Ruby red kraut has sass. It’s like the sexier, sleeker, red lipstick-wearing sister of sauerkraut. And Ms. Ruby packs a healthful punch into one little jar.
The secret is in the red cabbage: The compounds that give the vegetable its distinctive dark color, anthocyanins, also act as antioxidants and are believed to have analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.
(Pigment-rich and anthocyanin-filled vegetables and fruits like black carrots, purple beans, blueberries, and Concord grapes have these same health benefits… as in most things “green,” the darker it is, the better it is for you.)
Combine all that antioxidant power with the immunity boost of lacto-fermentation, and you could live forever on red cabbage sauerkraut. (Okay, maybe not, but keep reading…)
Why is red cabbage sauerkraut so good for you, anyway?
Sauerkraut is one of the most common examples of lacto-fermentation, a process of preserving cabbage with lactic acid bacteria (also known as the “good bacteria”).
Lactic acid bacteria is already present in the air and on the vegetable; under the right conditions, it will flourish and create an acidic environment that’s unsuitable for bad bacteria.
When this happens, the resulting ferment is full of highly beneficial Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Pediococcus bacteria that work to improve your gut flora and balance your digestive system.
Why is gut flora so important?
At any given time, about 100 trillion (!) teeny tiny creatures (a network of microorganisms also known as your gut bacteria, gut flora, microflora, microbiota, or microbiome) live in your intestines and work diligently to absorb, digest, and synthesize all the enzymes, vitamins, and minerals in the food you eat.
To put it in perspective, we have 100 trillion of these little guys in our intestines alone, while the entire body comprises just 10 to 50 trillion human cells.
So in a way, we are more them than they are us… make sense?
This is why the mantra “You are what you eat” is 100 percent true and so very important to our health, if not the foundation of our whole health and well-being.
The gastrointestinal tract makes up a large part of our immune system—up to 80 percent!
There’s a whole bunch of metabolic processes that occur in our digestive tracts on a daily basis, and most of us take it for granted.
Our gut flora work overtime to keep us healthy and strong, so long as we provide them with the appropriate energy and nutrient sources. Quite simply, our bodies are built around our digestive systems.
Once in a while, the gut flora gets a little wonky and that’s why we get sick. What’s happening—in a nutshell—is the good bacteria isn’t able to fight off the bad bacteria that enters our system.
Enter lacto-fermentation.
Lacto-fermented foods (like sauerkraut) are high-acid foods full of probiotics that battle bad bacteria in our guts.
Probiotics (such as Lactobacilli and other beneficial bacteria and yeasts) supplement the existing good bacteria and, in effect, overwhelm the bad bacteria by lowering the pH of your digestive tract and creating an unfriendly environment for the bad guys.
Best of all, lacto-fermentation is easy when you’re only making small batches. You can ferment any of your favorite fruits or vegetables, with the most common being cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes… the sky’s the limit.
But today we’re doing red cabbage, because I grew a beautiful crop of Mammoth Red Rock cabbage this spring and I finally harvested the heads a couple weeks ago!
(As an aside, growing red cabbage in your garden can help you ballpark the pH value of your soil without a soil tester. Because of the anthocyanins, red cabbage tends to develop deep red leaves in acidic soil, dull purple leaves in neutral soil, and greenish-yellow leaves in alkaline soil.)
What to know before you make this recipe
My red cabbage sauerkraut is rather simple—just cabbage, carrots, and a handful of spices—but you can add anything else from the garden.
Apples, onions, and ginger are classic additions, and you’ll want to use the highest quality foods you can find (think farmers’ market, organic, or homegrown) for the most benefit.
You can do up the spices differently too—try juniper berries and caraway seeds for traditional flavor, or even cumin, coriander, or fennel seeds for added depth.
However you mix it up, try to keep a ratio of 5 pounds of vegetables to 3 tablespoons of pickling salt.
(Too much salt, and your kraut may take a long time to ferment—though this might be useful for people who live in the tropics and need to slow down fermentation.)
