Pork
Pork & Sauerkraut
The old-country New Year's dish. Tangy, savory and dead simple.
In a lot of German, Polish and Pennsylvania Dutch households, pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day is not optional. The pork is supposed to bring progress — pigs root forward — and the sauerkraut is supposed to bring prosperity.
Superstition aside, it's a genuinely good dish and one of the easiest here. Pork, kraut, caraway, and time. The sourness mellows over eight hours until it tastes rounded rather than sharp.
One tip that changes everything for skeptical eaters: add a sliced apple. It takes the aggressive edge off the kraut without making it sweet.
Why you'll love it
Three ingredients plus the packet.
Pork, sauerkraut, water. That's the list.
The sourness mellows.
Eight hours turns sharp kraut into something rounded and savory.
Traditional and meaningful.
If your family does New Year's pork, this is it.
Works with sausage too.
Kielbasa on top of the roast makes it a fuller pot.
What's already in the packet
Caraway and bay are the traditional pairing for kraut. Pork base rounds out the sourness.
Choose your setting
LOW · 7–8 hours
Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.
HIGH · 4 hours
For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.
Done at 195–205°F
Shoulder needs the high number to pull apart.
You'll Need
- 3 lbs Pork (pick one below)
- 1 cup Water or chicken broth
- 1 packet Cook SLO Pork & Sauerkraut
- 32 oz Sauerkraut, drained
Pick your pork
3 lbs
Pork shoulder roast
3 lbs
Bone-in pork butt
2 lbs
Smoked sausage or kielbasa
Roasts and chops 145°F, ground pork and ham 160°F
Add vegetables
Sliced apple, diced onion (fresh or frozen), baby potatoes, sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) and parsnips at the start, on the bottom.
When to add what
| When | Add | Why |
|---|---|---|
| At the start, on the bottom | Sliced appleDiced onion (fresh or frozen)Baby potatoesSliced carrots (fresh or frozen)Parsnips | Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate. |
What each one does to the dish
Sliced apple
Sweetness against salt and vinegar. The classic partner for pork.
Diced onion (fresh or frozen)
Melts into the sauce and sweetens it. Worth adding even if you do not like onions, because they vanish.
Baby potatoes
Makes it a one-pot meal. Potatoes drink up the sauce and stretch the pot by two servings.
Sliced carrots (fresh or frozen)
Sweetness and colour. Cut thick or they disappear over a long cook.
Parsnips
Sweeter and more peppery than carrot. Worth swapping in for half the carrots.
All optional. The recipe works with none of them.
Two ways to do this
If you're home
Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.
If you're out all day
Put in at the start as normal: sliced apple, diced onion (fresh or frozen), baby potatoes, sliced carrots (fresh or frozen) and parsnips. These need the full cook anyway.
Nothing needs adding later. Set it in the morning and leave.
Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.
Pasta and noodles
**Cooked separately.** Over buttered egg noodles, which is traditional in Pennsylvania Dutch kitchens. **Do not add dry pasta to the pot for this recipe.** The sauce is cream and cheese based. Pasta cooked in it releases starch that turns the sauce gluey and grainy. Boil it separately and combine at the end.
Tonight's Plan
- 1
Put the sliced apple and onion in the bottom.
One apple takes the sharp edge off the kraut. It is the single best addition to this dish and most recipes leave it out.
- 2
Add the pork, then the sauerkraut over the top with its liquid.
Kraut on top, not underneath. It steams down onto the meat and seasons it as it goes.
- 3
Sprinkle the packet over and put the lid on.
Seven to eight hours on LOW. Do not add salt — the kraut brings plenty.
Vegetables
Pull the pork apart with two forks right in the pot.
It should come apart easily.
Stir it through the sauerkraut and serve.
The meat and kraut should be mixed, not layered.
Stirring
Stir once at the halfway point and turn the pieces over
There is very little liquid here and a lot of sugar, so the bottom catches. Turning the meat also brings glaze back up onto the top, where it belongs.
Swaps and add-ins
Add a sliced apple.
At the start. Takes the edge off and makes it far more approachable.
Add smoked sausage.
A pound of kielbasa on top of the roast. Traditional and excellent.
Add potatoes.
Quartered, at the start. Makes it a complete one-pot meal.
Add brown sugar.
Two tablespoons if your kraut is very sharp. Balances rather than sweetens.
Tips for success
- Drain the kraut, don't rinse it. Rinsing washes away the tang, which is the entire point of the dish.
- An apple makes it kid-friendly. This is the tip that converts people who think they don't like sauerkraut.
- Bone-in pork makes better juices. More collagen and more flavor from the bone.
- Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.
Finish it right
Grainy mustard on the side.
Traditional, and the sharpness works with the kraut rather than against it.
Fresh cracked pepper.
This dish is savory and sour. Fresh pepper adds a third note.
Fresh parsley.
A brown and beige dish. Green helps.
Serve it over
Tomorrow night
Reuben-style sandwiches.
On rye with Swiss and Russian dressing, grilled.
Pork and kraut soup.
Add broth and potatoes, simmer 20 minutes.
Kraut and pork pierogies.
As a filling, or just served alongside store-bought ones.
Breakfast hash.
Fried with potatoes until crisp, egg on top.
Keeping it
Fridge
Airtight, up to 4 days. Genuinely better on day two.
Freezer
3 months. Sauerkraut freezes very well.
Reheating
Stove or microwave. Add a splash of water if it looks dry.
Questions people ask
Recipe card
Pork & Sauerkraut
You'll Need
- 3 lbs Pork (pick one below)
- 1 cup Water or chicken broth
- 1 packet Cook SLO Pork & Sauerkraut
- 32 oz Sauerkraut, drained
Tonight's Plan
- Put the sliced apple and onion in the bottom.
- Add the pork, then the sauerkraut over the top with its liquid.
- Sprinkle the packet over and put the lid on.
No major allergens declared.
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