pork ribs, and pork loin or pork roast are wonderful to make this recipe with too!!  I like to use bone-in pork chops when I make this meal, but you can use boneless pork chops instead. 

The grocery stores will have the pork selection you can pick from.  But we love to keep our freezer stocked with a variety of meat from a local pork farmer.  It’s so handy to have it available whenever you are planning what to cook for supper!!

Type of Sauerkraut to Use in this Recipe

You’ll want to use about 2 pints (32 ounces) of undrained sauerkraut to make one of these cozy dinners.  But if this is your first time shopping for sauerkraut you’ll notice there are a few varieties to choose from.  Found in both the canned vegetable aisle and the refrigerated section of the store, you’ll see both regular sauerkraut and Bavarian style sauerkraut.  The difference between the two is that the flavor of regular German sauerkraut is stronger and tangier, and Bavarian sauerkraut is milder and sweeter with caraway seeds usually added. They’re both good so there’s no wrong choice between the two!!

Personally, I like to use Frank’s Quality Kraut if I don’t have homemade sauerkraut on hand.

Benefits of Sauerkraut

Not only does sauerkraut make for a delicious meal, there are healthful benefits from eating it!!!

Sauerkraut in German translates to “sour cabbage”.  The cabbage is chopped or shredded finely, and fermented using bacteria.  The lactic acid produced while the cabbage ferments creates beneficial bacteria that help fight harmful bacteria in your body!  These are like the probiotics found in yogurt which help with digestion.

A cup of sauerkraut has about 27 calories, 6 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fiber, 1 gram of protein, the recommended daily value of 23% of Vitamin C, 15% of Vitamin K1, 12% of Iron, and 11% Vitamin B6 along with others.  However, sauerkraut is high in sodium so you’ll want to watch your intake.

Sauerkraut is found to be beneficial in helping you lose and maintain a healthy weight as it’s low in calories!  The probiotic found in sauerkraut is believed to help reduce the amount of fat your body absorbs.

With the nutrients in sauerkraut bone health, heart health, and brain health all benefit from eating this yummy food! 

High in antioxidants, eating sauerkraut may also help protect your body from harmful diseases such as macular degeneration and even certain types of cancer.

Other Ingredients

You’ll add about a 5-6 peeled potatoes to this recipe also, about a cup water (so there’s enough liquid to cover the potatoes as they cook), a half teaspoon salt and a half teaspoon black pepper!  That’s it, so easy!!!

Making the Sauerkraut and Pork Chops Recipe

There is minimal prep time involved in making this recipe!

The first step of this recipe is to peel the potatoes and place them in a single layer on the bottom of your slow cooker.  Cut very large potatoes in half before putting them in the cooker.  If you choose to make this recipe in the oven, you can use a large casserole dish or Dutch oven to cook everything in.

The second step of this recipe is to brown the meat.  Add a little oil (or bacon grease if you have it) to a regular large skillet or a large nonstick skillet.  I suggest using a heavy skillet to evenly brown the meat.

Over medium-high heat on top of the stove, add the pork chops to the pan.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side until you have nice brown chops.  Season with the salt and pepper.

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Place the pork on top of the potatoes in the pan. 

Pour a little water in skillet and over medium heat warm up the water to boiling to release the drippings from the bottom of the pan and pour this mixture over the pork chops.

Add the undrained sauerkraut to the top of the pork chops, and add enough water to mix with the sauerkraut juice and cover the potatoes.

Cook the sauerkraut and pork chops for 6-8 hours on low temperature in your slow cooker.  If you make this recipe in the oven bake the meal at about 325° F. and reduce the cooking time to 2 hours.

My favourite way to serve this meal is to pour sauerkraut juice and a little of the sauerkraut mixture right over the top of the potatoes on your plate.  Soooo flavorful!!!

A vegetable that pairs well with this meal is green beans. 

For a complete German meal, finish off this meal with Gingerbread Cake with Caramel Sauce!  Yum!!!

For other pork chop recipes visit my post on Pork Chops and Gravy!  This is another easy pork chop recipe your family will love!

Guten appetit!  Enjoy!!!