Sauerkraut and Weenies
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This is an old-fashioned Southern main dish. As the name suggests, all you need is sauerkraut and weenies to make this tangy yet delicious dish.
This sauerkraut and weenies recipe was one of my dear favorite meals as a girl and still is. It is a prime example of a budget meal (very common in the South back in the day) and so very good! Oh goodness, I’m getting hungry.
Now, I realize some folks are just not sauerkraut fans. Chances are, I lost about half of you in the title of this post. But I know some folks saw that photo and your stomach started growling, and chances are pretty darn good that you’ll be having this for supper tonight. Those who don’t fit into this category, feel free to think of the rest of us as weird. We won’t mind and there will be more sauerkraut for us! Everyone has their preferences and it’s all good either way.
This is one of those meals that is great with slices of polish sausage. But I still like to cook it how Mama did growing up; just by chopping up a few weenies and cooking until the sauerkraut and weenies brown a bit. That’s all there is to it. You can add as many weenies or sausage as you like and if you’re vegetarian, just get some vegan hot dogs and keep on keeping on. If you want to take it up a notch, you can make your own sauerkraut as I do in this post. Put it on your Classic Reuben Sandwich and you will crave it every day.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sauerkraut
- Weenies
- Salt and pepper
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make Sauerkraut and Weenies
Slice your weenies and put them in a large skillet.
Add in about two cups of sauerkraut.
Cook this over medium to medium-high heat, stirring often.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
You can start with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper and then adjust to make it just right for you.
Cook this until your weenies and sauerkraut get a little brown or you can just cook it until everything is heated through.
Now here is a supper from the old days!
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I recommend reheating on the stovetop on low heat until heated through.
Recipe Notes
- How many weenies you use is up to you. We used to have to determine this based on how many we had, so to be able to use as many as you want is a big step up nowadays.
- I have a friend from Germany ~waves to Gudrun~ who swears by the bagged sauerkraut so I started buying it and now I’m a convert, too. You can get it in the refrigerated section near the weenies usually and sometimes near the deli if they have a refrigerated section there as well. Mama likes the kind you get in a glass jar and we’ve both used the kind that comes in a can (which you get on the vegetable aisle). Overall, they are all good and there isn’t a lot of price difference so it is up to you to pick your favorite.
- As mentioned, you can use a different type of sausage with the sauerkraut. For example, sauerkraut and brats (bratwurst) is a popular dish in Germany. Kielbasa or franks also work.
- For extra flavor, add 1 diced apple to the skillet as well.
Recipe FAQs
What goes well with sauerkraut and weenies?
Here are some serving suggestions for your sauerkraut and weenies:
- Dinner rolls (with mustard)
- German potato salad
- Mashed potatoes
- Fried potatoes
- Freshly fried corn (or creamed corn or baked corn on the cob).
- Baked beans
- Broccoli salad
- Fresh green beans
- Cornbread
Do you drain sauerkraut before cooking?
If you’re using jarred sauerkraut, you’ll want to drain it before using it.
What condiment goes well with sauerkraut?
Mustard, ketchup, green tomato relish, and hot sauce (like sriracha or tabasco sauce) all pair perfectly with sauerkraut.
How do you season sauerkraut?
Besides salt and black pepper, if you want a touch of sweetness add up to a tablespoon of brown sugar. If you want a more savory flavor, add a teaspoon of caraway seeds. Alternatively, for a kick, add a dash of red pepper flakes or a teaspoon of paprika.
What food goes well with sauerkraut?
Here are some other dishes that pair well with sauerkraut:
- Hot dogs or hot dog chili
- Pork chops
- Reuben sandwich
- Grilled cheese sandwich
- Polish sausage or kielbasa sausage
You may also like these recipes:
Southern Fried Cabbage With Bacon
Ingredients
- 2-4 weenies or polish sausage
- 2 cups sauerkraut
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice weenies into small pieces and place them in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.2-4 weenies or polish sausage
- Add sauerkraut. Cook, stirring often until kraut and weenies brown slightly. Salt and pepper to taste.2 cups sauerkraut, salt and pepper to taste
- Serve hot.
Nutrition
This was originally published in 2010. I updated the post and photos in 2020.
Life is really simple,
but we insist on making it complicated.
My favorite (and still is) is fried potatoes and weenies. LOVE THEM… Especially with spinach or turnip greens. 🙂
I’m super late to the party, but came across this post while I was planning my menu for next week. We had two budget meals my mom made aaaallll the time that I absolutely hated……creamed chipped beef and creamed tunafish. However, I’m pretty sure my fiance would absolutely love both of my most hated childhood menus, so I might have to give them a second chance!
Not late at all Katie!! We are just glad you joined us!!
Creamed beef? LOL…we considered that a “high on the hog” night. Great break for pretty much pintos and fried potatoes every night. My husband to this day would eat creamed beef every night if I would fix it.
My favorite po folks food was also the famous SOS. Now adays it is a treat for me because neither my husband or son will touch it so on days they want a dinner i dont particularly care for i will mix this up for me and take the extra to work the next day for lunch. Yummy! Although i have recently started using your tip of precooking the hamburger meat and freezing it which i have found to be a lifesaver on nights when i am exhausted. Now i can just make enough for me instead of feeling like i have to cook a whole pound of meat.
I’m supposed to be spending my lovely day home – all by myself! – doing housework; however, I decided to jump on here to get some supper ideas… Oh well, the housework will still be here!
To this day, my favorite “po folk” meal has to be fried potatoes and Treet. Not Spam – Treet! I’m told it was due to the fact that Spam is about twice the price of Treet. If I’m stumped for supper ideas, it’s one of hubby’s first suggestions every time! At $1.25 a can, sometimes now we even get to use 2 cans! He just started a new job after a month of being unemployed, and his first check is still a week & a half away, so I went through the pantry this weekend and was thrilled to see 4 cans of Treet sitting on the shelf!
We just cut the Treet into bite-size pieces and dump in the pan with the potatoes as they’re frying. You have to love a meal that fills up so many people for so little money! Add some cornbread and my family thinks “wow, she fixed one of my favorite meals” and I think “wow – I fed my family for under $3.00 (or under $5.00 if I splurged and used 2 cans!)
I LOVE treet! I used to eat it as a little girl! My grandmother would slice it up and fry it in the skillet. We’d eat it like that or on sandwich bread.
i love this dish and have since i was in my highchair lol! i just as the matter or fact had some. i did rinse and squeeze my kraut and browned my 2 weenies in a cast iron for a lil char taste….add kraut and sear well to heat through…..some fresh ground pepper and a little drizzle of french’s mustard is what i love on mine lol! i don’t eat bread but this is my way of eating a hot dog, its the best sour and meat crave fix ever! <3 <3
We had kraut n weenies every week when I was growing up. Time to cook up a mess now after seeing this. Another favorite meal my dad made was big plate of crumbled up cornbread topped with onions, tomatos, bacon, and pour some Bacon grease over top….heart attack on a plate but o so good with ‘ice milk’
An invitation to eat at your table would beat an invite to a kings palace!!
We still eat kraut and weenies once in a while.My husband is of German descent so he likes pork and kraut. As for the dirt necklace we called it Grandmas beads.
Our evening meals were almost always frozen vegetables that we put up each summer. My parents had fried egg sandwiches every day for lunch, so they wanted something filling for supper.Usually put up at least 700-1000 ears of corn, bushels of peas, butterbeans & green beans.
My grandmother was famous for her poor man’s soup. Just potatoes, tomatoes and onion. Served with cornbread.