Shortcut Choucroute Recipe (2024)

Delicious and perfect for a cold winter's night. I tweaked the recipe as follows, making it slightly more like the classic Alsatian dish: chop a few slices of bacon and saute in a cast iron Dutch oven. While bacon is rendering its fat, quarter and slice onion. Add onions to pot. While onions are cooking, slice the cabbage, then add that to the pot. Stir a few minutes until cabbage wilts. Proceed with recipe. This doesn't really take any more time or effort.

Very good, better than expected considering the easy directions. However, the pork shoulder took a bit more than the entire 3 hours to become fork-tender.

I used country style pork ribs. Worked perfectly.

Soak kraut in several water baths for 5 - 10 minutes each soaking.

used bone in pork chops instead of shoulder for similar results

Terrific. Took 3 hours roasting to cook pork shoulder. Added ham hocks and used apple cider as braising liquid. Added grated apples to sauerkraut. During last hour added turnips and parsnips. Served with mashed potatoes. Really great.

This is a great dish to make when you are busy or need to take the chill out of your house when it isn't cold enough to turn heat on. Prep is less than 10 minutes and it is delicious.

Large, meaty smoked ham hocks, smoked pork shoulder, ham steak, pigs' feet, frankfurters, kielbasa, or pork chops -- but add half an hour before serving and brown the pork chops first if desired. Or duck legs.

My family has made a similar dish for New Years for years, using gin in place of other liquid adds a layer of piquancy. We add all manner of pork meats and carrots, and serve with heaps of mashed potatoes. Serves a crowd and satisfies.

Brillant dish, as easy as Bittman suggets (except for the waiting!). I followed it pretty closely, though substituted stewing pork for the pork shoulder, and having to change the proportions for one.

I think it would have been better if I had rinsed the sauerkraut more, but it was so easy ans great for a cold night.

Don’t soak the sauerkraut as suggested. You’ll lose all the flavor. At most, do a very quick rince. I’d also add the fully cooked sausages only 45 mins before the end. Can use beer instead of wine as well. And some garlic.

I didn’t follow this as exactly written, however I used the instructions as a guideline. I really loved it, especially the addition of cabbage instead of solely kraut. I was originally intending to make a different recipe, so I subbed smoked chops for the pork shoulder, and added apples and carrots. Definitely will make again. Also, in addition to mustard, I always serve with horseradish and it’s delicious.

Maybe I shouldn't comment, because I did make a bunch of adaptations, but I had a good result, and a couple of things might be useful to others: I substituted kimchi (which I had) for sauerkraut (which I didn't); gave it a little zing and did not interfere with the flavor profile otherwise. Used red cabbage and 1 lb pork country style ribs, added a sliced apple, and cooked in a slow cooker for about 4 hours. (The three cups of liquid was a little too much for that method.)

The pork shoulder took 4 hrs. to soften and did not become fork-tender.

My family has made a similar dish for New Years for years, using gin in place of other liquid adds a layer of piquancy. We add all manner of pork meats and carrots, and serve with heaps of mashed potatoes. Serves a crowd and satisfies.

This was remarkably good! I followed the advice of a few other commenters: chopped 3 slices of thick-cut bacon and cooked that down, sliced the onions, and added them to the bacon fat to cook down, added the cabbage on top of that, and let it quickly wilt down before proceeding with the recipe. As James notes, it hardly adds any extra time and is totally worth it. I happened to have a 3.5lb butt roast on-hand, but I can imagine any combination of pork cuts would be welcome in this dish. Delish!

The recipe calls for a 1-lb pork shoulder roast, which you would have to get a butcher to cut to get that small. I buy a standard roast, which is usually 3-4x that and so requires additional roasting. Easy Sunday dinner with lots of leftovers.

Really good recipe, comes together quickly but needs another hour in the oven to get the shoulder fork-tender. If you use beer, be careful not to use a bitter brew.

I used country style pork ribs. Worked perfectly.

Made this for my husband and his parents, who are German. Used a 4 pound shoulder, 2 bags drained sauerkraut, and 4 large apples (their traditional way), omitted the sausage. Kept everything else the same. It took 4.5 hours to cook in a covered dutch oven. A bottle of wine is the perfect amount of liquid for this size roast. Fantastic.

Stunning recipe. Have made it twice and everyone loves it. Easy and so satisfying on a wintry day. A keeper!

Render some bacon, sauté onions, proceed from there. Bone-in pork chops are an alternative.

I think my pan was to big and there was too much liquid. The meat took way longer the expected and the surrounding mixture was soupy. It tasted great but I think will use a deeper smaller pan with a tight lid. My sausage seemed very soft so I will try a different brand. I think it is worth trying again.

Great recipe. Add some of the sauerkraut juice to give it some zest and life. Without it's a bit bland.