You can also use unrefined sea salt or kosher salt in place of the pickling salt; just none of that iodized stuff, which interferes with the bacteria.
Ruby Red Sauerkraut
Makes 4 quarts
Ingredients
For the Vegetables
4 pounds red cabbage
1 pound carrots
3 tablespoons pickling salt
For the Spices
2 teaspoons celery seeds, divided
2 teaspoons dill seeds, divided
2 teaspoons black peppercorns, divided
2 bay leaves
For the Brine (Optional)
4 cups water
2 tablespoons pickling salt
How to make red cabbage sauerkraut
Shred, slice, or grate your cabbage using a food processor, knife, or grater… whatever works for you.
I cut my cabbage in half lengthwise, remove the cores first, then slice the cores to add to the kraut. Then I thinly slice the rest of the cabbage by hand for a cole-slaw-like consistency.
If you harvested the outer leaves from your cabbage crop (the huge ones that look like elephant ears), you can shred some of those up too.
Remove the tough stems, then slice thinly as the outer leaves tend to be thicker (but are just as delicious and even more nutritious than the head).
Do the same for the carrots. I take a julienne peeler to mine to get those skinny slivers.
Now, you should know that 5 pounds is a lot of veggies… at first. I put all of my slices and slivers into a huge soup pot because even my biggest mixing bowl wasn’t big enough to hold everything.
Once you’ve broken down all the cabbage and carrots, add the pickling salt and toss to combine. At this time I let the veggies sit while I do some clean-up in the kitchen. The salt will start to draw out moisture and make your cabbage nice and limp.
About 20, 30 or however many minutes later, go back to your pot and knead those veggies into submission with your hands. Be sure to press down on them to expel as much water as possible.
By the time you’re done, the volume of veggies should be reduced to at least half. You’ll see some water pooling at the bottom of the pot; this is good!
This recipe makes two jars of celery and dill-spiced kraut, and two jars of peppercorn and bay-spiced kraut. Divide your spices equally among the jars.
I like to fill my jar in layers: half a teaspoon of spices, some cabbage and carrot mix, another half a teaspoon of spices, more cabbage and carrot mix, and so on.
While you do this, tamp the layers down with the back of a spoon to squeeze more liquid out of the vegetables.
Pour any remaining liquid from the mixing pot into your jars. Leave at least an inch or two of headspace after filling, since the kraut will continue to expand and release liquid while it’s fermenting.
Run a chopstick or the end of a long spoon around the perimeter of the jar to release any trapped air pockets. It’s important that all the veggies are completely covered in liquid.
To keep the kraut fully submerged during fermentation, I like to fill a zip-top bag with some water and place that right on top of the vegetables, filling all the empty space in the jar. The water acts as a weight to push them down into the brine.
Or, you can use an empty half-pint jar or fermentation weight to weigh down the vegetables.
Loosely seal your jars with lids and store them at room temperature out of direct sunlight.
The kraut may “bubble over” as it ferments, so it’s a good idea to place the jars in a shallow baking dish to catch any overflowing liquid.
If the veggies haven’t released enough liquid by the second day to stay submerged, you’ll want to top them off with brine.
Bring water and salt to a boil, stir until the salt is completely dissolved, then let cool and add to the veggies. Don’t forget to leave an inch or two of headspace in the jars.
Push down on the veggies, add the baggie liners with some weight, and reseal with lids.
You will see bubbling over the next few days; those bubbles are the off-gassing of carbon dioxide from lactic acid bacteria at work.
Once a day or every other day, loosen the lids to let the fermentation gases escape.
Pay attention to any stray cabbage or carrot pieces that may have worked their way in between the rim and baggie; you’ll want to push them back into the brine so they don’t become moldy.
As the lactic acid bacteria proliferate, your cabbage will turn into sauerkraut—or “sour cabbage” in German. The sourness comes from all the lactic acid created during lacto-fermentation.
Theoretically, your kraut is “alive” with probiotics by day four and can be eaten, but for the best flavor, you’ll want to wait anywhere from one to three weeks, depending on how warm or cool it is in your house.
