Pork and sauerkraut is a New Year's tradition in my wife's family. She remembers the tradition fondly. Or at least, she does now. When she was growing up, she wasn't a big fan. (Sauerkraut? Eeew!) Her grandma would always hound the kids to eat at least one strand of sauerkraut, "because it brings good luck in the new year". Needless to say, the grandkids weren't convinced.
I grew up loving sauerkraut; I have fond memories of hot dog carts in downtown Cleveland, dogs loaded with everything, where the highlight was the sauerkraut. My love of these hot dogs was a turn-off to Diane when we were dating; she couldn't believe I loved those "smelly dogs" so much. I was thrilled with her family's New Year's sauerkraut tradition. I had to work on Diane, thought; she ate her sauerkraut out of obligation, not because she wanted to. Eventually I was able to find some sauerkraut recipes that she didn't hate. In fact...she kind of likes this one.
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Jackie, Diane's sister, is hosting our New Year's Eve celebration this year. (Thank you, Jackie!) She asked me for a slow cooker pork and sauerkraut recipe, so I sprang into action in my test kitchen.4 I loved the result; the key to this meal is the sauerkraut, flavored with bacon, spices, apples, and wine.
Want to guarantee good luck in the new year? Have some pork and sauerkraut! You can only have one strand if you have to. But I'll bet, once you taste it, that you'll have more than that.
Recipe: Slow Cooker Pork and Sauerkraut
Equipment
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brand is fine, but I like my fancy one from 
Slow Cooker Pork and Sauerkraut
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Slow Cooker Pork and Sauerkraut recipe, perfect for a relaxed New Year's Day.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces bacon, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- 2 pounds sauerkraut, drained and rinsed (I prefer bagged sauerkraut)
- 1 pound new potatoes, scrubbed
- 2 apples, cored and diced
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon coriander seed
- ½ teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 pounds pork western ribs or pork country ribs
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups Riesling or other dry white wine
Instructions
- Brown the bacon: Put the bacon in a cold fry pan and turn the heat to medium. Cook, rendering the bacon fat and turning occasionally, until the bacon is browned and crispy, about ten minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon. Leave 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pan and discard the rest.
- Prep and layer ingredients in the crock pot: While the bacon is browning: Drain and rinse the sauerkraut, and place in the bottom of the slow cooker crock in an even layer. Scrub the new potatoes and put them in a ring against the outside edge of the crock. Core and dice the apples, and put them in the middle of the potatoes. Sprinkle the brown sugar, thyme, coriander seeds, peppercorns, and bay leaves into the crock. Sprinkle the pork with 3 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper, then layer on top of the other ingredients in the pot. Put the browned bacon in the pot whenever it is ready; in my case it wound up on top of the apples.
- Saute the aromatics: When the bacon is done, add the diced onion and crushed garlic to the pan, then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, scraping the browned bacon drippings into the onions, until the onion is starting to brown around the edges, about five minutes. (While the onion is cooking, continue with the layering the ingredients step if it is not done yet.) Add the wine to the pan and bring to a simmer. Scrape any remaining browned bits from the bottom of the pan, then pour the onion/garlic/wine mixture into the crock over the top of the pork.
- Slow cook the pork: Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours or high heat for 4 hours.
- Plate and serve: Remove the pork ribs to a plate. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, cut into quarters, and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaves and throw them away. Stir the ingredients left in the crock into the sauerkraut, then remove the sauerkraut to a serving platter using a slotted spoon. Ladle a cup or two of the liquid left in the crock over the sauerkraut, ribs and pork. Put the pork and potatoes on top of the platter of sauerkraut, and serve.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Variations:
- Pork Roast: Instead of the pork ribs, use a pork shoulder roast. Increase the cooking time to 10 hours on low or 5 hours on high.
- Add smoked sausage: If you have a pound of kielbasa or smoked sausage, slice it and add it on top of the apples. You'll have bacon, smoked sausage, pork ribs, and sauerkraut. What could be better?
