How to Make Homemade Sauerkraut by the Jar

If you’re looking to make a big batch of homemade sauerkraut by the crock, you can check out my recipe from a few years back. If, however, you want to make a small batch of it just by one quart jar, this is the way to do it.

If you’ve been following my blog for a few years then you know how much I enjoy fermenting. If you’re interested, I show you how to make fermented half sour dill pickles on my post here and one of my versions of homemade kimchi by the crock here. Yogurt is also pretty easy to make at home without any special yogurt machine and I tell you how to do it here.

There are a number of things that can affect the fermenting process, including room temperature, humidity, and freshness of the vegetables. In my experience, ideally you want the room temperature for fermenting vegetables to be between 65-70 degrees. It’s fine if the room is a little warmer or cooler, just realize that fermentation will happen faster at higher temps and slower at lower temps. Very dry air can make the fermenting brine evaporate faster and fresher vegetables release more liquid which, in my experience, helps keep your brine level at an optimum level.

The beauty of homemade sauerkraut is that you only need 2 things to make it: cabbage and salt. You can add all kinds of other things, such as garlic, sliced onions, and spices such as caraway seed which is what I use here. These are all optional though because really, you just need cabbage and salt and nothing else.

As a final note before we get started with the recipe, make sure that everything, including your hands, are very clean.

How to Make Homemade Sauerkraut by the Quart Jar

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a large head of clean cabbage, core removed (this is approximate and will depend on the size of the head)
• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)

Directions

• Slice the cabbage into thin strips and place in a large bowl.
• Sprinkle sliced cabbage with salt.
• Massage the cabbage, really tossing it around and squeezing it, for about 8-10 minutes to release some of the juice from the cabbage – this will ensure you have plenty of fermenting brine/liquid and kickstart the process of breaking down the cabbage during the fermentation period.
• Sprinkle in the caraway seeds and massage for 1 minute more.
• Spoon the cabbage mixture into a quart jar, using the back of the spoon to pack it down well after each spoonful.
• Pack the to the top, leaving the lid/lip area free. Be sure to really pack the cabbage in so that the liquid rises to cover it.
• Now, you need to ensure that the cabbage stays immersed in its liquid during the fermentation period and there are a couple of easy ways to do this:
  • You can use a fermentation weight such as the one shown in the picture below
  • You can fill a thin jelly jar or other type of jar full of water, seal it well, and use that as a weight; it just needs to be thin enough to fit inside the top of the quart jar
• Cover the top of the jar with a piece of muslin or a towel and set it where the jar won’t be in the line of direct sunlight

Here’s the weight that I mentioned and this is what your cabbage will look like on day 1; bright green and fresh:

• I prefer to check mine every day for the first few days, to ensure the liquid is releasing and there’s plenty of it to cover the cabbage and from there I check it every 2 days or so. Each time it’s checked, use a clean spoon or fork to press the cabage down and help it continue to release its juice.
• By day 4 or 5, you should start seeing a little bit of foam happening on top, which is a great sign that your ferment is going strong. There’s no need to remove this.
• I also like to start tasting mine about 1 week in, just to determine how its crunchiness is progressing.
• Immediately below is what it looks like at the 1 week mark; you can see that the cabbage is losing its bright color and it should smell a little sour at this stage. In the second photo below, you can see there are still small bubbles happening in the brine.
• Overall, I prefer my small batch sauerkraut to be done right at the two week mark, sometimes a day or two longer. You’ll have to determine how long you prefer by continuing to taste test it as it ferments.

Here is the final product after fermenting for 2 weeks. You can see how the level of the mixture has reduced as the cabbage broke down and fermented.

That’s it! That’s how easy it is to make homemade sauerkraut in a quart jar! So easy and so good for you, too. We enjoy this as a side to good German sausage and a shot of the juice is a good way to help keep your gut healthy.

If you have any questions on this process, please drop me a line in the comments section. Enjoy!