Warmer temperatures speed up fermentation, while cooler temps slow the process.
Check your jars each day to ensure the veggies are still submerged in liquid, and resist the temptation to fiddle with your ferment too frequently; oxygen is the enemy and will produce mold on the surface.
You can begin to taste your kraut after a few days until it has soured enough to your liking.
For me, the right amount of time to perfect sauerkraut was exactly 12 days. (The temperature in my house hovers between 68°F and 70°F.)
Once the kraut has achieved a nice flavor, remove the baggies, reseal with lids, and keep the kraut in your fridge to prevent over-fermentation.
Your kraut should smell pleasantly sour and salty—like pickles. If it smells rotten or yeasty, chuck it and start over.
Fermented foods don’t necessarily go “bad” if properly sealed and submerged in liquid, but they will eventually reach a point of becoming too sour to be edible. Refrigeration slows down fermentation so you can enjoy your kraut at its peak flavor!
Ruby Red Sauerkraut
With a flavor and texture that's just as tangy and crisp as fermented green cabbage, ruby red kraut is packed with antioxidants as well as all the good stuff for your gut.
Ingredients
For the Vegetables
- 4 pounds red cabbage
- 1 pound carrots
- 3 tablespoons pickling salt
For the Spices
- 2 teaspoons celery seeds, divided
- 2 teaspoons dill seeds, divided
- 2 teaspoons black peppercorns, divided
- 2 bay leaves
For the Brine (Optional)
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons pickling salt
Instructions
- Shred, slice or grate your cabbage using a food processor, knife, or grater… whatever works for you.
- If you harvested the outer leaves from your cabbage crop (the huge ones that look like elephant ears), you can shred some of those up too. Remove the tough stems, then slice thinly as the outer leaves tend to be thicker (but are just as delicious and even more nutritious than the head).
- Do the same for the carrots. I take a julienne peeler to mine to get those skinny slivers.
- Once you’ve broken down all the cabbage and carrots, add the pickling salt and toss to combine.
- At this time I let the veggies sit while I do some clean-up in the kitchen. The salt will start to draw out moisture and make your cabbage nice and limp.
- About 20, 30 or however many minutes later, go back to your pot and knead those veggies into submission with your hans.
- Be sure to press down on them to expel as much water as possible. By the time you’re done, the volume of veggies should be reduced to at least half. You’ll see some water pooling at the bottom of the pot; this is good!
- This recipe makes two jars of celery and dill-spiced kraut, and two jars of peppercorn and bay-spiced kraut. Divide your spices equally among the jars.
- I like to fill my jar in layers: half a teaspoon of spices, some cabbage and carrot mix, another half a teaspoon of spices, more cabbage and carrot mix, and so on. While you do this, tamp the layers down with the back of a spoon to squeeze more liquid out of the vegetables.
- Pour any remaining liquid from the mixing pot into your jars. Leave at least an inch or two of headspace after filling, since the kraut will continue to expand and release liquid while it’s fermenting.
- Run a chopstick or the end of a long spoon around the perimeter of the jar to release any trapped air pockets. It’s important that all the veggies are completely covered in liquid.
- Loosely seal your jars with lids and store them at room temperature out of direct sunlight. The kraut may “bubble over” as it ferments, so it’s a good idea to place the jars in a shallow baking dish to catch any overflowing liquid.
- If the veggies haven’t released enough liquid by the second day to stay submerged, you’ll want to top them off with brine. Bring water and salt to a boil, stir until the salt is completely dissolved, then let cool and add to the veggies. Don’t forget to leave an inch or two of headspace in the jars. Push down on the veggies, add the baggie liners with some weight, and reseal with lids.
- You will see bubbling over the next few days; those bubbles are the off-gassing of carbon dioxide from lactic acid bacteria at work. Once a day or every other day, loosen the lids to let the fermentation gases escape.
- Check your jars each day to ensure the veggies are still submerged in liquid, and resist the temptation to fiddle with your ferment too frequently; oxygen is the enemy and will produce mold on the surface. You can begin to taste your kraut after a few days until it has soured enough to your liking.