- Use red wine instead of white wine: Red wine is common in German sauerkraut, so if that's all you have, go ahead and use it.
Notes:
- Riesling: Riesling comes in a variety of sweetness levels, from dry (no sweetness) to syrupy sweet (dessert wines). A dry to semi-sweet Riesling is my preference for this recipe. German Rieslings have their sweetness level as part of the name; look for halbtrocken (off-dry), or trocken (dry). Really, any inexpensive white wine that isn't too oaky will work. (The only wine I would avoid is cheap chardonnay, which tends to be heavy on the oak.)
- Why a cheap white wine? Because about half a bottle goes into the slow cooker. I want to *drink* the good stuff, not cook it. If you're serving a crowd, get a cheap bottle for the pot, then some better wine for everyone to drink with the meal.
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Slow Cooker Pork Pot Roast
Instant Pot Pork and Sauerkraut
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Werner Oderwer says
Just a comment: Brown, not to bitter, beer (not Irish!!) is much more common in the "Kraut" in Germany than red wine, try find a sweetish brown beer or use a local brown and add some brown sugar (table spoon per kilo Kraut) or even better, here in Quebec I always use a good shot of real Maple syrup....otherwise nice variation here.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Thank you, and Happy New Year!
Sarah says
I just found your blog searching for pork and sauerkraut. I will definately try this recipe for the new year. I grew up with the pork and sauerkraut New Years tradition but haven't had it in years. I am looking forward to introducing it to my husband. And I am also excited that you are from my hometown, Akron, Ohio. I will be visiting your blog for additional recipes. Happy New Year!
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
You're welcome!
How did the loin work out? I'm assuming it was dry?
Carol says
My husband and I made this recipe when we were having friends over a couple months ago. Followed the recipe exactly except we didn't like the way the ribs looked so we used loin. Will definitely use ribs next time. But overall this was a great recipe will make it again and again. Thanks for sharing, Carol and John
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Good luck! I think you'll enjoy it.
Diane Cooper says
My husbands grandmother makes this, but not in the slowcooker. It is one of my favourites, and made me a sauerkraut convert!!! (Ironically I am Diane too, and I used to turn my nose up at the thought of sauer kraut!!) I am looking forward to trying this out in the slowcooker, since it seems like less prep work than my grandmothers....
Diane Cooper
diane7@rogers.com
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Thanks, Ken. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Ken says
Hi Mike. I made this last night. A friend of ours brought some sauerkraut over that he made from cabbage he grew in his garden. It was excellent. We used a little over 3 lbs. of pork and could have eaten all of it at once--it was that good. But, we were good--licked our lips and divided what was left and put in the freezer for later.
I found your blog after googling "pork" and "sauerkraut". So glad I found your blog. You have some great recipes and can't wait to try some more.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Unknown:
You're welcome. Great substitutions, by the way - I'm glad you could take my recipe and run with it!
Unknown says
This was wonderful! My 2 year old grandson and 3 year old granddaughter loved it, they dug in immediately and said "its goooood thank you mammaw". Everyone raved and said please make this every year. The only changes I made were that I used maple flavored bacon and I had a cup of red moscato wine and a half cup of chardonnay (I had these left over and my daughter said the chardonnay she had wasn't real oaky so I used them). Next time I will probably cut back on the brown sugar if I use the maple flavored bacon or just use regular bacon like you said to do. Anyway you look at it you can't seem to go wrong. Thanks for a wonderful New Years Day dinner! Linda
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Pam:
Sure - I would stick to a "sweeter" beer with some flavor - avoid bland and/or bitter beers. See the Beer list from my Slow Cooker Turkey Thighs with Beer and onions recipe.
Pam says
Can I use beer instead of wine in this recipe?
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Jen:
Thank you! The winter classic sounds so cool - I wish I could make it there myself.
Jen says
We usually have pork and sauerkraut for dinner as well. My mom makes it really well. She is not going to make it this year because we have tickets to the Winter Classic tomorrow in Pittsburgh. Have a great new year!