Both beets and kraut are acquired tastes. But the health benefits of homemade Sauerkraut with Beets are worth learning to love!
We start the kids on sauerkraut as soon as they are joining us at the table for meals of finger foods. Everyone knows you grab a forkful and plop it on your plate. This is one of the best way to get those good probiotics in them without needing expensive supplements.
Not a fan of beets? I love Raw Herbal Kraut because I can add whatever fresh herbs strike my fancy. Get colour without beets if you make Purple Cabbage Kraut.
Key Ingredients
Cabbage - I like to use looser heads that I know won't last in the root cellar to start our annual sauerkraut marathon.
Beets - While an acquired taste, they really add a beautiful colour and flavour to this kraut.
Carrots - Add some sweetness to offset the ferment and the beets.
Salt - We'll use a ratio of fine sea salt to cabbage to achieve the proper fermentation.
How to Make Beet Sauerkraut
***See recipe card below for precise measurements and instructions.***
Step 1: Halve and core the cabbage.
Step 2: Use a food processor, grater, or practice your knife skills!
Step 3: Set shredded cabbage aside.
Step 4: Shred carrots and add to the bowl.
Step 5: I recommend a food processor to keep your hands clean!
Step 6: Ready to mix!
Step 7: Combine everything well, massaging to release liquid.
Step 8: Pack well into super clean jars.
Step 9: Add a weight. This can be a glass weight made for the jar, a clean, smooth rock, or even folded cabbage leaves.
Step 10: Top with cheesecloth, paper towel, or a special burping lid.
Tips and Tricks
- You technically don't need special equipment. Folded cabbage leaves and clean rocks work well as weights.
- You can slice the cabbage however you think your family will enjoy. Small to disappear on their plate or larger chunks like coleslaw.
- I recommend adding the carrot for some sweetness.
- If you are doing a lot of kraut, the food processor will make quick work of it!
FAQs
Calculate the salt needed which will be 2-2.5% of your kraut weight. (Go for 2.5 if you like a saltier kraut) in our case our total cabbage mix (not including herbs) is 1905 grams so we added 41.91 grams of salt. (1905 x 2.2% on calculator). Yup, you need to do math here - salt is crucial and you need enough!
Air is the enemy here! You must make sure you have enough liquid from massaging the cabbage that it is completely submerged in the jar. Using a heavy weight is key as well, because the cabbage will shrink down as it sits. You can fold a cabbage leaf and use a smooth, washed rock, or purchase actual fermenting weights.
It can be! Especially with the beets here, which WILL stain surfaces, I always place my fermenting jars on a cookie sheet. The fermentation process lets off gas, which is why you need the "burping lid" or to manually release the gas/pressure every so often. This gas can also push some liquid out, so protect your surfaces!
Photos by Dante from Shire by the Sea
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Raw Herbal Sauerkraut
Equipment
- Large wide-mouth jars
- Canning/fermenting weight
- Burping lid or cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 3 medium cabbage
- 2 lb beets
- 1 bunch carrots about ½ pound, optional
- Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
- Peel off outer cabbage leaves, and set aside for now as you may use them to cover your kraut later.
- Cut cabbages in half and cut out heart of cabbage.
- Clean carrots and cut off greens, or if they are fresh, you could add them to the kraut. Set aside.
- Decide whether you want chunky, coarse shredded or extra fine kraut at this point. It is a personal preference, but each type requires different methods. We opted for coarse shredded.
- If you are going for coarse, chop up all your cabbage with a strong and weighted knife to the bite size you want. You will have to manually “massage” and squeeze your cabbage to break it down in order to release the juices. You may not want to go this route but it is a satisfying process and hand workout nonetheless!
- If you opted for a hand chopped kraut, at this stage you are going to going to massage the cabbage (with clean hands) until the cabbage has released a lot of its juices. The more of the juices you release, the less of a need there will be to add water and the stronger the flavour. If done properly, the slaw will be very juicy and when squeezed it will run the juices through your fingers.
- If you are wanting a finer kraut, you can use a grater (watch those fingers!) or use a food processor to speed up the process. We used a knife to cut cabbage into manageable chunks then opted for a coarse shred in our food processor. It saves a lot of time if you have a larger food processor! The added bonus is that you will have little to no massaging to do, as your cabbage should already be very wet.
- Once you’ve chopped/grated/processed your cabbage transfer to a large bowl.
- Using a grater or food processor, shred your beets and put in a separate bowl for now.
- Shred your carrots with a grater, or food processor and if you are using the greens, chop finely and add to the bowl.
- At this point weigh another large bowl and zero your scale to 0 grams. Now add the slaw and weigh, writing it down.
- Calculate the salt needed which will be 2-2.5% of your kraut weight. (Go for 2.5 if you like a saltier kraut) in our case our total cabbage mix is 1905 grams so we added 41.91 grams of salt. (1905 x 2.2% on calculator)
- Add salt and squeeze cut/shredded cabbage with hands, thoroughly mixing in salt until the juices are flowing and salt is well incorporated. Taste and decide at this point if the salt amount is just right, or too little. The kraut will have the same amount of salt when it is finished fermenting so now is the time to decide if you want a bit more to your taste.
- Now you can add you herbs. Chop all your fresh herbs finely, add then add the seeds. Mix in well with your hands.
- Set up your jars, making sure they are very clean.
- Add your fresh salted kraut to the first jar (you usually need more than one if you are using more than one cabbage), making sure to press it down in the jar firmly until kraut is near the top by a few inches, with juices flowing over the kraut. You can use pieces of the cabbage leaf you set aside before you put the weight on.
- Juices may overflow at this point, so wipe clean.
- After this step, if you have a “burper” put it over the weight, and firmly screw on lid. If you don’t have a burper, cover with a clean piece cheese cloth and screw on carefully. You cannot screw on a jar lid as it could cause your ferment to explode!
- Check in on ferments regularly every day or so and clean up any spills on the tray.
- Two weeks is a safe bet for fermentation, but you can go up to a month. Once bubbling/action is done, you can switch to a clean lid for storage.
Notes
- 3 medium cabbages + 2 lbs beets = approximately 2.5-3 litres of saurerkraut
- You can tailor this recipe by doing more or less cabbage and beets as salt, the other essential ingredient, is a ratio which you will have to calculate after you have chopped up your ingredients.
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