Notes
To keep the kraut fully submerged during fermentation, I like to fill a zip-top bag with some water and place that right on top of the vegetables, filling all the empty space in the jar. The water acts as a weight to push them down into the brine.
Or, you can use an empty half-pint jar or fermentation weight to weigh down the vegetables.
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View the Web Story for red sauerkraut recipe.
Just made this with peppercorns and bay leaf on June 2, waiting now, it smells fresh and sour already, lots of fuchsia water pooling, and will put it back in today! Thanks for the easy instructions!
You should probably stop putting that plastic bag in your jars. I mean, unless you enjoy eating toxic plastic compounds.
Get some fido jars and it won’t matter if everything is submerged. The seal acts as an airlock, and the jars fill with CO2, pushing all of the oxygen out.
Well, we are not actually eating the plastic bag in this case, so I highly doubt the week or two of using the bag as a surface weight will kill us off. Good for you for not buying anything packaged in plastic, though.
Are you retarded or something? He doesn’t mean you’re literally eating the bag. He means the plastic chemicals leech into your kraut. Somehow I doubt acidic environment + plastic = plastic-free kraut..
It’s called sarcasm. But thank you for the explanation. I still stand by my original reply to this commenter.
Kempsley’s name-calling was rude, and detracted from the important point. I agree with you that a week or two isn’t gonna kill you. On the other hand, if the risk is easily avoidable, I’m inclined to avoid it. The acids in the ferment will cause the baggies to leach more compounds into the goodies than would happen in a more Ph-neutral environment.
Have you tried using one of those outer leaves as a dome? Cut a couple of slits in the top to allow bubbles to escape, and weigh it down with an old jelly jar filled with rocks. I have a friend who swears by it. I’m going to give it a shot myself.
Yes, sometimes I’ll place a cabbage leaf on top of the vegetables and tuck the ends under. No need for slits; air can still permeate the leaf. If you can find a smaller jar that fits perfectly inside the ferment jar, that also works well as a weight. But since I like to see what’s going on each day, I still prefer the baggie method, which gives me a clear view all around. Use what works best for you.
Okay, good. I didn’t read any post with this information so thank you for your reply.
What about the tightness of the lids? I heard that you shouldn’t tighten them so as to allow for gassing however you didn’t mention anything about the lids. I worry that if they’re not tightened, oxygen is getting in….. no?
I do mention in the post above to loosen the lids to let the fermentation gases escape. Or you can keep the jars loosely sealed the whole time (just a few turns to keep them on, but not airtight).
I want to try this but is there any thing else I can use to cover it? I hate plastic, a lot! And could tell me about pickling salt? Is it like table salt? Can you use Himalayan sea salt? I just stumbled on to your site when looking for info on carrot tops. Thanks!
You can use cheesecloth or muslin. Pickling salt is also called canning salt or preserving salt at the store (mine is made by Morton). It’s a pure salt with no anti-caking agents or additives, and has a small, uniform crystal that dissolves easily. You can also use kosher salt or sea salt in its place.
I love pickled veggies, especially Asian ones, but need to start making my own because most of the store-bought kind from the Asian markets all have sulfites added as a preservative and I’m allergic. I’ll be visiting your site a lot to get started! Thank you for sharing your detailed recipes and instructions but I am confused about one thing: when you knead the veggies and get that water pooling at the bottom of the pot/bowl, do you add that water to the jars also or discard it? Thanks!
Yes, add that pooled water to the jars!
Yes, this confused me as well as it’s missing from the directions. The pictures show the cabbage being added to the jars without liquid, and then in the next picture there’s a chopstick stirring the jars with a purple liquid that looks much different from the grey pooled water.
Great recipe though as others don’t include spicing directions. Thank you, I will be making this!
The pooled water at the bottom of the mixing bowl only looks that color because of the bowl itself. It’s actually a purplish-blue liquid, which is more apparent in a glass jar.
