This is our favorite quick sauerkraut recipe with meat! This hearty cabbage and ground beef dish can be served for dinner or a side dish. Just one of many easy cabbage recipes on our site you’ll love.
Sauerkraut with meat is so good. Talk about a lot of flavor in one dollop on your plate. NO need to ferment this if you want to make it for dinner, you’ll get the same pop of flavor this way. Add taco seasoning to your meat for a punch or just salt and pepper is great too. (affiliate links present)
Cabbage and Ground Beef
Yes, our quick sauerkraut recipe is great but if you want to beef it up (literally and figuratively) this is the way to go. You can use all sorts of proteins really. Most people have hamburger on hand, it’s cheap and it soaks up a lot of flavor as it cooks too which is nice.
Beef Pot Roast with Sauerkraut
Throughout the year that is what I use unless it is after the holidays, then we are all about cabbage and ham dishes. That is a great one too because the meat is already seasoned so you don’t really need to add anything to that. If you thought this fermented cabbage had to take a long time, that’s not necessarily true.
Instead of broken up, this is how long to cook meatballs in oven instead. Then fold together. I will say that if you left the meat out and allowed it to sit for a week or so the flavors do continue to amplify and get even better. Kinda’ like kimchi the green cabbage is a great medium to soak up whatever liquid it is submerged in.
What is the Brine Solution for Sauerkraut?
Ok so there is NO recipe out there where you MUST use this or it isn’t right. This dish is typically handed down by family members that have been tweaked slightly. How long to boil cabbage depends on how tender you want it. You don’t want it to turn to mush though so don’t ignore it. The typical items are;
- 1 head cabbage shredded
- 1.5 c vinegar white distilled
- Water
- 1 head garlic
- Salt
- White sugar
Now if you wanted to make this spicy you totally could. I would start with 1/4 tsp either dry Sriracha or red pepper flakes. Add that at the beginning so it can cook in with everything else and get sucked up by the leaves.
What Meat Goes with Sauerkraut?
I think beef is it. Chicken would be a little weird I think unless it was mixed with pork and made into a sausage and steamed or something.
If you “know” me you know how I hate to waste food. Like if you have pot roast the night before you totally should chop that up into bits, warm, and fold in to make beef and sauerkraut. Start by shredding cabbage thinly. Smash garlic head and remove outsides, leave cloves whole though so you can remove later.
- Place everything into a large pot and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot so that you don’t get any burnt cabbage.
- The liquid should be nearly gone when done and the cabbage should be wilty.
- While you are cooking the cabbage you can brown the ground beef or choice of meat in a large skillet. OR cook Ground Beef in Oven
- If you add taco seasoning add 1/4 cup water or broth with it.
- Once browned set aside (drain grease if left plain).
- Pour stewed cabbage into a large bowl, toss with your meat.
- Serve drained sauerkraut with ground beef immediately if you want to eat it warm. It’s so good this way with German meatballs or alongside your Dutch Oven corned beef.
- If you want it cold, let it cool on counter and then put in the fridge for a few hours covered.
Transfer into sealed glass jars for sharing or serving. This is meant to be eaten right away. You can also eat this dish a different way by setting the meat on top of the sauerkraut and not mixing.
What to Serve with Sauerkraut
Ok so there are so many things. Since there is already meat in it you can just make mashed potatoes and there is your meal. Polish sausage could be sliced and used as your meat of choice in this, or sauteed with onions and garlic and served side by side.
You could boil pasta a bit al dente and toss that in too to make a sort of sauerkraut casserole of sorts! Want to go a step further with the yum, melt a few pieces of Swiss cheese on top of all of that in the oven at 350 for a few minutes. OMG my mouth is already watering with that idea.
If you wanted to double this for a larger crowd you totally could, just use a larger pot. OR make it twice and transfer into a large slow cooker set to warm with a lid. Then people can serve themselves over a few hours. Served with toasted golden browned slices of rye bread and you’re set for the yum.
Sauerkraut Recipe with Meat
Equipment
- 1 pot
- 1 skillet
Ingredients
- 1 head cabbage, shredded
- 1.5 c vinegar, white distilled
- 1/2 c water
- 1 head garlic
- 1/2 c salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning, + 1/4 c beef broth or water if adding this, or just salt and pepper
Instructions
- Shred cabbage thinly. Smash garlic head and remove outsides, leave cloves whole though so you can remove later. Place everything into a large pot and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot so that you don’t get any burnt cabbage.
- The liquid should be nearly gone when done and the cabbage should be wilty. (remove whole garlic at this time) While you are cooking the cabbage you can brown the ground beef or choice of meat in a skillet. If you add taco seasoning add 1/4 cup water or broth with it. Once browned set aside (drain grease if left plain).
- Pour stewed cabbage into a large bowl, toss with your meat. Serve immediately if you want to eat it warm (so good). If you want it cold, let it cool on counter and then put in the fridge for a few hours covered.
- Transfer into sealed glass jars for sharing or serving. This is meant to be eaten right away. You can also eat this dish a different way by setting the meat on top of the sauerkraut and not mixing.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
