Creamy Sauerkraut Soup is an intriguing tangy hearty soup. With potatoes and smoky sausage your family will love this recipe. A nod to traditional polish kapusniak (sauerkraut soup) this is a creamy version thats satisfyingly rich in texture, filling, with a tangy bright flavor.
Hearty creamy soups are a welcome treat during the colder months. Some of our favorites are Cheddar Cheese Soup with Chicken and Poblanos, Creamy Wild Rice Soup with Chicken, and this Award Winning White Bean Chicken Chili. Check ’em out.
Creamy sauerkraut soup with sausage and potatoes. A jar of sauerkraut in the pantry, a few potatoes on the counter and some sour cream in the fridge turned into a creamy comforting soup for dinner.
I found this recipe while turning the pages to find the Blueberry Stuffed French Toast recipe in my Colorado Collage Cookbook.
Sauerkraut in soup sounded so interesting, and with most of the ingredients on hand, I had to give it a try. It was a very pleasant surprise.
Why You’re Going To Love This Recipe
- Using the starchy potato water as the broth base for this soup, makes this an even creamier, richer end result.
- A combination of potatoes and sauerkraut gives this soup a lovely kraut flavor without being too tart.
- Easy and hearty it’s wonderful for a weeknight meal.
Creamy from the sour cream and the starchy potato broth, tart with sauerkraut and smoky with the sausage, we loved this hearty soup and I’ll add it my database and make it again.
Let’s take a look.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Sausage: Purchase pre-cooked links of your favorite smoked sausage. Bratwurst is a natural choice, Kielbasa works good and I’ve even used Andouille for a spicier soup.
- Potatoes: Peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces.
- Sauerkraut: Choose your favorite brand. One small can is enough for this soup.
- Onions: Sweet or yellow onion, chopped.
- Sour Cream: Full fat sour cream makes this sauerkraut soup super luxurious.
- Spices: Garlic, caraway seed and dill.
Subs and Swaps
- Sauerkraut: If you purchase Bavarian style sauerkraut, it will already contain caraway seeds. You may want to skip adding additional caraway seeds. Or perhaps half of what is called for in this recipe.
- Sausage: If you’re choosing uncooked sausage, brown the sausage well before adding to this soup recipe.
- Sour Cream: We like full fat for this recipe, however, reduced fat sour cream will work fine. It will just produce a thinner end result.
How To Make It – It’s Easy
- Step 1: In stockpot or Dutch oven, combine water, potatoes and salt. Heat to boiling. Cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes.
- Step 2: While potatoes are cooking. Heat a medium fry pan over medium high heat. Add neutral oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion. Lower heat to medium and cook onions, stirring often, for about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Step 3: Make that sauerkraut soup creamy. Using a one-cup measuring cup, fish out one cup of the starchy potato water.
- Step 4: Add the sour cream to the water and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
- Step 5: Without draining the water from the potatoes, add sausage, sauerkraut, dill and caraway. Simmer for 5 – 10 minutes or until everything is heated through.
- Step 6: Just before serving, stir the sour cream mixture into the soup.
- Step 7: Heat thoroughly over low heat. Serve immediately.
FAQ’s, Sauerkraut Soup
Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes are a waxy potato and contain less starch. This means they’ll hold up with a better texture than a starchy russet potato. Save those russet potatoes for your next Baked Potato side dish.
Use your favorite brand, whether it be bagged, canned or even fresh. Most sauerkraut is kept in a salty liquid, some bagged sauerkraut can contain a lot of vinegar. Drain bagged sauerkraut if you feel the flavor is too strong,
Because this recipe contains sausage and potatoes, it’s a hearty meal on its own. All you need to finish the meal is some crusty bread or a fresh homemade green salad.
Tips For Success
- Don’t feel like you need to add salt to this recipe. The potatoes are cooked in salty water and canned sauerkraut and sausage can bring a very salty flavor. Taste at the end of cooking time before you make a decision to add more salt.
- Don’t use low fat sour cream to make this soup. This is not the time to skimp on fat calories. Plus a low-fat sour cream will tend to separate if the heat gets too high while cooking. For the ultimate creamy sauerkraut soup, use full fat.
- Purchase pre-cooked links of your favorite smoked sausage. Bratwurst is a natural choice, Kielbasa works good and I’ve even used Andouille for a spicier soup.
- If you purchase Bavarian style sauerkraut, it will already contain caraway seeds. You may want to skip adding additional caraway seeds. Or perhaps half of what is called for in this recipe.
Leftovers and Storage
- Like most soups, they always taste better the next day. Sauerkraut soup will keep in the refrigerator for up to three day in an airtight container. Reheat in the microwave or stove top.
- You can freeze this soup. Again, using an airtight container it will keep in the freezer for up to three months.
Recipe for Sauerkraut Soup With Sausage
Living in Colorado, I feel like it’s soup season more than it’s not. I consider soups and stews to be my specialty and I hope you give this Sauerkraut Soup a try. It’s a thick creamy bowl of German-style soup that is irresistible with flavor. Tart, salty and sausage savory.
And if you’ve never tried sauerkraut in soup, you’re in for a treat.
More Popular Soup Recipes
And if you’re looking for more soup recipes, don’t miss my Soup Category. You’ll find lots of great recipes including the most popular on my site for Taco Soup with Ranch Dressing.