I just found your blog … It’s awesome !! Thanks !!
I do a lot of fermentation and love love love they way you explained it, I’m going to send my friends to your site!
Thank you!
Hi Garden Betty. Great post. I’m tempted to give this homemade sauerkraut novelty a go. Although I’m sure to make a mess of it all. What size jars did you use in this article?
I used quart jars (32 oz).
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Don’t cook it; ferment it! Homemade health in a jar: Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/mvWbNRHdtJ #recipe
It really looks Amazing. I’ve never been one to grow purple cabbage but they do sound super nutritious and look lovely in your kraut.
Oddly, I’ve never grown green cabbage… I guess I’m always attracted to anything purple (carrots, beans, etc.) so this cabbage was a natural choice for my garden! It really is lovely to look at, not to mention delicious.
The what, why and how of lacto-fermentation at home: Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/YAJ6usdHGa #recipe
Great post Garden Betty. I’ve made kraut before but never used the water bag as a weight– can’t wait to try your method and your recipes. Don’t forget sauerkraut is also delicious on toast with avocado– my personal favorite.
Thank you for this! I tried to make kraut last year but couldn’t get it weighted down in the mason jars and it went moldy. I even googled around for a solution a few days ago that didn’t involve finding another jar small enough to fit in the mouth of the mason jar. And here it is! A baggie filled with water. And in response to Beth’s question, I eat kraut with nearly everything. It is REALLY, really good in soup. Fills the whole bowl with tanginess.
Good luck with your next batch! (And I love kraut in soup too!)
Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) | Garden Betty http://t.co/W9P38WBz5E
Red cabbage and carrots pack a lot of punch in a jar. Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/T6cYXiMMor #ferment #recipe
Make your own probiotics at home: Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/aumY1asxrd #fermentation #recipe
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Hmm tough call! Although are you willing to wait a whole year before you can harvest a head of red cabbage? 😉
I actually don’t like milk so I’ve never tried kefir.
Probiotics in a jar. And it’s delicious too! Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/OUyTltL0Np #preserving #recipe
Hey Garden Betty,
What do you like to eat sauerkraut with?
Mashed potatoes, sausage, and sauerkraut is my favorite combo (layered in that order), but I also like sauerkraut on a sandwich (all types of sandwiches, not just a Reuben), hot dog or burger, as a side to pulled pork or chicken or any kind of roast, and even as a small salad (with Russian dressing… kind of like a deconstructed Reuben).
RT @BG_garden: Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You):
Ruby kraut has sass. It’s like the sexier, sleeker, red lipstick-w… http://t.c…
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Ferment your way to better health: Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/Rf0hGx7sJQ #fermentation #preserving #recipe
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Garden Betty, do you use kefir in your diet?
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Yet another incredible post! I keep debating whether to wait and grow red cabbage myself or to run out and go buy some now!
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Excellent article and gorgeous slaw! We discovered kimchi on our Hawaiian honeymoon at a great Korean restaurant and LOVED it. I’ve bought it in supermarkets over the 30 years :), but it can be pricey. A couple years ago I fell hard for Sandor Katz’ Wild Fermentation book and did much Internet research and this past year, made my own kimchi, and it is FABULOUS and easy. I use red cabbage too and get the gorgeous pink juice. Our local Asian market gets fresh veg on Thursdays and I pick up very cool teeny bok choy-looking guys in big bags, myriad greens and have the best time adding new types to my brew each time. Thanks too for your great discussion of the health benefits of lactofermentation. I am LOVING your posts. Thanks so much!
Thank YOU! I’m happy you’re enjoying all the posts!
I also make red cabbage kimchi (in fact, a recipe will be posted in a few weeks) and will usually add some other Asian greens to it as well. You can’t go wrong with all those amazing spices!
I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You):
Ruby kraut has sass. It’s like the sexier, sleeker, red lipstick-w… http://t.co/Y2hvU3NaBV
Blogged on Garden Betty: Ruby Kraut (and Why It’s So Good For You) http://t.co/Pi4EK4dVY6