About this Recipe

Potatoes, sauerkraut and sausage and onions. It never ceases to amaze us how popular this recipe is. We never tire of eating it ourselves and whenever we share a variation on this recipe find it intriguing to read in the comments all the slight changes people make to this simple dish and how very popular it is. This is comfort food and the basic recipe goes back decades. It can be made in the oven, on the stove top, in a slow cooker or in the instant pot. You can add soup broth, apples, herbs or even include other veggies like carrots to the mix. In this version, we don't even fry the onions, so it cannot get any easier than this!

Grandmother's Kitchen Tips Roasted Potatoes Sauerkraut and Sausage:

1. You can use any kind of sausage for this recipe, we like to support local butchers and purchase our sausage from a trusted deli that offers very nice products that do not have artificial additives.

2. Rinse your peeled sliced potatoes in cold water. Slicing the potatoes in various ways can give a different look to the same recipe so alternate wedging or cutting into cubes. Same applies for the presentation of the sausage.

3. The brand of sauerkraut you use will make a difference in this dish. There are several brands and they all taste a little different. If we have not tried the brand, we taste it before adding to the roaster and determine if it will be perfect left as is, or if better to rinse it first. Some brands have a distinct strong vinegar flavor, such as Bick's, so we tend to rinse it, others like our favorite brand made by a German company called Kuhne we use straight up without rinsing or draining.

Even though sauerkraut is a fermented food, it should have any mold growing on it. However, usually, if it does, you may want to throw the batch away and get a new one or start a new one if you’re making your kraut from scratch. Mold can also have bacteria growing with it, so it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your health. While sauerkraut can be excellent for your health, mold is not good for it at all. And while it may not be critically life-threatening, consuming mold or being around it for too long can lead to serious health issues like respiratory issues and allergies.

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Ingredients

(Print)

Serves 8-10

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 796ml jar Sauerkraut, we used Kuhne brand

2 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 medium to large onion, peeled and cut into thin slices

6-8 potatoes, peeled, rinsed and cut into long wedges

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

600 grams Ukrainian sausage or sausage of your choice, cut into quarters

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Lightly oil a large roasting pan with the olive oil.

3. We use this brand of sauerkraut without rinsing as the flavor is good and there is not that much liquid in the jar. 4. If you need to rinse your sauerkraut brand before using in the recipe, do so now.

5. Place the sauerkraut on the bottom layer of the roasting pan and place the onion slices on top.

6. Arrange the potato wedges around the pan. Dot the soft butter onto the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.

7. Put the sausage pieces on next, place the lid onto the roaster and place into the oven.

8. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from the oven and slice the sausage into small bite size pieces.

ENJOY!

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Roasting vegetables and meat can certainly create a big mess on your pans, so it’s great to know a few house cleaning tips for how to remove stains from pots and pans. One of the easiest ways to how to remove stains from pots and pans is to let them soak in hot water with some dish soap for about an hour and then make a paste out of baking soda and water. Spread that paste all over the pan or pot and let that sit overnight.

In the morning, your pan will be much easier to scrub, and all of that charred on food will come right off. For pans that have really severe stains, you can also try putting them in the dishwasher which will help loosen the gunk making it easier to clean off.

When purchasing cookware it is good to take stock first of all of what you have in the cupboard. Cookware can be costly plus it takes up room so plan what items you would like to use and let that be influenced by your lifestyle and style of cooking.

There are many finishes in cookware as well. Enameled cast iron, stainless steel, uncoated cast iron, copper, nonstick, aluminum and carbon-steel and blue steel.

One of our favorites is the enameled cast iron Dutch ovens and we have two sizes in the kitchen. A small and a large version. They are so diverse but they are also heavy even before you put anything in them. Flavors and cooking are good when using the Dutch oven. You can do pretty much everything in this one pot. It can be used on the stove top for sauteing and searing. You can use water and boil in it, you can use acidic ingredients like tomato and there is no reaction with the surface for flavors. This cookware is corrosion-resistant, can be washed in a dishwasher and is oven safe to 500 degrees F. They generally come with their own lid, so that makes it easy for dishes that should be covered with baking or boiling and you can even serve directly out of them because they are generally painted a nice bright glue, orange or yellow. These cooking vessels can last decades and the only con that we can think of is the enamel can chip.

There are many cooking vessels that are very trendy as new items are constantly being developed. With frying pans there are many brands and no-stick finishes and we have tried a lot of styles and we can only suggest before you make a purchase do your research based on what foods you are preparing. Stainless steel is uncoated and lasts a very long time, is good for most things, but is harder to clean than a non-stick pan. Non-stick pans are super easy to clean but they damage more easily if you are not using utensils the suggested for the surface of the pan.

Things like instant pots and crock pots may be the answer for some home chefs if that type of cooking better suits their lifestyle while for others they look like a great concept by the wonderful advertising we all see but only get used once in awhile. If storage space in your kitchen is limited, plan what you purchase by what types of meals make the most sense for you.