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Creamy Sauerkraut Soup with Sausage and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 ½ cups water or chicken broth
- 4 cups potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ pound smoked sausage sliced ¼ inch thick
- 16 ounces sauerkraut 1 small can, undrained
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil such as canola
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced. About 1 cup
- ½ teaspoon garlic chopped
- 1 Teaspoon dried dill or 1 Tablespoon fresh dill
- ½ teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- In stockpot, combine water, potatoes and salt. Heat to boiling. Cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 15 minutes.
- While potatoes are cooking. Heat a medium fry pan over medium high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon neutral oil, such as canola. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion. Lower heat to medium and cook onions, stirring often, for about 7 min. Or until starting to soften. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. About 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Using a 1 cup measuring cup, fish out 1 cup of the starchy water. Add the sour cream to the water and whisk until smooth. Set aside
- Without draining the water from the potatoes, add sausage, sauerkraut, dill and caraway. Simmer for 5 – 10 minutes or until everything is heated through.
- Just before serving, stir the sour cream mixture into the soup.
- Heat thoroughly over low heat. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Purchase pre-cooked links of your favorite smoked sausage. Bratwurst is a natural choice, Kielbasa works good and I’ve even used Andouille for a spicier soup.
- If you purchase Bavarian style sauerkraut, it will already contain caraway seeds. You may want to skip adding additional caraway seeds. Or perhaps half of what is called for in this recipe.
Nutrition
Sauerkraut Soup with Sausage and Potatoes …It’s What’s for Dinner.
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
This wasn’t near as creamy as it looked in the picture, but was still good. I omitted the dill and seeds and instead added a little thyme and ground mustard. I also added some butter and heavy cream to make it creamier. Plus I boiled the potatoes in chicken broth.
Do you drain the potatoes once they’re cooked? Or just add everything into the potatoes and water?
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! We make our own sauerkraut canned from fresh cabbage and are always looking for innovative ways to incorporate it in to our weekly meals. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks 🙂
It was excellent! I was playing use all the leftovers and somehow wound up with 4 cans of sauerkraut. This was a much needed change from kraut and dogs. 🙂
great winter dish!
My hubby would love this… going to give it a try this winter and I’ll let you know how we like it!
Karen, please let me know, yay or nay. We really liked it.
Delightful! This is so thick and hearty, I bet it warms your bones from the inside out.
Thanks Chris.
My husband is the sauerkraut lover in our family and so is his brother. If I made this for them, I guarantee they would be very, very happy. And I love making people happy 🙂
Sam
Yay for sauerkraut lovers, if you make it please let me know how they like it.
Love this idea and I’m trying it today. I recently discovered sauerkraut in soup when I tried a recipe for Reuben soup. I loved the texture of it as well as the flavor (topped it with dark rye grilled cheese croutons – OMG)
If I were still blogging, I would have put it up.
Merry Christmas to you both!
Ok, I’m only going to say it once…. I wish you were still blogging. :/ Anyway, I’ve never had Reuben soup, but would love to try it after having this one. And yes, those dark rye grilled creese croutons = omg. Can you send me or direct me to the recipe?
I love sauerkraut, and this looks so creamy and delicious!! In fact, I might make it for dinner tonight 🙂
Thanks Jane, let me know how you like it.
I couldn’t get my husband to touch this because of the sauerkraut but I would absolutely love it! I’m not quite sure what is wrong with his taste buds 🙂
I had a friend tell me a couple of weeks ago that sauerkraut made him gag …. “whatever”. 🙂
There is a sauerkraut company that has a recipe contest every year and I am yet to enter for lack of inspiration. This post has me intrigued. It looks wonderful. I love all the flavors so I’m making this.
Now there’s a product that probably should have a recipe contest each year. I for one, don’t know of a lot of variation to use it.
Believe it or not I make this soup, good ol’ German heritage. I use Bavarian sauerkraut which has caraway seeds in it already. I’ve never put dill in mine but I’m roots sure with my German I’d love it. A good stick to yer ribs kind of soup.
Yay, finally someone who knows how good it is. We really really liked it.
What a grand & tasty glorious recipe! So much flavour packed in here! 🙂 MMMMMM!
You’ve described it very well. It was very good.
I’ve never bought or made sauerkraut but this looks like a great way to use it with the sausage and potatoes. What a great meal of comfort food!
It’s a really good soup Holly. Hope you give it a try.
I would have a tough time calling something with almost no liquid a soup, but no matter what you call it, I love it – looks and sounds delicious. Your pasole on the menu here for tonight.
It’s actually pretty brothy. It must all be down at the bottom. Deep bowls probably aren’t the best for photographing soups. Yay for posole. 🙂 One of my favorites.
That soup sounds delicious!
Thanks Nancy. We thought is was REAL good. And we were surprised.
It sounds soooooo good ! A very comfort dish for tonight !
Axelle, I always love hearing from you. We most certainly thought this was tasty.
This looks wonderful. I never would have thought about making a soup out of sauerkraut and potatoes.
Stephanie, thanks so much for stopping by and the comment. I sure didn’t ever think to put sauerkraut in soup. I think that’s why it caught my eye. Had to try it.